Southern constellations are those that lie in the southern celestial hemisphere, south of the celestial equator… best seen from the southern hemisphere, where they rise higher above the horizon in the night sky. Since March 2024, I’ve made two trips to Chile’s Atacama desert to image from the dark skies of the San Pedro de Atacama Celestial Explorations (SPACE) Lodge… this gallery contains those images.
Southern constellations are those that lie in the southern celestial hemisphere, south of the celestial equator. These constellations are best seen from the southern hemisphere, where they rise higher above the horizon in the night sky.The southern constellations that were visible to the ancient Greeks are mostly associated with Greek myths. They were catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century CE. The ancient southern constellations include Centaurus (the Centaur), Canis Major (the Great Dog), Hydra (the Water Snake), Cetus (the Sea Monster), and the zodiac constellations Sagittarius (the Archer), Scorpius (the Scorpion), Virgo (the Maiden), and Aquarius (the Water Bearer).
Fifteen constellations lie on the celestial equator. The equatorial constellations that lie predominantly in the southern celestial hemisphere are Aquarius (the Water Bearer), Cetus (the Whale or Sea Monster), Eridanus (the River), Hydra (the Water Snake), Ophiuchus (the Serpent Bearer), Sextans (the Sextant), and Virgo (the Maiden). Monoceros (the Unicorn) is assigned to the second quadrant of the northern hemisphere, but most of the constellation lies south of the celestial equator.
Hydra, the largest southern constellation, is the largest constellation in the sky. However, its stars are not particularly bright and the constellation does not stand out in the sky. In contrast, Crux (the Southern Cross) is the smallest constellation in the sky, but also one of the most recognizable ones because its constellation figure includes some of the brightest stars in the sky.
The constellations that were not visible to northern observers were not mapped until the late 16th century, when European navigators and explorers started going on expeditions that took them south of the equator. The southern constellations include the entire Bayer family, a group of 11 constellations introduced by the German uranographer Johann Bayer in 1603. These are Apus (the Bird of Paradise), Chamaeleon, Dorado (the Dolphinfish), Grus (the Crane), Hydrus (the Lesser Water Snake), Indus (the Indian), Musca (the Fly), Pavo (the Peacock), Phoenix, Tucana (the Toucan) and Volans (the Flying Fish).
