The Toucan
| Abbreviation: | Tuc |
| Genitive: | Tucanae |
| Origin: | Frederick de Houtmann, Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser, Petrus Plancius |
| Fully Visible: | 90°S – 14°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.
Notable Features
| Visible Named Stars | ||
|---|---|---|
| The brightest star in the constellation, α Tuc, is third-magnitude. None of the visible stars in this constellation have an official name. | ||
| Other Interesting Stars | ||
| HD 7199 | Emiw | This eighth-magnitude star is known to have at least one exoplanet, called Hairu. The names of the star and planet mean 'love' and 'unity' respectively. This system is found between ι Tuc and κ Tuc. |
| HD 221287 | Poerava | This eighth-magnitude star is known to have at least one exoplanet. The names of both the star and the planet (Pipitea) refer to pearls. Poerava is located near γ Tuc. |
| Deep Sky Objects | ||
| C104 | This globular cluster appears to lie very near to the Small Magellanic Cloud but belongs, in fact, to our own galaxy. Unlike 47 Tucanae, optical aids are required to observe this object. | |
| C106 | 47 Tucanae | The second brightest globular cluster visible from Earth, 47 Tucanae appears to the naked eye as a fuzzy fourth magnitude star but binoculars reveal its true nature. Even a modest telescope will resolve individual stars. |
| NGC 292 | Small Magellanic Cloud | This dwarf irregular galaxy is one of the Milky Way's nearest galactic neighbours. It is visible to the naked eye as a hazy patch of light but binoculars or a small telescope reveal clusters and nebulae within it. |
Copyright © 1995–2023 by L.M. Stockman and David Harper