Dorado

Abbreviation:  Dor
English Name:  The Goldfish
Genitive: Alpha Dorado
Hemisphere:  Southern Hemisphere (Never visible from the UK.)
Location: Between the constellations of Volans and Reticulum.
Visible between latitudes:  +15 and -90 degrees
Best season: Winter
Seen in three seasons: Autumn, Winter and Spring
Best seen in:  January
Seen between: November and February
Right Ascension (RA):  05 hour
Declination (DEC):  -65 degrees
Area (square degrees):  179 (72nd)

Dorado (The Goldfish)

• Dorado is notable for containing the bulk of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), our nearest neighbouring galaxy.

Messier Objects

• No Messier objects in Dorado.

Features of Interest

• Dorado contains part of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), it is rich in deep sky objects; irregular galaxy and a satellite of our Milky Way.
• NGC 2070 – Tarantula Nebula (30 Doradus); a bright nebula in LMC, visible to the naked-eye from Australia, even under dark conditions it was a fascinating sight! – it contains the extremely thick Open Cluster:- R136. Tarantula?, because its glowing gas extending from it gives it appearing of large spider.

Named Stars

• Alpha Dorado; Blue-white star; brightest star in Dorado.
• Beta Dorado; yellow-white super-giant star.

Others

• Photo of the constellation; Dorado, as it appears to the naked eye. (Lines have been added for clarity.)
• Sky Chart  –  Dorado
• List of stars in Dorado.

 

Back to The 88 Constellations Lists  page.