Apus is a faint constellation in the southern sky, first defined in the late 16th century. Its name means "no feet" in Greek, and it represents a bird-of-paradise (which were once believed to lack feet). It is bordered by Triangulum Australe, Circinus, Musca, Chamaeleon, Octans, Pavo and Ara. Its genitive is "Apodis".
HISTORY
Apus was one of twelve constellations created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman and it first appeared on a 35 cm diameter celestial globe published in 1597 (or 1598) in Amsterdam by Plancius with Jodocus Hondius. Plancius called the constellation Paradysvogel Apis Indica; the first word is Dutch for 'bird of paradise', but the others are Latin for "Indian Bee"; "apis" (Latin for "bee") is presumably an error for "avis" or "bird". This confusion seems to have prompted a rename of two constellations: "Avis Indica" to "Apus" and the constellation of the bee, Apis, to Musca the fly.
| Constellation | |
 List of stars in Apus | |
| Abbreviation | Aps |
|---|---|
| Genitive | Apodis |
| Pronunciation | /ˈeɪpəs/, genitive /ˈæpədɨs/ |
| Symbolism | The Bird-of-Paradise |
| Right ascension | 16 h |
| Declination | −75° |
| Quadrant | SQ3 |
| Area | 206 sq. deg. (67th) |
| Main stars | 4 |
| Bayer/Flamsteed stars | 12 |
| Stars with planets | 0 |
| Stars brighter than 3.00m | 0 |
| Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly) | 0 |
| Brightest star | α Aps (3.83m) |
| Nearest star | HD 128400 (66.36 ly, 20.35 pc) |
| Messier objects | None |
| Meteor showers | None |
| Bordering constellations | Triangulum Australe Circinus Musca Chamaeleon Octans Pavo Ara |
| Visible at latitudes between +5° and −90°. Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of July. | |
