Lynx (constellation)
| Constellation | |
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| Abbreviation | Lynx¶ |
|---|---|
| Genitive | Lyncis |
| Pronunciation |
/ˈlɪŋks/, genitive /ˈlɪnsᵻs/ |
| Symbolism | the Lynx |
| Right ascension | 8 |
| Declination | +45 |
| Family | Ursa Major |
| Quadrant | NQ2 |
| Area | 545 sq. deg. (28th) |
| Main stars | 4 |
|
Bayer/Flamsteed stars |
42 |
| Stars with planets | 6 |
| Stars brighter than 3.00m | 0 |
| Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly) | 1 |
| Brightest star | α Lyn (3.14m) |
| Nearest star |
LHS 1963 (28.1 ± 0.9 ly, 8.6 ± 0.3 pc) |
| Messier objects | 0 |
| Meteor showers |
Alpha Lyncids September Lyncids |
| Bordering constellations |
Ursa Major Camelopardalis Auriga Gemini Cancer Leo (corner) Leo Minor |
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Visible at latitudes between +90° and −55°. Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of March. |
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Lynx, named after the animal, is a constellation in the northern sky that was introduced in the 17th century by Johannes Hevelius. It is a faint constellation with its brightest stars forming a zigzag line. The orange giant Alpha Lyncis is the brightest star in the constellation, while the semiregular variable star Y Lyncis is a target for amateur astronomers. Six star systems have been found to contain planets. Those of 6 Lyncis and HD 75898 were discovered by the Doppler method; those of XO-2, XO-4, XO-5 and WASP-13 were observed as they passed in front of the host star.
Within the constellation's borders lie NGC 2419, an unusually remote globular cluster; the galaxy NGC 2770, which has hosted three recent Type Ib supernovae; the distant quasar APM 08279+5255, whose light is magnified and split into multiple images by the gravitational lensing effect of a foreground galaxy; and the Lynx Supercluster, which was the most distant supercluster known at the time of its discovery in 1999.
Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius formed the constellation in the 17th century from 19 faint stars that he observed with the unaided eye between the constellations Ursa Major and Auriga. Naming it Lynx because of its faintness, he challenged future stargazers to see it, declaring that only the lynx-eyed (those with good sight) would have been able to recognize it. Hevelius gave it the alternate name of Tiger in his catalogue as well, but kept the former name only in his atlas. English astronomer John Flamsteed adopted the constellation in his catalogue, published in 1712, and his subsequent atlas. According to 19th-century amateur astronomer Richard Hinckley Allen, the chief stars in Lynx "might well have been utilized by the modern constructor, whoever he was, of our Ursa Major to complete the quartette of feet."
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