Volans

Lore & Background

Volans is one of the 12 constellations that were introduced by the Dutch navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman in the late 16th century. It was first depicted on Petrus Plancius’ globe in 1598. Plancius called the constellation Vliegendenvis (flying fish). In 1603, Johann Bayer included the constellation in his star atlas Uranometria under the name Piscis Volans, the flying fish. John Herschel proposed shrinking the name to one word in 1844, noting that Lacaille himself had abbreviated his constellations thus on occasion. This was universally adopted.

Volans represents a type of tropical fish that can jump out of the water and glide through the air on wings. In early celestial maps, the flying fish was often depicted as accompanying the ship Argo Navis, and being chased by the predatory fish represented by the adjoining constellation Dorado.

Volans has several deep-sky objects within its borders. Lacaille gave 12 stars Bayer designations Alpha through Kappa in 1756 and labelled two stars as Gamma and Kappa. There are two double stars within the constellation which can be observed using a small telescope, Gamma Volantis and Epsilon Volantis, along with two galaxies which may be more difficult to see clearly, NGC 2442 and NGC 2434.

Reader's Guide

Volans is notable as one of the twelve constellations created from the observations of Dutch navigators Keyser and de Houtman, first appearing on a celestial globe by Plancius in 1597 or 1598. Its inclusion in Bayer's Uranometria of 1603 marked its first appearance in a celestial atlas. The constellation's name was shortened from Piscis Volans to Volans in 1844 on the proposal of John Herschel, a change that was universally adopted. Volans contains several deep-sky objects, including the double stars Gamma Volantis and Epsilon Volantis, and the galaxies NGC 2442 and NGC 2434. The Astronomical Society of Southern Africa in 2003 reported that observations of the variable stars R and S Volantis were very urgently needed as data on their light curves was incomplete. HD 76700 is a sunlike star some 195 light-years distant that has been found to have a planet. The Lindsay-Shapley ring, a ring galaxy located 300 million light-years from Earth, was found near the Large Magellanic Cloud in 1960. NGC 2442, an intermediate-spiral galaxy, is also located in this constellation, with a distance of 50 million light-years from Earth. Graham's Object, also known as Das Rheingold or Nibelungen Ring, is a ring shaped galaxy in Volans.

Did You Know?

• Volans was originally called Piscis Volans, meaning flying fish.
• The constellation first appeared on a 35-cm diameter celestial globe published in 1597 or 1598.
• John Herschel proposed shortening the name to Volans in 1844.
• The Lindsay-Shapley ring, a ring galaxy in Volans, was discovered in 1960 near the Large Magellanic Cloud.