Corvus - The Crow

Learn about the constellation Corvus - The Crow, location, facts, mythology, meteor showers and deep space objects.

Corvus is a small southern constellation with only 11 stars visible to the naked eye (brighter than magnitude 5.5). It was one of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy and also counts among the 88 modern constellations.

Location: Southern Constellation 12h RA -20° Dec

Corvus contains no Messier objects, but it does contain a nice galaxy called The Ringtail peculiar galaxy. This galaxy consists of the possibly colliding NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 and appears to have a heart shape as seen from Earth.

Corvus Mythology

In Greek mythology, a crow serves Apollo and is sent to fetch water, but it rests lazily on the journey because it sees a fig tree by the pond. The raven waits while the figs ripen and then slowly eats them. He sees a water snake and decides that he can use it as an excuse, and after finally obtaining the water in a cup, takes back the water snake as well. According to the myth, Apollo saw through the fraud, and angrily cast the crow, cup, and snake, into the sky.

Corvus Deep Space Objects

In this table, the observation month represents the month in which the object reaches its highest point in the sky. It can also be viewed a few months before and after depending on your location. Direction is the compass direction in which the object is located, with Z meaning Zenith or overhead.