Dorado

Dorado
Constellation
Dorado
AbbreviationDor
GenitiveDoradus
Pronunciation/dəˈrd/, genitive /dəˈrdəs/
Symbolismthe dolphinfish
Right ascension5h
Declination−65°
QuadrantSQ1
Area179 sq. deg. (72nd)
Main stars3
Bayer/Flamsteed
stars
14
Stars with planets5
Stars brighter than 3.00m1
Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly)0
Brightest starα Dor (3.27m)
Messier objects0
Meteor showersNone
Bordering
constellations
Caelum
Horologium
Reticulum
Hydrus
Mensa
Volans
Pictor
Visible at latitudes between +20° and −90°.
Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of January.

Dorado (US: /dəˈrd/, also UK: /-ˈrɑːd/) is a constellation in the Southern Sky. It was named in the late 16th century and is now one of the 88 modern constellations. Its name refers to the mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), which is known as dorado ("golden") in Spanish, although it has also been depicted as a swordfish. Dorado contains most of the Large Magellanic Cloud, the remainder being in the constellation Mensa. The South Ecliptic pole also lies within this constellation.

Even though the name Dorado is not Latin but Spanish, astronomers give it the Latin genitive form Doradus when naming its stars; it is treated (like the adjacent asterism Argo Navis) as a feminine proper name of Greek origin ending in -ō (like Io or Callisto or Argo), which have a genitive ending -ūs.


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