Constellation Monoceros (Unicorn)

Properties

Monoceros is an inconspicuous constellation surrounded by conspicuous constellations like Gemini in the north, Orion in the west and Canis Maior in the south. The band of the Milky Way runs across the constellation and supplies it with a multitude of open star clusters and bright, diffuse nebulae - including the star cluster of the Rosette Nebula, which can be seen with the naked eye. The constellation area is 482 square degrees and the center culminates around midnight on January 5th. ^{[9, 15]}

Data for constellation Monoceros ^[150]
IAU Name	Monoceros
IAU Genitive	Monocerotis
IAU Abbr.	Mon
English Name	Unicorn
Season (47° N)	October … March
Right Ascension	05^h 55^m 52^s … 08^h 11^m 24^s
Declination	-11° 22' 08" … +11° 56' 00"
Area	482 deg²
Neighbours (N↻)	Gem, Ori, Lep, CMa, Pup, Hya, CMi

Deep-Sky Object Descriptions

IC 446

Dreyer's Nebula
IC 447

Seagull Nebula
IC 2177

Messier 50

Rosette Nebula
NGC 2237+

NGC 2245

NGC 2247

Hubbles variable Nebula
NGC 2261

Conus Nebula
NGC 2264

Butterfly Nebula
NGC 2346

NGC 2353

History

Although unicorns play an essential role in numerous legends and fables, this constellation was not yet known in ancient times. It was included in his star map by Kepler's son-in-law, the mathematician Jakob Bartsch, in 1624 after it had been used sporadically beforehand. ^[7] Others attribute this constellation to Johannes Hevelius, who is said to have drawn it a few decades later, in 1690. ^[21]

Catalogs

Yale Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed. (Hoffleit+, 1991) ^[154]
HR	B	F	RA [hms]	Dec [dms]	vMag	spType	dMag	Sep ["]
2107		1	05 59 01.0	-09 22 56	6.12	F2IV
2108		2	05 59 04.3	-09 33 30	5.03	A6IIIm vs
2128		3	06 01 50.4	-10 35 53	4.95	B5III	3.5	1.9
2227	γ	5	06 14 51.3	-06 16 29	3.98	K1.5IIIBa0.3	9.0	51.4
2255		6	06 17 35.2	-10 43 31	6.75	F0Del Del
2273		7	06 19 42.8	-07 49 23	5.27	B2.5V
2298	ε	8	06 23 46.1	+04 35 34	4.44	A5IV	2.2	12.9
2344		10	06 27 57.6	-04 45 44	5.06	B2V	4.2	77.2
2356	β	11	06 28 49.0	-07 01 58	4.60	B3Ve v	0.5	7.1
2357	β	11	06 28 49.5	-07 02 04	5.40	B3ne	0.5	7.1
2358	β	11	06 28 49.5	-07 02 04	5.60 H	B3e	0.5	7.1
2382		12	06 32 19.2	+04 51 21	5.84	K0V
2385		13	06 32 54.2	+07 19 59	4.50	A0Ib
2404		14	06 34 46.4	+07 34 21	6.45	A0V s	4.0	10.5
2456		15	06 40 58.7	+09 53 44	4.66	O7V((f))	3.5	2.9
2494		16	06 46 32.4	+08 35 14	5.93	B2.5V
2503		17	06 47 19.8	+08 02 14	4.77	K4III
2506		18	06 47 51.6	+02 24 44	4.47	K0+IIIaBa0.2
2648		19	07 02 54.8	-04 14 21	4.99	B1V e
2701		20	07 10 13.7	-04 14 14	4.92	K0III	4.9	186.2
2707		21	07 11 23.6	-00 18 07	5.45	A8Vn-F3Vn v
2714	δ	22	07 11 51.9	-00 29 34	4.15	A2V	9.2	32.0
2744		24	07 15 19.3	-00 09 41	6.41	G5III	5.8	3.8
2927		25	07 37 16.7	-04 06 40	5.13	F6III	5.3	121.7
2970	α	26	07 41 14.8	-09 33 04	3.93	K0III
3122		27	07 59 44.1	-03 40 47	4.93	K2III
3141		28	08 01 13.3	-01 23 33	4.68	K4III
3188	ζ	29	08 08 35.6	-02 59 02	4.34	G2Ib	4.9	66.0

Revised+Historic NGC/IC, Version 22/9, © Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke ^[277]
Planetary Nebulae
Name	RA	Dec	Type	bMag	vMag	Dim	Dreyer Description	Identification, Remarks
NGC 2346	07 09 22.5	-00 48 22	PN	11.8	11.6	0.87	* 10 nff with S, vF, neb	PK 215+3.1, CS=11.2
Galactic Nebulae
Name	RA	Dec	Type	bMag	vMag	Dim	Dreyer Description	Identification, Remarks
NGC 2149	06 03 30.7	-09 43 50	RN			3 × 2	F, * 12 inv	vdB 66
NGC 2170	06 07 31.3	-06 23 53	RN			2 × 2	* 9 in vF, pL neb, E 170°	LBN 994
NGC 2182	06 09 30.9	-06 19 35	RN			2 × 2	pB *, L neb, E 90° ±	LBN 998
NGC 2183	06 10 46.9	-06 12 43	RN			1 × 1	eF, S, lE, * 11·12 sp	LBN 996
NGC 2185	06 11 00.4	-06 13 36	RN			1 × 1	* 11 and 4 S st in vF, L neb	LBN 997, part of N 2185
NGC 2237	06 30 54.6	+05 02 52	EN			80 × 50	pB, vvL, dif (? = 5361)	w part of Rosette nebula
NGC 2238	06 30 40.3	+05 00 47	EN	6.0		80 × 60	S * in nebulosity	LBN 948, knot in Rosette nebula
NGC 2245	06 32 41.2	+10 09 24	RN			5 × 4	pL, com, mbN sf alm , 7·8 nf	LBN 904
NGC 2246	06 32 33.7	+05 07 42	EN				eeF, L, irrR, e diffic	LBN 948, part of Rosette nebula
NGC 2247	06 33 05.1	+10 19 18	RN			6 × 6	Neb * in eF, eL neby, nf IV 3	LBN 901
NGC 2261	06 39 09.5	+08 44 40	EN+RN		9.0	3 × 1	B, vmE 330°, N com = * 11	LBN 920, Hubble's variable nebula
NGC 2282	06 46 51.2	+01 18 54	RN			3 × 3	* 10 in F, R neby	IC 2172, CED 87, assoc. w OCL 535
NGC 2313	06 58 02.8	-07 56 42	EN				F, vS, R	LDN 1653
NGC 2316	06 59 40.8	-07 46 38	RN+EN			4 × 3	pF, S, R, r, S st inv	NGC 2317, LBN 1021, part of one neb
IC 446	06 31 06.0	+10 27 35	RN+*			5 × 4	Neb * 10m	IC 2167, LBN 898, CED 77
IC 447	06 31 04.0	+09 52 00	RN			25 × 20	vF, eeL, dif	IC 2169, LBN 903
IC 448	06 32 45.0	+07 23 18	RN			15 × 10	Neby, np * 5 mag	LBN 930, DG 107
IC 466	07 08 38.9	-04 19 02	EN			1 × 1	* 11.5 in vF neb	CED 92, Sh2-288
IC 2177	07 04 25.3	-10 27 13	EN			20 × 20	pB, eL, iR, v dif	LBN 1027, vdB 93, Sh2-292, Be star
Open Clusters
Name	RA	Dec	Type	bMag	vMag	Dim	Dreyer Description	Identification, Remarks
NGC 2215	06 20 49.2	-07 17 02	II2p		8.4	8	Cl, cL, pRi, pC, st 11…15	OCL 550
NGC 2219	06 23 44.3	-04 40 36	OCL			10	Cl, P, vlC, st 6, 11…12
NGC 2225	06 26 37.5	-09 38 32	OCL			40	Cl, P, lCM, st 12…15	NGC 2226
NGC 2232	06 27 15.0	-04 45 30	IV3p		4.2	45	B * (10 Monoc) + CL	OCL 545
NGC 2236	06 29 39.6	+06 49 51	III2p		8.5	8	Cl, pRi, pC, st 10, 12…15	OCL 501
NGC 2244	06 32 19.0	+04 51 24	II3p	5.3	4.8	24	Cl, beautiful, st sc (12 Monoc)	NGC 2239, OCL 515, in Rosette nebula
NGC 2250	06 33 49.8	-05 05 04	IV2p		8.9	10	Cl, pRi, lC, iF, st 8, 12…14	OCL 547, *Grp ?
NGC 2251	06 34 38.4	+08 21 59	III2p		7.3	10	Cl, vL, E, Ri, lC	OCL 499
NGC 2252	06 34 19.8	+05 19 22	IV2p	7.7		18	Cl, vL, pRi, lC, st S	OCL 514
NGC 2254	06 35 46.6	+07 40 15	I2p		9.1	6	Cl, S, pC, iF, st 11…13	OCL 500
NGC 2259	06 38 33.3	+10 52 57	II2p		10.8	3.5	Cl, cRi, eC, iF, st eS	OCL 492
NGC 2260	06 38 03.0	-01 28 20	OCL			20	Cl, vL, P, vlC, st L & S
NGC 2262	06 39 38.7	+01 08 30	I2p		11.3	4	Cl, vC, iR, bM, st eS	OCL 531
NGC 2264	06 40 58.2	+09 53 44	IV3pn		4.1	40	15 Monoc, Cl, **, ? Neb	OCL 495, LBN 911, Christmas Tree cluster
NGC 2269	06 43 17.0	+04 37 28	II2p		10.0	3	Cl, vmC, not Ri, st vS	OCL 524
NGC 2270	06 43 57.7	+03 28 45	OCL				Cl, lC, not Ri
NGC 2286	06 47 40.1	-03 08 52	IV3m		7.5	15	Cl, L, C, ab 100 st 9…15	OCL 548
NGC 2301	06 51 45.2	+00 27 33	I3m		6.0	15	Cl, Ri, L, iF, st L & S	OCL 540
NGC 2302	06 51 56.6	-07 05 04	II2p	9.1	8.9	2.5	Cl, L, P, lC	NGC 2299, OCL 554
NGC 2306	06 54 29.5	-07 11 55	OCL				Cl, P, vlC	* cloud?
NGC 2309	06 56 03.6	-07 10 28	II2m		10.5	5	Cl, pL, pRi, mC, st 13	OCL 557
NGC 2311	06 57 47.5	-04 36 41	III2p		9.6	7	Cl, lC, not Ri	OCL 553
NGC 2323	07 02 47.8	-08 22 33	II3m		5.9	15	! Cl, vL, Ri, pC, E, st 12…16	M 50, OCL 559
NGC 2324	07 04 07.9	+01 02 41	II2r		8.4	8	Cl, L, Ri, cC, st 12…16	OCL 542
NGC 2335	07 06 49.4	-10 01 43	III3m		7.2	7	Cl, L, lC	OCL 562
NGC 2338	07 07 43.0	-05 43 00	OCL				Cl, vlC	*Grp ?
NGC 2343	07 08 06.7	-10 37 00	III3p		6.7	6	Cl, cL, P, lC	OCL 565
NGC 2349	07 10 48.1	-08 35 34	OCL				Cl, cL, P, cC
NGC 2353	07 14 30.3	-10 15 57	II2p		7.1	18	Cl, L, lC, one vB *	OCL 567
NGC 2364	07 20 46.4	-07 32 58	OCL				Cl, pC, st pL, bifid
NGC 2368	07 21 02.2	-10 22 28	IV2p		11.8	3	Cl, S, pRi, st 15	OCL 571
NGC 2506	08 00 01.7	-10 46 11	I2r		7.6	12	Cl, pL, vRi, C, st 11…20	OCL 593
Galaxies
Name	RA	Dec	Type	bMag	vMag	Dim	Dreyer Description	Identification, Remarks
NGC 2377	07 24 56.7	-09 39 38	Sc	13.5	12.7	1.7 × 1.3	eF, vS * inv, * 11 s	UGCA 132, 3C 178, IRAS 07225-0933, CGMW 1-839
NGC 2494	07 59 07.2	-00 38 15	SB0-a	14.0	13.1	0.9 × 0.7	F, S, lE	IC 487, UGC 4141, MCG 0-21-1, CGCG 3-2, IRAS 07565-0030

References

7	«Der grosse Kosmos-Himmelsführer» von Ian Ridpath und Wil Tirion; Kosmos Verlag; ISBN 3-440-05787-9
9	«Drehbare Sternkarte SIRIUS» von H. Suter-Haug; Hallwag-Verlag, Bern
15	«Hartung's Astronomical Objects for Southern Telescopes» by David Malin and David J. Frew; Melbourne University Press 1995; ISBN 0-522-84553-3
21	«Taschenatlas der Sternbilder» von Josef Klepesta und Antonin Rükl; Verlag Werner Dausien; ISBN 3-7684-2384-0
150	IAU: The Constellations, 11. Oktober 2020; iau.org/public/themes/constellations
154	Yale Bright Star Catalog, 15. Oktober 2020; tdc-www.harvard.edu/catalogs/bsc5.html
277	«Historische Deep-Sky Kataloge» von Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke; klima-luft.de/steinicke (2021-02-17)