Constellations · Constellation · Circini · Cir
Constellation
Circinus
A draughtsman’s compass, beside the set square of Norma — the tools of 18th-century geometry, placed in the sky by Lacaille.
- Genitive
- Circini
- Area
- 93 square degrees · 85th of 88
- Brightest star
- Xami · magnitude 3.18
- Naked-eye stars
- 40 brighter than magnitude 6.5
- Highest at midnight
- late April
Look for
The Circinus Galaxy was missed until 1977: it lies just behind the dust of the Milky Way. It has an active black hole at its centre.