Click here to see the archive of past COTMs

Corvus the Crow is just right of center on this map. Corvus is one of the lesser known constellations, but it is home to some interesting deep-sky objects. To find Corvus in May, use the constellation Virgo, and its brightest star Spica. Look to the southeast about an hour after sunset, when Spica nears the meridian. The meridian is an imaginary line that runs from south to north, and when an object crosses the meridian, it is at its highest point in the sky. The effect is most easily seen with southerly constellations like Virgo and Corvus. Spica will climb higher as the night wears on, and once it passes the meridian it will begin to sink into the west. The five bright stars that make up Corvus are easy to see, even if there is light pollution in your skies. The stars of nearby Crater, Hydra, and Centaurus will be much fainter. Don't expect to see much of anything at all in Centaurus unless you have very dark skies and a clear southern horizon.

The mythology of Corvus goes back to ancient Greece. One story tells of how Apollo sent the raven, or crow, to collect water in the nearby cup ("Crater" means goblet or cup). But the bird wasted its time eating figs. Then, as an excuse for losing time, it gathered up the Water Snake (Hydra) in its claws and flew back, telling Apollo that this creature was the reason for its delay. Apollo would have none of it, and threw all three: the crow, the goblet, and the water snake, into the heavens. For penance, the crow was made to suffer eternal thirst (and this makes the bird caw raucously instead of sing like normal birds).

(Some information for this article was gathered from the following sources, http://www.dibonsmith.com/crv_con.htm, http://www.astronomical.org/constellations/crv.html, and http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/cotm/hydra.html).

In this larger, more detailed view, (adapted from Norton's Sky Atlas 2000.0), we'll take a closer look at some of the interesting sights in Corvus. Our tour goes in order of Right Ascension, which is right to left on this map. All of these objects are best seen with a telescope, unless otherwise noted.

NGC 4027. A pretty faint galaxy at magnitude 11. We would recommend a 6 to 8 inch scope under dark skies to spot this one. 4027 is an irregular galaxy with a bright core, and we have nicknamed it the "Shrimp Galaxy". Follow this link and click on the Digital Sky Survey Image to find out why.

NGC 4038, The Antennae. A challenge to observe visually, this pair of interacting galaxies is a favorite target for astrophotographers. 4038 is magniuted 10.7, and unless you have a very large aperture scope you probably won't be able to discern 4039, which is only magnitude 13. More info about the Antennae.

NGC 4361. This large planetary nebula is about 50 arcseconds in diameter, and has an easily seen central star. The nebulosity is grey, and is somewhat reminiscent of the Owl Nebula in Ursa Major. More on NGC 4361.

NGC 4462. This 12th magnitude edge on galaxy is a challenge. It is about 1 degree due west of the bright star Beta (b).

Delta (d) Corvi. A fine double star for any sized telescope. The two components of Delta are magnitudes 3.0 and 9.2 respectively, and are separated by 24 arcseconds. What colors do you see in these stars? Some have described the brighter as white, and the dimmer as purplish.

M 68. At magnitude 8.2, this is a gem of a globular cluster. It is actually in the constellation Hydra, but it is an easy starhop from Beta, about 3 1/2 degrees south. This little known Messier object should be visible in a 4.5 inch scope from dark skies as a little puff of cotton, and with larger apertures it resolves into a tight sprinkling of tiny individual stars. More on M 68.

M104, The Sombrero Galaxy. This galaxy is the most famous object on our tour. It is big and bright (magnitude 8.3), and shows up well in almost any scope. It sits right on the Corvus/Virgo border, with no really bright stars nearby. However, there is a very distinctive cluster of 7th and 8th magnitude stars in the shape of an arrow, which convienently point to the Sombrero. With a 6 or 8 inch scope you can see the famous dust lane of this galaxy, which gives it its name. More on M 104. Also check out some great images of M104 at the European Southern Observatory's M104 Gallery.

NGC 4782 and 4783. An extremely close pair of round, or elliptical galaxies, practically sitting on top of each other. They are of equal brightness at magnitues 11.7 and 11.8 respectively.

Also check out the Spring Constellations Ursa Major and Leo.

Back to Night Sky Observers Main Page.