The constellations are the most interesting part of astro physics and astronomy. Ever wondered of stars forming human or animal-like patterns. Those are the constellations. Lynx is one such star pattern named after the animal from the cat family the lynx.
This is one of those constellations which was not introduced in the 2nd century by the Ptolemy. It is few of those constellations which were introduced in the late of the 17th century by Polish astronomer, Johannes Hevelius. The abbreviation of the constellation is Lyn, and its genitive is Lyncis. It is a faint constellation forming a zigzag sort line. The constellation belongs to the Ursa minor group.
Characteristics of Lynx
- The neighboring constellations are Ursa Major, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Leo minor, Camelopardalis, and Auriga.
- The constellation was formed to bridge a relatively large gap between two major constellations- Ursa Major and Auriga.
- The constellation has no star brighter than fourth magnitude.
- It is located and visible between +90° and -55° latitudes.
- It is usually observed in the northern sky.
- The constellation is ranked 28th in size of the 88 modern constellations.
- Borders of the constellation- Camelopardalis borders the constellation in the north, Gemini in the southwest, Cancer towards the south and Leo and Ursa Major on east and southeast respectively.
- The constellation has six stars with planets.
- The constellation is best noticeable in March at 9 pm.
- It covers 545.5 square degrees area.
Stars within Lynx
The constellation contains 5-6 stars with planets and has no recorded messier object. It is the brightest star of the constellation is the α Lyncis (Alpha Lyncis) with a magnitude of 3.12. Alpha Lyncis also was known as Elvashak, is the only star of the constellation with Bayer designation. The star is almost 203 light years from the solar system. There are almost 97 stars within the borders of the constellation.
The constellation Lynx is rich in double stars. Following are a few major stars of the constellation:
38 Lyncis it is the second brightest star of the constellation with a magnitude of 3.8. It is almost 122 light years distant.
Alsciaukat – 31 Lyncis is the only star from the constellation that has a proper name. The star is considered 1.4 billion years old.
12 Lyncis is the star approximately 229 light years in the distance and is of spectral type A3V.
19 Lyncis is a binary star of B8V type and is 468 light years away.
6 Lyncis is a subgiant K015 spectral type and is 15 times brighter than the sun.
HD 75898 it is a subgiant with an age of approximately 3.8 billion years. It belongs to G0IV spectral type.
- Deep-sky objects
NGC 2419 also called the “intergalactic wanderer” is the most distinguished deep sky object of the constellation. Lying around a distance of 275,000 to 300,000 light years from the Earth, NGC 2419 is one of the distant known globular clusters that you can find within the galaxy. Lynx has a magnitude of 10.3.
Now you have considerable information on the constellation the Lynx.