Fornax - The Furnace

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

Fornax is a southern constellation which was first introduced by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille under the name Fornax Chemica, representing a small solid-fuel heater used for heating chemical experiments.

Location: Southern Constellation 3h RA -30° Dec

Fornax contains four stars with known planets and no Messier objects. The brightest star in the constellation is Alpha Fornacis, with an apparent magnitude of 3.85.

Mythology

Being a modern constellation there is no mythology surrounding Fornax. It was introduced by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1756, after his trip to the Cape of Good Hope, where he observed the southern stars and constellations.

Deep Space Objects

NGC 1316 is a notably bright elliptical galaxy within the Fornax Cluster. The galaxy is also one of the brightest radio sources in the sky.

The Fornax Cluster is a cluster of galaxies, most of which are located in the Fornax constellation. It is relatively small, yet it is the second-richest galaxy cluster within 100 million light years. It has about 58 member galaxies.

NGC 1097 is a barred spiral galaxy in Fornax also designated as Caldwell 67. It has an apparent magnitude of 10.2 and is approximately 45 million light-years distant.

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.