Tucana, the Toucan, is a southern constellation that holds the Small Magellanic Cloud and, beside it, the great globular cluster 47 Tucanae.
At a glance
| stars in the figure | 6 |
|---|---|
| nearest star of the figure | Zeta Tucanae, 28 light-years (8.59 pc) |
| farthest star of the figure | Epsilon Tucanae, 373 light-years (114 pc) |
| depth | the farthest is 13 × farther than the nearest |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Tucana
Tucana is one of the southern figures drawn up from the observations of the Dutch navigators Pieter Keyser and Frederick de Houtman and published by Petrus Plancius, named after the bright-billed bird of the American tropics. Its stars are modest; Alpha Tucanae, the brightest, is an orange giant.
Tucana’s fame lies in what shares its direction. The Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way, lies within it, visible to the naked eye as a detached piece of the Milky Way. Beside it, though far nearer, sits 47 Tucanae, a huge globular cluster of old stars that looks like a fuzzy star to the eye. Zeta Tucanae, the nearest star of the figure, is a yellow star much like the Sun.
Tucana lies near the south celestial pole and stays above the horizon all night from much of the southern hemisphere. From the northern hemisphere it is never seen.
What you see in the piece
With CONSTELLATIONS (N) on and the HUMAN EYE view (E) left behind, the toucan breaks up: Zeta Tucanae sits near the Sun and the farthest drawn star many times deeper, while 47 Tucanae and the galaxy beside it lie far beyond them all.
Questions
What is in the constellation Tucana?
Tucana holds the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way, and the great globular cluster 47 Tucanae beside it, both visible to the naked eye from the southern hemisphere.
How far away are the stars of Tucana?
The nearest star of the figure is Zeta Tucanae, 28 light-years (8.59 pc); the farthest is Epsilon Tucanae, 373 light-years (114 pc). The farthest is 13 × farther than the nearest.