Microscopium
What is Microscopium?
Constellations· Southern spring · faint stars south of Capricornus. Lacaille's tribute to the microscope. Made of fifth-magnitude stars, it looks like empty sky to the eye, yet it holds AU Microscopii, a young star with a dusty disk that is a favourite of exoplanet researchers.
📍 Visible from where you are right now — computed in your browser
bearing · altitude · rise time · best time tonight
Where Microscopium is in your sky right now: https://nowsky.org/solar/sky?sel=con:Microscopium — location and time set automatically, no login.
Stars of the figure
| Star | Magnitude |
|---|---|
| Alpha Microscopii | 4.9 |
The 1 brightest of the 2 stars used in the figure (1 lines). Lower magnitude means brighter.
Constellation basics
| Season | Aug–Oct evenings, low south; just visible from Korea |
|---|---|
| Brightest star | γ Microscopii, mag 4.7 |
| How to find | directly south of Capricornus, west of Piscis Austrinus |
| Area rank | 66th of 88 |
Figures are representative approximations. Source: compiled from NASA and IAU public data.
Frequently asked
- When can I see Microscopium?
- Aug–Oct evenings, low south; just visible from Korea.
- How do I find Microscopium?
- directly south of Capricornus, west of Piscis Austrinus.
- What is the brightest star in Microscopium?
- Alpha Microscopii, magnitude 4.9.
- Where is Microscopium in the sky right now?
- Open the sky view for your location and time and it shows the position in the sky right now.
Lacaille 8760 — the brightest red dwarf
Microscopium holds Lacaille 8760, a red dwarf 13 light-years away. At magnitude 6.7 it sits at the naked-eye limit under a very dark sky, yet among red dwarfs it is the brightest in the heavens. Three quarters of the Milky Way's stars are red dwarfs, but they are so dim that this is practically the only one the eye can reach, making the constellation a rare place to see the commonest kind of star for oneself.
It is also a flare star, occasionally leaping several times in brightness for a few minutes. Catalogued by Lacaille from the Cape of Good Hope in the 1750s, it carries his name and number as well as the variable-star designation AX Microscopii. Within the constellation Lacaille made to honour his instruments remains a star he himself recorded.
The constellation in depth
Microscopium is one of the scientific-instrument constellations Lacaille added to the southern sky in the 1750s, commemorating the compound microscope invented in the 17th century. Its brightest star is only magnitude 4.7, making it one of the faintest of the 88; from a city you may not find a single star. It ranks 66th in area among the 88 constellations.
Small as it is, it matters to science. AU Microscopii, a young red dwarf about 32 light-years away, shows an edge-on dust disk in Hubble images, and two planets have been confirmed inside it. Gamma Microscopii is calculated to have passed within about six light-years of the Sun some 3.8 million years ago. Both make it a small but genuinely interesting corner of the sky.
At declinations of −28° to −45°, its northern part rises low above the southern horizon from Korea on September nights, directly below Capricornus and to the right of Fomalhaut. In the Sky view, set Seoul on a September night and scan the southern horizon, or pick a southern city. Turn on the constellation lines to see how its faint stars connect.
Related
Figures are representative approximations. Simulated positions use J2000 mean elements.