Meet Sextans, the constellation of the sextant

EarthSky

High Factuality

Meet Sextans, the constellation of the sextant

Sextans the Sextant is a faint constellation south of the bright star Regulus and above Alphard in the constellation Hydra. The constellation Sextans the Sextant represents an astronomer’s device once used to measure the positions of the stars. Johannes Hevelius named this constellation in the 1600s. Hevelius created new constellations when he carved out dark patches of sky located between more prominent constellations. He made Sextans out of th…