21Eridanus, The River
NAME: Eridanus (air-uh-DAHN-us)
SEASON: Autumn
CULMINATION: midnight, 10 November
ABBREVIATION: Eri
GENITIVE: Eridani (air-uh-DAHN-ee)
NEIGHBORS: Cae, Cet, For, Hor, Hyi, Lep, Ori, Phe, Tau
BINOCULAR OBJECTS: none
URBAN OBJECTS: none
Eridanus is a dim, large, sprawling, southerly constellation, ranking 6th in size among the 88 constellations. It covers 1,138 square degrees of the celestial sphere, or about 2.8%. From its northern border on the celestial equator near Orion, Eridanus winds its way southwest, terminating near declination -57° at the 0th magnitude star Achernar, which means “the end of the river.” The southerly section of Eridanus, including Achernar, never rises above the southern horizon for observers at ...
Get Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
