In the 2nd century BCE, a Greek-Egyptian astronomer called Claudius Ptolemaeus (otherwise known as. Ptolemy) gathered a rundown of all the then-known 48 groups of stars. This treatise, known as the Almagest, would be utilized by medieval European and Islamic researchers for over a thousand years to come, successfully getting to be astronomical and galactic ordinance until the early Modern Age.
Since then, a lot of other such constellations have come into sight of humans. One such constellation was the Dorado. Dorado was discovered by Dutch voyagers who were set out to explore the Southern Hemisphere, in the mid-16th century.
It took a pretty long time to find the Dorado, especially attributing to its position. Dorado can be seen in the very south of the space, and hence was not always known along with the 48 constellations. Today, however, there are over 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), and the Dorado is one of them.
The History of Dorado
As mentioned earlier, Dorado was first discovered by the Dutch Voyagers who were set out to explore the Southern Hemisphere, in the middle of 16th Century BCE. Although the navigators discovered the constellation, it was named Dorado by Petrus Plancius, who was a Dutch astronomer. Dorado is the Spanish word for a breed of the Dolphin (fish) called Mahi-mahi. This breed is said to have a skin that turns blue and then golden when it dies.
Facts, Location
Dorado covers 179 square degrees in the sky and is known to be the 72nd largest constellation known. The constellation looks like a swordfish and hence is also called so. The South Ecliptic Pole is located in the direction of the Dorado. The constellation can be viewed clearly from the latitudes between +20 and -90 degrees. The constellation is mostly composed of dim stars, which brings us to the next topic. Read below to learn more.
Star Composition
The Dorado constellation consists of the following:
- Three main stars
- 14 Bayer Designated Members
- No Messier Objects
The brightest of all these stars in the constellation is the Alpha Doradus. This binary star, Alpha Doradus, is 196,000 light years away from the planet Earth. The Dorado contains one of the most hominid intriguing objects. It is home to the Large Magellanic Cloud.
What is the Large Magellanic Cloud?
The Large Magellanic Cloud is an irregular galaxy around 200,000 light years from the Milky Way. It is the third farthest galaxy known to the humans as of yet.
The Large Magellanic Cloud is especially intriguing because of the Tarantula Nebula that was created in a huge explosion after the man had invented Telescope.
This makes the entire constellation quite interesting for the researchers and the astronomers alike. This galaxy can be seen by the naked eye, as dull and vague clouds somewhere in the southern hemisphere space.
This entire region of LMC is filled with star forming regions, with so much energy that it can be enough to form 500 million suns.
Interested in other constellations? Read about Eridanus