Constellation Profile - Microscopium

As we move through the southern sky we come to the constellation known as Microscopium.  This is another of Lacaille's laboratory junk scattered throughout the sky.  The famous British Astronomer Sir Patrick Moore described this constellation as "totally unremarkable".  The brightest star is magnitude 4.68 and likely invisible to anyone in the city.  It would be a good challenge to see if you can pick out any stars from this constellation at a dark site near Calgary.  The declination range is 27.5°S - 45°S so two thirds of it should be visible at its highest in our sky.  It is relatively easy to find as Capricornus essentially points right to it.  It is also about 20° West of the bright star Fomalhaut as shown in the image below showing 7:45pm local time on the last day of October from 51°N.

Star-hop to Microscopium

As the name suggests it is a representation of a microscope which was commonly found in an 18th century laboratory.  Lacaille's original drawing is shown below.

Lacaille's Microscopium

Johann Bode went on to improve on the image in his monumental work Uranographia.  His image is presented below.

Uranographia Microscopium

Microscopium is a very faint constellation and does not contain very many observable deep sky objects.  This is likely why Patrick Moore gave the constellation a lackluster review for amateur astronomy.  However, a group of 6 friends in New Zealand found a supernova in NGC 6925 on July 25, 2011.  In fact, they have found more than 150 supernovae over the past decade.  Their dedication to the pursuit is inspiring and if you would like to see their website it is linked below.

http://bosssupernova.com/

NGC 6925 is probably the only Deep Sky Object (DSO) worth hunting for as a backyard amateur although it has a magnitude at a faint 11.3.  At a declination of 32°S you will be fishing close to the horizon about 4° NW of Alpha Microscopii.  The unbarred spiral galaxy does not have a great name but if you can see it from the Calgary area you are amazing and I'd be willing to refer to the galaxy by your name. 

Out of the 110 objects on the Messier list, only 4 reside more southward of NGC 6925 but they are much brighter.  As this is probably the most anyone on the internet has ever written about this galaxy I should move on.

I compiled the constellation into my own format and it is presented below.

Microscopium

Some other quick facts about a constellation that I may never set eyes on is that it is home to the Microscopium Supercluster.  At the same time there is a void located in the constellation known simply as the Microscopium Void.  These are some terms I hope to define in future blogs.  Finally, there is a known meteor shower called the Microscopids.  Apart from the fun name it is a relatively quiet shower that I can not find too much information on.

If you are out around 7:30-8pm near the end of October one year, use Capricornus the water goat to point to the microscope.  There are clearly mundane sights there to behold on a good night!