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DELPHINUS
The Dolphin
Delphinus - Stellarium Art
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The constellation Delphinus has been recognized as a dolphin as far back as can be remembered, which is not surprising, considering the playful, intelligent nature of these marine mammals, and their ubiquitous, congenial relationship with seafaring Humans since the dawn of time, not to mention the grouping of stars really does conjure up an image of a breaching dolphin. There are two myths regarding the origin of the constellation. The first says the dolphin was put in the sky by Neptune (Poseidon), as a reward for bringing him the beautiful Amphritite to take as wife. The second and most popular tale tells us the dolphin was put in the sky by Jupiter (Zeus), to commemorate the rescue of the famous Greek poet, Arion, who escaped from pirates on the back of a dolphin, way back in the seventh century, BC. The constellation is also often referred to as Job's Coffin, although the origins of that name have been lost in antiquity.
The leaping dolphin is located on the edge of the Milky Way, between the two great birds, Cygnus, the swan and Aquila, the eagle. The constellation's two brightest stars Sualocin and Rotanev, are in fact the name Nicolaus Venator spelled backwards, which is the Latin translation of name Niccolò Cacciatore, assistant director of the Palermo Observatory in Italy. Since he was next in line to take over the observatory, he was presumably identifying with the alternate meaning of delphinus (dauphin) as successor or inheritor. In an apparently surreptitious attempt to immortalise himself, he published the star names in the observatory's 1814 star catalogue. It seems to have worked, since the names are still in use today. Deneb Dulfim simply means tail of the dolphin.
Four planetary systems have been discovered so far in Delphinus. The stars are too dim to see, and the planets are all gas giants. For the latest information on exoplanets, visit NASA's Planet Quest.
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