Corvus - The Crow

For northern observers, Corvus is a spring grouping visible from April through June. You can find this small constellation near Virgo by continuing the arc through Arcturus and Spica southward for about 15 degrees.

History and Mythology

Corvus is a small constellation with many rich legends. One Greek myth represents a white crow sent by Apollo to watch over his lover Coronis. In spite of the crows watching, Coronis was unfaithful, resulting in Apollo cursing the crow, and turning the crow's feathers black.

Another Greek myth has Corvus taking water to Apollo. Corvus became distracted and stopped to wait for figs to ripen so he could eat them. He remembered his mission, and knew that Apollo would be angry. He picked up a water serpent and took it to Apollo, claiming that the serpent attacked him and caused the delay. Apollo, who knew the truth, was so angry that he cast all of them into the sky. Corvus now sits in the sky within sight of the cup, but he can never drink because it is guarded by the serpent.

To the Arabs, the stars in the constellation were a tent. Mariners often called Corvus "the Sail", because the star pattern resembles a rigged sail.

Notable Objects

The four main stars of Corvus form a distinct quadrilateral. The stars are nearly the same brightness. Gienah is the brightest star at magnitude 2.6, a blue-white giant that is 1,200 times more luminous than our Sun. Third magnitude Algorab, or Delta Corvi, is a wide binary star 88 light years away, with 3rd and 8th magnitude components that have an interesting color contrast. Alchiba is the fifth-brightest star in Corvus, even though it carries the Greek letter designation Alpha Corvi.

NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 are known as the Antennae galaxies, and sometimes called the Ring-Tailed Galaxy. They are located near western edge of Corvus. This pair has a high surface brightness, and appears slightly blue. NGC 4038-4039 are colliding galaxies with a thin tail of material extending outward from their centers.

NGC 4361 is a little planetary nebula in Corvus, appearing as a 10.3 magnitude patch 45 arcseconds in diameter.