The Bird of Paradise
| Abbreviation: | Aps |
| Genitive: | Apodis |
| Origin: | Frederick de Houtmann, Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser, Petrus Plancius |
| Fully Visible: | 90°S – 6°N |
Near the end of the sixteenth century, the observations of Dutch explorers Frederick de Houtman (c.1571–1627) and Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser (c.1540–1596) allowed Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius (1552–1622) to place this constellation on his 1598 celestial globe. The name is derived from the Greek word meaning 'without feet' which referred to the mistaken Western belief that the bird of paradise had no feet! It also appears on early atlases as Apis Indica or more correctly, Avis Indica, the Indian Bird.
Notable Features
| Visible Named Stars | ||
|---|---|---|
| The brightest star in the constellation, α Aps, is only fourth-magnitude. None of the visible stars in this constellation have an official name. | ||
| Other Interesting Stars | ||
| HD 137388 | Karaka | This ninth-magnitude star is known to have at least one exoplanet. The star is named for the karaka tree of New Zealand, and its planet is Kerurū which is the Māori term for the New Zealand pigeon. The star is located just south of the line joining α Aps and γ Aps. |
| Deep Sky Objects | ||
| C107 | A medium-size telescope will resolve this globular cluster into individual stars. | |
Copyright © 1995–2023 by L.M. Stockman and David Harper