COSMOS / CONSTELLATIONS / VUL
Vulpecula (Little Fox)
The Little Fox. IAU abbreviation Vul. One of the seven constellations introduced by Johannes Hevelius and published in his star atlas of 1690.
STAR CHART
KEY FACTS
- IAU abbreviation
- Vul
- Latin name / genitive
- Vulpecula / Vulpeculae
- Position
- Right ascension ≈ 20 h 06 m; declination +20° to +29°
- Visibility from Türkiye
- Visible in full from anywhere in Türkiye. When it crosses the meridian its centre stands about 74° above the horizon from Ankara.
- Best time to observe
- Best placed at 21:00 Türkiye time around 19 September.
- Number of stars
- 71 stars brighter than magnitude 6.5 in the catalogue; 11 brighter than 5 and 0 brighter than 4.
INTERACTIVE LAB
Where is Vulpecula tonight?
The lab opens for Ankara on today’s date. Drag the time slider through the night; the “Best night” button jumps to the date when the constellation is highest at 21:00 (around 19 September). Change the city to compare the view from elsewhere in Türkiye and around the world.
MYTH, HISTORY AND OBSERVING
Hevelius introduced this faint constellation in 1687 as the “little fox with a goose” (Vulpecula cum Anser); its brightest star is named Anser, the goose. The Dumbbell Nebula (M27) and the first pulsar ever discovered, PSR B1919+21 (1967), are here.
BRIGHTEST STARS
| Star | Magnitude | Distance (light-years) | Spectral type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anser | 4.44 | 297 | M0 |
| 23 Vul | 4.50 | 339 | K3III |
| 31 Vul | 4.56 | 189 | G8III |
| 13 Vul | 4.57 | 335 | B9.5III |
| 15 Vul | 4.66 | 236 | A4III |
| 1 Vul | 4.76 | 811 | B4IV |
| HIP 99824 | 4.79 | 991 | B3V |
| 29 Vul | 4.81 | 233 | A0V |
Magnitude: apparent brightness; the smaller the number, the brighter the star. Distances derive from parallax measurements and are uncertain for distant stars. Source: HYG v4.1 star catalogue (CC BY-SA 4.0).
SOURCES
Position, visibility and best observing time were computed approximately for this page from the catalogue stars (Ankara, 39.9° N). The 88 constellations were adopted by the IAU in 1922; their boundaries were drawn by Eugène Delporte in 1930.