Ara

Ara is a southern constellation which is visible in the months around May. It lacks any particularly conspicuous stars, but has seven of fourth magnitude. One of the southernmost constellations depicted by Ptolemy

The Milky Way passes through this area of the sky, and so it is home to several bright open and globular clusters.

Ara is one of the southern-most constellations known to antiquity, and its name is Latin for ‘altar’. It is usually depicted with smoke rising southwards, flowing along the line of the Milky Way.

In Greek mythology, Ara is identified as the altar upon which the gods swore a vow of allegiance before the Battle of the Titans.

The indian name for Ara is ವೇದಿಕಾ (Vedika)

Ara contains:

• Stars
  • α-Ara (mag 2.8)
  • β-Ara (mag 2.8)
  • ζ-Ara (mag 3.1)
  • γ-Ara (mag 3.3)
  • δ-Ara (mag 3.6)
  • θ-Ara (mag 3.6)
  • η-Ara (mag 3.8)
  • ε¹-Ara (mag 4.1)
  • σ-Ara (mag 4.6)
  • λ-Ara (mag 4.8)
  • Cervantes (mag 5.1)
  • κ-Ara (mag 5.2)
  • ι-Ara (mag 5.2)
  • π-Ara (mag 5.2)
  • ε²-Ara (mag 5.3)
  • HD 156274 (mag 5.5)
  • HD 152824 (mag 5.5)
  • HD 150898 (mag 5.6)
  • HD 157661 (mag 5.6)
  • HD 153053 (mag 5.6)
  • HD 150168 (mag 5.6)
  • HD 156838 (mag 5.7)
  • HD 150136 (mag 5.7)
  • V539 Ara (mag 5.7)
  • HD 153716 (mag 5.7)
• Open Clusters
  • NGC 6193 (mag 5.2)
  • NGC 6250 (mag 5.9)
  • IC 4651 (mag 6.9)
  • NGC 6208 (mag 7.2)
  • NGC 6200 (mag 7.4)
  • NGC 6204 (mag 8.2)
  • NGC 6253 (mag 10.2)
• Globular Clusters
  • NGC 6397 (mag 5.6)
  • NGC 6362 (mag 8.1)
  • NGC 6352 (mag 8.1)
• Galaxy
  • • NGC 6215 (mag 11.3)
    • NGC 6305 (mag 12.6)
    • IC 4646 (mag 12.7)
    • NGC 6300 (mag 13.1)
    • NGC 6328 (mag 13.2)
    • IC 4653 (mag 13.2)
    • NGC 6221 (mag 13.4)
    • IC 4656 (mag 13.7)
    • IC 4652 (mag 14.2)