Constellations · Constellation · Doradus · Dor
Constellation
Dorado
A dorado — the dolphinfish Dutch sailors caught in the tropics. Most of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy beside ours, lies inside it.
- Genitive
- Doradus
- Area
- 179 square degrees · 72nd of 88
- Brightest star
- · magnitude 3.30
- Naked-eye stars
- 30 brighter than magnitude 6.5
- Highest at midnight
- early December
Look for
The Large Magellanic Cloud looks like a detached piece of Milky Way. Named after Magellan’s voyage, it was recorded by the Persian astronomer al-Ṣūfī in 964.
History
In 1987 a star in the Cloud exploded — Supernova 1987A, the nearest seen since Kepler’s in 1604. A few neutrinos from it were caught in detectors on Earth.
Look for
The Tarantula Nebula is so bright it is visible to the naked eye from 160,000 light-years; if it were as close as Orion’s, it would cast shadows.