Among the 88 constellations officially adopted by the International Astronomical Union, there are four dozen so-called new constellations, identified already in the era that followed the Great Geographical Discoveries. Their names, respectively, reflect the realities important for the 17th - 18th centuries associated with the development of technology and improvements in the means of navigation and navigation. The small southern constellation Pump (in Latin form - Antlia, in abbreviated form - Ant) is one of these areas of the celestial sphere.
General characteristics and position in the sky
The constellation covers an area of approximately 239 square degrees. It contains many rather dim stars. About twenty of them have a brilliance above 6m and can be seen with the naked eye. The brightest luminaries make up a recognizable configuration - a quadrangle oriented with a narrow part to the north, towards Hydra - the largest constellation of the sky. Also located next to the Pump are Centaurus, Sails and Compass.
Pump is a constellation in the Southern Hemisphere and in the northern sky is available for observations that are best donein February, only at latitudes below 51°.
History of the constellation
A group of stars with this name appeared on the sky map in 1754 thanks to the French astronomer and mathematician N. Lacaille. Therefore, no ancient legend is connected with the constellation Pump, but it has an interesting history.
Initially, Lacaille gave the constellation the name "Pneumatic Machine" (fr. Machine Pneumatique). At the same time, he did not mean any similarity with a technical device, but, most likely, he wanted to perpetuate one of the achievements of modern technology. The name was then changed to "Air Pump" and romanized (Antlia Pneumatica), and somewhat later shortened to its modern form. It is believed that Lacaille dedicated the new constellation to R. Boyle, who made significant improvements in the design of the air pump. However, the drawing of the astronomer himself, published in 1756, apparently depicts the centrifugal pump of D. Papin, so it remains to be seen who exactly inspired the scientist for this unusual name.
In the 19th century, constellations began to be understood as clearly defined areas of the sky, rather than groups of stars, and their number was also reduced in order to reduce confusion. Further, in 1922, the boundaries of modern constellations were finally established. Unlike many others, the constellation Pump survived all the "organizational troubles" and was preserved on star maps.
Remarkable stars
The brightest luminary of this constellation is Alpha Pump,orange giant, the distance to which is estimated within 320-370 light years. The brilliance of this variable ranges from 4.22m to 4.29m. It is located at the top of the obtuse angle of the quadrilateral, characteristic of the figure of the constellation. The two sharp southern peaks are the stars Iota and Epsilon Nasosa, giants of the same spectral class K.
To the north of the star Epsilon - above the right corner of the triangle - the triple system Zeta Pump is visible through binoculars. Binoculars can also be used to see the most interesting object in the southern part of the constellation - the red giant U Pump, which is a carbon star that is living out its life. It was a luminary at a late stage of evolution, having already shed its outer shell. The presence of a very thin gaseous structure around U Pump was revealed in 2017 using the ALMA telescope.
Exoplanets
In the constellation Pump there are several stars for which the presence of planets has been established. To date, five such facilities have been opened.
Four planets - HATS-19 b, HATS-26 b, HATS-64 b and WASP-66 b - are very close to their suns, have orbital periods of 3 to 5 Earth days and are therefore extremely hot. They are comparable in mass to Jupiter and Saturn. The fifth known planet orbiting the star HD 93083 has a much longer period - about 144 days - but still it is too hot and also does not fall into the habitable zone of its parent star. It is possible that some of the stars in Nasos (including those listed) also have low-massplanets located in more distant orbits. Whether this is so, further research will show.
Deep space phenomena
The area occupied by the constellation Pump in the sky also contains objects outside our Milky Way galaxy. First of all, this is a beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 2997, which has a compact but very bright core and bar, and with distinct giant clouds formed by ionized hydrogen with a temperature of about 10 thousand degrees.
In addition, there are two dwarf galaxies belonging to the Local Group: Antlia, or PGC 29194, and our Milky Way satellite Antlia 2. This extremely diffuse, dim, so-called ultra-diffuse object was discovered as recently as November 2018 using the Gaia Space Telescope.
Of course, when viewed with the naked eye, the constellation Pump is unlikely to appear spectacular to the observer. However, due to the presence of a number of interesting stars and galaxies in it, astronomy lovers do not ignore this region of the southern sky with a somewhat strange name at first glance.
