What's the most underrated constellation in your opinion?

[A budding astronomer]

The constellations, they can be filled with beautiful objects for us to observe.Popular constellations such as Orion, Monoceros, Canis Major and Puppis all host beautiful nebulae and star clusters along with gorgeous binary and variable stars. Every constellation has it's charm, but some just don't get the spotlight. I'm talking about the underrated constellations. These include Equuleus, Canes Venatici, Leo Minor, Sagitta, Vulpecula and Lynx. But my personal favorite, Delphinus the dolphin.

When I looked at DK's " Astronomy " book ( Fantastic book and guide for beginners I highly recommend ) In the constellation section where it gives a detailed description and the history of the constellation it also notes some objects of interest too. Delphinus only had one, Gamma Delphini which is a great golden binary with an 8.9 arcsecond separation in the nose of the dolphin. But this of course isn't the only object of interest in Delphinus, I have been exploring it the last few evening in my telescope and binoculars and I found some very interesting things. Enjoy

 

Our first object other than Gamma Delphini is a nice open star cluster with no name I came across myself, it is composed of 6th and 7th magnitude stars the brightest being Omicron Dephini at magnitude +5.85. To locate it, find Rotanev ( Beta Delphini ) and find Deneb Dulfim ( Epsilon Delphini ) draw a small line line to the left of Rotanev. Then draw a line vertically from Deneb Dulfim, the point where these to lines meet is very close to the location of the star cluster.

 

Next we have NGC 7006 and Caldwell 47. Two very nice globular clusters for large telescopes.

 

Have you ever looked at Delphinus through 7x50 binoculars? The entire constellation fits in the optics, meaning you can have a look at all the stars that make up this beautiful constellation! It looks alot like a big open star cluster!

 

That is my list of objects I discovered through my adventure in Delphinus, my favorite underrated constellation. Please tell me yours and some of the objects in it!

Thanks

Adam

[baggywrinkle]

Have a look at Auriga. Well placed at the moment and three Messiers, 36,37, and 38 plus IC405 the Flaming Star Nebula.

[Ant]

Bootes. Nothing there of any interest whatsoever. lol

Edit: Sorry I misread the question

[acey]

Ursa Major. Huge (third largest after Hydra and Virgo), visible every night of the year, and packed with DSOs. There are 510 NGC/IC objects in Ursa Major; the only constellations with more are Cetus, Coma Berenices, Leo and Virgo - of which I'd say only Cetus is arguably under-rated.

The constellations with fewest NGC/IC objects are Musca (9), Corona Australis (8), Crux (8), Sagitta (8), Chamaeleon (7) and Circinus (5). Sagitta does contain a Messier object though (M71), and is the third smallest constellation (beaten only by Equuleus and Crux).

Bootes, incidentally, has 493 NGC/ICs - so I disagree with the previous post!

[YKSE]

 

10 minutes ago, acey said:

Ursa Major. Huge (third largest after Hydra and Virgo), visible every night of the year, and packed with DSOs. There are 510 NGC/IC objects in Ursa Major; the only constellations with more are Cetus, Coma Berenices, Leo and Virgo - of which I'd only say Cetus is arguably under-rated.

I'd like to agree that Cetus is under-rated. I've been observing galaxies in the area lately, huge amount of galaxies doable for a 8" in a dark site.

[John]

I think Draco is a bit underrated. It's big but long and sprawling. Some interesting objects along it's winding path though.

[Bart]

I agree, Draco is a fine spot to hunt many galaxies. They're not spectacular but there are many, especially if you have decent aperture. The cats eye is there and it's one of my favs 

[Putaendo Patrick]

Without selecting any in particular, I would propose the constellations of the Southern Hemisphere. Not because they are "under-rated", but because not many people up North have the opportunity to view them. You're all missing out, folks !

[A budding astronomer]

47 minutes ago, Putaendo Patrick said:

Without selecting any in particular, I would propose the constellations of the Southern Hemisphere. Not because they are "under-rated", but because not many people up North have the opportunity to view them. You're all missing out, folks !

5 or 6 years ago my parents said there may of been a chance of moving to Tasmania but sadly we didn't move

[John]

45 minutes ago, Putaendo Patrick said:

Without selecting any in particular, I would propose the constellations of the Southern Hemisphere. Not because they are "under-rated", but because not many people up North have the opportunity to view them. You're all missing out, folks !

Yes, I can't wait to see Telescopium when I am next in the S hemisphere

The constellation guide website has this to say about Telescopium:

" The constellation is a relatively faint one, with no stars brighter than fourth magnitude. It also has relatively few notable deep sky objects."

and:

" Telescopium does not have any stars with confirmed planets nor does it contain any Messier objects. The brightest star in the constellation is Alpha Telescopii, with an apparent visual magnitude of 3.49. There are no meteor showers associated with the constellation."

 

 

[Putaendo Patrick]

Telescopium - the exception that proves the rule?