Constellation of the Month: Hydra (the Sea Serpent)

 

It was tough for me to pick March's constellation of the month: Canis Minor, although possessing a first magnitude star in Procyon, is pretty tiny with two generally visible stars...that's still better than Cancer, loaded with very faint stars and a cluster called the Beehive.  Then there is Carina, but nearly all of it is below the horizon unless you happen to be living around the Equator or points south.  Instead I picked Hydra, which starts as an evening March constellation at its western end (right, looking south) that represents the sea serpent's small head and winds its way eastward as April and May constellations...it's just south of the Zodiac constellations of Cancer, Leo and Virgo.  One way to find dim Cancer...besides interpolating in the empty space between the brighter constellations of Leo and Gemini...is to locate Hydra's very visible head and then go straight northward. Alphard, the brightest star in Hydra, is also prominent in the evening March sky...it is a 2nd magnitude giant at about 177 light years distance.  On the other end of Hydra are two Messier objects: M68 is a globular star cluster while M83 is a spiral galaxy.  When considering a constellation as stretched out as Hydra...to me an example of celestial gerrymandering...I think they could have come up with a better way of "connecting the dots" and created constellations easier to recognize and identify.  But this is convention, and we're stuck with the current system for better or for worse.  In any event, other than those Messier objects I mentioned, the most interesting part of Hydra is its west end from Alphard to the serpent's head, this smaller segment in itself worthy of selection as my constellation of the month.  Next month's pick is much more clear cut, although my second choice is pretty prominent, too...