The smallest constellation in the sky, but one of the most celebrated and distinctive. It was formed from some of the stars of the constellation Centaurus by various seamen and astronomers in the 16th century. Crux means cross in Latin.

Johan Bayer incorporated these stars into his Uranometria star atlas in 1603 thus making it an officially recognised constellation.

It was known at the time of ancient Greece but at that time it was part of Centaurus.

The second of the small constellations adjoining Hydra the other being Corvus. Crater although very faint it is one of the original 48 groups even though it contains no bright stars.
Crater represents the cup of Apollo and is associated with the neighbouring constellation of Corvus.

A small but quite prominent constellation which is at its highest in the late spring evenings, the crow is low in the sky depicted sitting on the back of the water snake.

According to legend Apollo sent the crow to bring the water of life, but was unable to resist the unripe fruit of the fig tree, he let the cup of water (the constellation of Crater) fall to the ground. Realising that he was taking too long he hurried back to Apollo who discovered the truth and banished the crow to the sky. Another version has this same story but with Noah and the ark.

They are located near the village of Thornborough which is in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire near to Bedale. The henges consist of a series of three circular mounds with ditches and banks that were probably in use for over a thousand years. This site is often referred to as the ‘Stonehenge of the North’.

Corona Borealis the Northern Crown which was given as a wedding present by Bacchus to Ariadne and was then cast by him into the sky when she died. It consists of an arc of seven fairly faint stars with the exception of alpha.

Corona Australis is the southern counterpart to Corona Borealis the northern crown. It is much fainter than the northern crown and is also much fainter. It cannot be seen from Britain.

Yet another faint constellation with no really bright stars, although it has an ancient legend it was only formed by Tycho Brahe in 1601. According to legend Queen Berenice of Egypt vowed to cut off her beautiful hair and place it in the temple of Venus, provided that her husband returned safely from a war against the Assyrians. When the king returned Bernices kept her promise and so impressed the gods that they transferred the flowing locks of her hair to the night sky.

Columba the Dove which represents the dove that followed Noah’s Ark, or some legends say it was the dove that the Argonauts sent ahead to help them pass safely through the clashing rocks at the entrance to the Black Sea.

If you thought you knew what a comet was then you may have to think again, astronomers are trying to work out exactly what a comet is!

Another of the small and obscure constellations added to the southern sky by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille. Circinus is a compass placed appropriately next to the constellation of Norma the Level, which is also equally obscure.