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Winter: Orion   Canis Major   Canis Minor   Monoceros   Lepus   Eridanus   Taurus   Auriga   Camelopardalis   Lynx   Gemini   Cancer

Spring: Hydra   Sextans   Crater   Corvus   Leo   Leo Minor   Ursa Major   Ursa Minor   Canes Venatici   Coma Berenices   Virgo   Bootes

Summer: Draco   Corona Borealis   Hercules   Ophiuchus   Serpens   Libra   Scorpius   Sagittarius   Scutum   Aquila   Sagitta   Vulpecula   Lyra   Cygnus

Autumn: Andromeda   Perseus   Pegasus   Cassiopeia   Cephus   Cetus   Lacerta   Delphinus   Equuleus   Capricornus   Aquarius   Pisces   Aries

Southern Skies: Centaurus   Crux   Lupus   Corona Australis   Piscis Australis   Sculptor   Tucana   Fornax   Dorado   Columba   Puppis   Carina

(alphabetical links)

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Hydra

The Water Snake

Hydra - Alexander Jamieson - 1822

Hydra is the largest and longest constellation in the sky. It stretches fully one quarter of the way around the horizon, and takes up two full pages of Alexander Jamieson's 1822 Celestial Atlas. The killing of the water snake (also called the many headed monster), was the second of the twelve labours of Hercules. At first Hercules had trouble dealing with the monster, because every time he chopped off its head, two more would grow in its place. Hercules finally discovered that burning the stump of a severed head would stop it from growing another one, and he was able to defeat the monster. The gods placed it in the sky to commemorate his victory.

The alpha star in the constellation Hydra is Alphard, which means the solitary one, because it is the only bright star in that region of the sky.
It is also known as Cor Hydrae, the heart of the Hydra. It is 95 light years away.

M83

M83 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies in the southern sky. It is 10 million light years away.



M48 (NGC 2548) is an open star cluster at the very edge of the constellation's western border.

NGC 3242 is a planetary nebula often called the ghost of Jupiter, and is a fine sight in a small telescope.

M68 is a globular cluster about 100 light years in diameter, 46,000 light years away from Earth.

Located near the tail of the Hydra, is the globular cluster NGC 5694. It is over 100,000 light years away.

Extrasolar Planets

No less than 14 planets have been discovered so far in the constellation Hydra.

One of these planets orbits a star visible (just barely) with the naked eye.

The star is HD 122430, near the tail of the snake.

For more information, go to NASA's Planet Quest.

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Alphabetical Links to the Constellations

ANDROMEDA   AQUARIUS   AQUILA   ARIES   AURIGA   BOOTES   CAMELOPARDALIS   CANCER   CANES VENATICI   CANIS MAJOR   CANIS MINOR   CAPRICORNUS   CARINA   CASSIOPEIA   CENTAURUS   CEPHEUS   CETUS   COLUMBA   COMA BERENICES   CORONA AUSTRALIS   CORONA BOREALIS   CORVUS   CRATER   CRUX   CYGNUS   DELPHINUS   DORADO   DRACO   EQUULEUS   ERIDANUS   FORNAX   GEMINI   HERCULES   HYDRA   LACERTA   LEO   LEO MINOR   LEPUS   LIBRA   LUPUS   LYNX   LYRA   MONOCEROS   OPHIUCHUS   ORION   PEGASUS   PERSEUS   PISCES   PISCIS AUSTRALIS   PUPPIS   SAGITTA   SAGITTARIUS   SCORPIUS   SCULPTOR   SCUTUM   SERPENS   SEXTANS   TAURUS   TUCANA   URSA MAJOR   URSA MINOR   VIRGO   VULPECULA  

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