#alpha columbae

[quiltofstars]

The constellation of Columba, the Dove // E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani

Click below for some info about this peaceful constellation as well as an annotated image!

Columba, which is Latin for "dove", is a more recent addition to the night skies. It was added by Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius in 1592. He named the constellation Columba Noachi meaning "Noah's Dove," referring to the dove that gave Noah information that the Great Flood was over.

There are a few named stars here. In order of brightness:

Phact (α Columbae) is a solitary blue giant star about 261 light years away. Its name comes from the Arabic word fākhitah meaning "ring dove."

Wazn (β Columbae) is a solitary orange giant star about 87 light years away. Its name comes from the Arabic word wazn meaning "weight," although we don't know why this was attributed to this star.

Elkurud (θ Columbae) is another solitary blue giant star, this one about 780 light years away. About 4.7 million years ago, this star was relatively close to the Sun, only about 11 light years away. Its name comes from the Arabic word al-furūd meaning "the solitary ones."

Kosjenka (WASP-63) is a Sun-like star about 942 light years away. It has one confirmed exoplanet orbiting it, about a third the mass of Jupiter, named Regoč. Both names were given by the people of Croatia: Kosjenka and Regoč are characters in the book Croatian Tales of Long Ago by Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić.