Vulpecula
What is Vulpecula?
Constellations· Summer evenings (N) · between Cygnus and Sagitta · the Coathanger. A faint constellation tucked between Cygnus and Sagitta. No bright stars, but it holds the Dumbbell Nebula M27 — the classic planetary nebula — and the binocular "Coathanger" asterism. Hevelius created it in 1687 as a fox carrying a goose. Zoom in south of Albireo in the Sky view.
📍 Visible from where you are right now — computed in your browser
bearing · altitude · rise time · best time tonight
Where Vulpecula is in your sky right now: https://nowsky.org/solar/sky?sel=con:Vulpecula — location and time set automatically, no login.
Stars of the figure
| Star | Magnitude |
|---|---|
| Anser | 4.4 |
The 1 brightest of the 2 stars used in the figure (1 lines). Lower magnitude means brighter.
Deep-sky objects near this constellation
Constellation basics
| Season | summer evenings (N) |
|---|---|
| Brightest star | Anser (α, 4.4) |
| How to find | the blank sky south of Albireo, north of Sagitta |
| Area rank | 88 |
Figures are representative approximations. Source: compiled from NASA and IAU public data.
Frequently asked
- When can I see Vulpecula?
- summer evenings (N).
- How do I find Vulpecula?
- the blank sky south of Albireo, north of Sagitta.
- What is the brightest star in Vulpecula?
- Anser, magnitude 4.4.
- Where is Vulpecula in the sky right now?
- Open the sky view for your location and time and it shows the position in the sky right now.
Two firsts in a faint constellation
Vulpecula has not a single star brighter than 4th magnitude, yet two firsts of radio astronomy came from this patch of sky. In 1967 the first pulsar, PSR B1919+21, was detected in the direction of Vulpecula, and in 2020 the magnetar SGR 1935+2154, the first source in our galaxy to emit a fast radio burst, was identified in the same constellation. At both positions the eye sees nothing.
That the two discoveries fell in one constellation is chance, but there is a reason behind it. Vulpecula lies in the heart of the summer Milky Way, where the stars of the galactic disk are stacked deep along the line of sight, and objects left by the deaths of stars, such as neutron stars, are correspondingly many. A place sparse in stars to the eye is a crowded sky to a radio telescope, and this constellation shows that a constellation's brightness and the importance of what it holds are separate things.
The constellation in depth
Vulpecula was created in 1687 by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius. Its original name was "the little fox with the goose", carrying its prey toward the neighbouring eagle, Aquila. Over time the goose dropped out of the name, surviving only in the alpha star's name Anser — Latin for "goose".
The constellation itself has nothing brighter than 4th magnitude, but its contents are superb. The Dumbbell Nebula M27, found by Messier in 1764, shows its hourglass shape even in small telescopes. Brocchi's Cluster, the "Coathanger", fills a binocular field looking exactly like one, and PSR B1919+21 — the first pulsar ever discovered, in 1967 — also lies here.
On July–September evenings, drop 5–10 degrees south of Albireo, the beak of the Swan: that patch is Vulpecula. It is easier to remember as the region between Albireo and Sagitta than as a star pattern. In the Sky view, switch on "More objects" to see where the Dumbbell Nebula sits.
Related
Figures are representative approximations. Simulated positions use J2000 mean elements.