Musca - The Fly

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

Musca is one of the minor southern constellations. The constellation was one of twelve constellations created by Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman

Location: Southern Constellation 12.5h RA -70 ° Dec

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.

The constellation also contains two cepheid variables visible to the naked eye.

Musca Mythology

Being a modern constellation there is no mythology surrounding Musca. It was one of the 12 constellations established by the Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius from the observations of the southern sky by the Dutch explorers Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman.

Musca Deep Space Objects

Located on the border with Circinus is the unusual planetary nebula NGC 5189, estimated to be around 1750 light-years away from Earth. Its complex structure is due to multiple ejections of material from the ageing central star, which are distorted by the presence of a likely binary companion.

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.