Vulpecula is a
constellation found in the
Northern Hemisphere, positioned just south of the Nothern Cross,
Cygnus. When the
Summer Triangle is high in the sky, you can see the constellation between
Vega and
Altair and lies north of
Sagitta and
Selphinus. A very faint constellation, most of the stars are of magnitude 4 and 5, the brightest star being a red giant more than 200 light years away from
Earth, barely visible to the unaided eye.
The name Vulpecula means "
the Little Fox", although the original name of the constellation was
Vulpecula cum Anser, meaning the Little Fox and the Goose. It is one of
Johannes Hevelius' constellations, listed along with 6 other new constellations in his catalogue
Prodromus Astronomiae, published by his wife 3 years after his death in 1690. He made up the constellation to fill a rather vacant part of the sky, and is quoted to have said, "I wished to place a fox and a goose in the space of the sky well fitted to it; because such an animal is cunning, voracious and fierce."
The famous planetary nebula, the
Dumbbell Nebula (M27), can be found in its central region.