Lynx (constellation)

Lynx
Constellation
Lynx
AbbreviationLyn
GenitiveLyncis
Pronunciation/ˈlɪŋks/,
genitive /ˈlɪnsɪs/
Symbolismthe Lynx
Right ascension8h
Declination+45°
QuadrantNQ2
Area545 sq. deg. (28th)
Main stars4
Bayer/Flamsteed
stars
42
Stars with planets6
Stars brighter than 3.00m0
Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly)1
Brightest starα Lyn (3.14m)
Messier objects0
Meteor showersAlpha Lyncids
September Lyncids
Bordering
constellations
Ursa Major
Camelopardalis
Auriga
Gemini
Cancer
Leo (corner)
Leo Minor
Visible at latitudes between +90° and −55°.
Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of March.

Lynx is a constellation named after the animal, usually observed in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere. The constellation was introduced in the late 17th century by Johannes Hevelius. It is a faint constellation, with its brightest stars forming a zigzag line. The orange giant Alpha Lyncis is the brightest star in the constellation, and the semiregular variable star Y Lyncis is a target for amateur astronomers. Six star systems have been found to contain planets. Those of 6 Lyncis and HD 75898 were discovered by the Doppler method; those of XO-2, XO-4, XO-5 and WASP-13 were observed as they passed in front of the host star.

Within the constellation's borders lie NGC 2419, an unusually remote globular cluster; the galaxy NGC 2770, which has hosted three recent Type Ib supernovae; the distant quasar APM 08279+5255, whose light is magnified and split into multiple images by the gravitational lensing effect of a foreground galaxy; and the Lynx Supercluster, which was the most distant supercluster known at the time of its discovery in 1999.