Musca

Musca

Constellation
List of stars in Musca
Abbreviation	Mus
Genitive	Muscae
Pronunciation	/ˈmʌskə/ genitive /ˈmʌsiː/
Symbolism	the Fly
Right ascension	11h 19.3m to 13h 51.1m [1]
Declination	−64.64° to −75.68°[1]
Quadrant	SQ3
Area	138 sq. deg. (77th)
Main stars	6
Bayer/Flamsteed stars	13
Stars with planets	3
Stars brighter than 3.00m	1
Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly)	1
Brightest star	α Mus (2.69m)
Messier objects	0
Bordering constellations	Apus Carina Centaurus Chamaeleon Circinus Crux
Visible at latitudes between +10° and −90°. Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of May.

Musca (Latin for 'the fly') is a small constellation in the deep southern sky. It was one of 12 constellations created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman, and it first appeared on a celestial globe 35 cm (14 in) in diameter published in 1597 (or 1598) in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius. The first depiction of this constellation in a celestial atlas was in Johann Bayer's Uranometria of 1603. It was also known as Apis (Latin for 'the bee') for 200 years. Musca remains below the horizon for most Northern Hemisphere observers.

Many of the constellation's brighter stars are members of the Scorpius–Centaurus association, a loose group of hot blue-white stars that appears to share a common origin and motion across the Milky Way. These include Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Zeta² and (probably) Eta Muscae, as well as HD 100546, a blue-white Herbig Ae/Be star that is surrounded by a complex debris disk containing a large planet or brown dwarf and possible protoplanet. Two further star systems have been found to have planets. The constellation also contains two cepheid variables visible to the naked eye. Theta Muscae is a triple star system, the brightest member of which is a Wolf–Rayet star.