Lupus

Lupus is a southern constellation which appears highest in the midnight sky in May. Lupus was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy.

Its name is Latin for ‘wolf’, and the creature depicted here is usually depicted impaled on a long pole held by Centaurus the centaur, perhaps about to be sacrificed on Ara the altar.

The outline of the wolf’s body is traced out by second and third magnitude stars. This sky area also offers several bright open clusters and globular clusters since it lies close to the plane of the Milky Way.

There appear to be few Greek myths associated with Lupus, perhaps because it is a much older Babylonian constellation which the Greeks adopted without change. The Greek constellation is probably based on the Babylonian figure known as the Mad Dog. This was a strange hybrid creature that combined the head and torso of a man with the legs and tail of a lion. It is often found in association with the sun god and another mythical being called the Bison-man, which is supposedly related to the Greek constellation of Centaurus.

In Arab Folk Astronomy, Lupus, together with Centaurus were collectively called al-Shamareekh, meaning the dense branches of the date palm’s fruit.

In Indian astronomy, Lupus is called ವೃಕ (Vruka).

Lupus contains:

• Stars
  • α-Lup (mag 2.3)
  • β-Lup (mag 2.6)
  • γ-Lup (mag 3.0)
  • δ-Lup (mag 3.2)
  • ε-Lup (mag 3.4)
  • η-Lup (mag 3.4)
  • ζ-Lup (mag 3.4)
  • ι-Lup (mag 3.5)
  • φ¹-Lup (mag 3.6)
  • κ¹-Lup (mag 3.8)
  • χ-Lup (mag 3.9)
  • ρ-Lup (mag 4.0)
  • λ-Lup (mag 4.0)
  • θ-Lup (mag 4.2)
  • O-Lup (mag 4.3)
  • ω-Lup (mag 4.3)
  • f-Lup (mag 4.4)
  • τ²-Lup (mag 4.4)
  • σ-Lup (mag 4.4)
  • HD (mag 4.5)
  • φ²-Lup (mag 4.5)
  • τ¹-Lup (mag 4.5)
  • π-Lup (mag 4.6)
  • k-Lup (mag 4.6)
  • π-Lup (mag 4.6)
• Open Clusters
  • NGC 5822 (mag 6.5)
  • NGC 5749 (mag 8.8)
  • NGC 5764 (mag 12.6)
  • NGC 5593
  • None
• Globular Clusters
  • NGC 5986 (mag 7.6)
  • NGC 5927 (mag 8.0)
  • NGC 5824 (mag 9.6)
  • None
• Galaxy
  • NGC 5530 (mag 11.0)
  • NGC 5688 (mag 12.6)
  • IC 4402 (mag 12.8)
  • NGC 5670 (mag 13.0)
  • NGC 5843 (mag 13.1)
  • IC 4523 (mag 13.2)
  • NGC 5643 (mag 13.6)
  • IC 4472 (mag 13.9)
  • NGC 5968 (mag 14.3)
  • IC 4529 (mag 14.8)
  • IC 4527 (mag 15.0)
  • IC 4518 (mag 16.5)
  • IC 4444
  • None