Delphinus

Look up at the night sky.

You can see a small shape. It looks like a dolphin. This shape is made of bright stars. Four stars make the body. One star makes the tail.

This group of stars is a small part of the sky. It is near a big path of stars. Some people in old stories say a dolphin saved a singer. The dolphin carried him to land. Now the dolphin stays in the stars. It is a beautiful sight to see.

Look up at the night sky to find Delphinus.

This is a small constellation. Its name means dolphin in Latin. It is one of 88 modern constellations.

Five bright stars form a shape in the sky. This shape is called an asterism. Four stars make the body. One star makes the tail.

This group is also called Job's Coffin. It looks like a diamond.

Many stars live in this part of space. Some stars are binary stars. This means two stars orbit each other. For example, the star Rotanev is a binary star. It is 97 light-years from Earth. Another star, Gamma Delphini, is also a binary star. It takes over 3,000 years for the stars to orbit.

We can also find planets here. A planet named Arion orbits the star Musica. It is very massive. It is at least 10.3 times the mass of Jupiter. There are also other new planets in this area. Scientists found them using data from telescopes.

This video shows Delphinus near other star groups.

Delphinus is a small constellation in the Northern sky. Its name comes from the Latin word for dolphin. It sits near the celestial equator, which is the line in the sky that divides north from south. This group of stars is one of the 88 modern constellations. It is also one of the smaller ones. It ranks 69th in size out of all the constellations.

You can find it near other groups like Pegasus and Aquila. It covers 188.5 square degrees of the sky. This is about 0.457% of the whole sky.

To find it, look for a special shape called an asterism. An asterism is a small, bright pattern made by a few stars. In Delphinus, five bright stars form a shape that looks like a dolphin. Four stars make the body, and one star makes the tail.

This diamond shape is often called Job's Coffin. The stars in this pattern have special names. Alpha Delphini is named Sualocin. Beta Delphini is named Rotanev. These names are actually just the names of a famous astronomer, Niccolò Cacciatore, spelled backward.

Many stories from long ago explain why this dolphin is in the stars. One Greek myth says a dolphin helped the god Poseidon find Amphitrite. The god was so thankful that he put the dolphin in the sky. Another story is about a musician named Arion of Lesbos. He lived in the 7th century BC. While traveling by ship, Arion was thrown into the sea. A dolphin heard his music and swam to save him. The dolphin carried him safely to the coast of Greece.

Scientists have found many amazing things in this part of space. Some stars are binary stars, which means two stars orbit each other. For example, Beta Delphini is a binary star that was found to be one in 1873. It is 97 light-years away from Earth. Gamma Delphini is another binary star. It takes over 3,000 years for its two stars to complete one orbit.

There are also planets far away in this constellation. A planet named Arion orbits the star Musica. Arion is very massive, at least 10.3 times the mass of Jupiter.

Delphinus also hides deep-sky objects that need telescopes to see. You can find the Blue Flash Nebula, which is also called NGC 6905. This nebula is rich in oxygen. There is also a large group of stars called a globular cluster named NGC 6934. It is about 52,000 light-years away. Other parts of the constellation are in the Milky Way, our home galaxy. This makes the area very rich with stars and bright lights for astronomers to study.

Delphinus is a small constellation located in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere. It sits very close to the celestial equator. The name is the Latin version of the Greek word for dolphin. It is one of the 88 modern constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. This group was also listed by the astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.

Although it is a recognizable pattern, it is quite small. It ranks 69th in size among all the constellations. It covers an area of 188.5 square degrees. This represents about 0.457% of the entire sky.

To find Delphinus, you can look for a distinctive asterism. An asterism is a bright pattern of stars within a constellation. In this case, five bright stars form the shape of a dolphin. Four stars represent the body, and one star represents the tail. This diamond-shaped pattern is often called Job's Coffin. It is made of the stars Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta Delphini.

The constellation is bordered by several other groups. These include Vulpecula to the north and Sagitta to the northwest. Aquila sits to the west, while Pegasus and Equuleus are to the east. Aquarius borders it to the southeast.

Many ancient stories explain why this dolphin exists in the stars. One Greek myth involves the god Poseidon. He wanted to marry a beautiful nereid named Amphitrite. She fled to the Atlas Mountains to protect her virginity. Poseidon sent searchers to find her, including a dolphin named Delphinus. This dolphin found her and persuaded her to accept the god. Out of gratitude, Poseidon placed the dolphin in the stars. Another story features the poet Arion of Lesbos from the 7th century BC. Arion was a musician traveling from Tarentum. His crew conspired against him because of his wealth. Arion jumped into the sea while singing a dirge. A dolphin was charmed by his music and carried him to the Greek coast.

Astronomers have discovered many fascinating stars within this region. The constellation is considered faint because it has few bright stars. Only two stars are brighter than magnitude 4. These are Beta Delphini, or Rotanev, and Alpha Delphini, or Sualocin. These two names are the names of astronomer Niccolò Cacciatore written backward. Alpha Delphini is a blue-white spectroscopic binary star. It is located 241 light-years from Earth. Beta Delphini is a white star located 97 light-years away. It was identified as a binary star in 1873.

Other stars like Gamma Delphini are also famous. Gamma Delphini is a true binary star with an orbital period of over 3,000 years. Its components are 125 light-years away.

Beyond stars, scientists have found many exoplanets in Delphinus. These are planets that orbit stars outside our solar system. One planet is named Arion, which orbits the star Musica. Arion is very massive, at least 10.3 times the mass of Jupiter. In 2024, researchers discovered two more planets, TOI-6883 b and TOI-6883 c. TOI-6883 b has a mass 4.34 times that of Jupiter. TOI-6883 c is a smaller, Neptunian-size planet. These discoveries often come from analyzing data from telescopes like TESS. Even the star Zeta Delphini was found to have a brown dwarf orbiting it in 2014.

Delphinus also contains beautiful deep-sky objects. Because it lies in a rich part of the Milky Way, many objects are visible with telescopes. The Blue Flash Nebula, or NGC 6905, is a notable planetary nebula. This nebula is rich in oxygen. There is also a globular cluster named NGC 6934. This is a dense group of stars located 52,000 light-years away. Another cluster, NGC 7006, is much further at 137,000 light-years. This cluster sits at the very outer reaches of our galaxy. These objects help scientists understand how galaxies and stars form over time.

Different cultures have viewed these stars in various ways. In Chinese astronomy, these stars are part of the Black Tortoise of the North. In Hindu astrology, the constellation corresponds to the lunar mansion known as Dhanishta. In Polynesia, different cultures gave the stars their own names. The people of Pukapuka called it Te Toloa. The people of the Tuamotus called it Te Uru-o-tiki. These diverse traditions show how humans have always looked to the sky to find meaning in the stars.