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Musca

Quick Facts

Name:Musca
MUS-kah
Meaning:Fly
Abbreviation:Mus
Genitive:Muscae
Visible in Latitudes:10° thru -90°
Viewing Season:Spring
Best Seen In:May, 9:00 pm
Transit Date:March 31
Right Ascension:12.46 hours
Declination:-70.3 degrees
Area:138.355 sq. degrees

Star Diagram

Star Diagram: Musca

About Musca

Johann Bayer named this constellation Apis, the Bee, in 1603. However, perhaps because of its similarity with Apus, the Bird of Paradise, its name was changed.

Edmond Halley renamed it Musca Apis, the Fly Bee. Then, Abbé Nicolas Louis de Lacaille named it Musca Australis vel Indica (The Southern or Indian Fly), which distinguished it from the now obsolete Musca Borealis, the Northern Fly. When the Northern Fly was merged with Aries by the International Astronomical Union in 1929, Musca Australis was given its modern, shortened name, Musca.

Neighboring Constellations

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