Corvus

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann, Youla Azkarrula, Doris Vickers

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star chart

Corvus star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg).

One of the 88 IAU constellations.

Etymology and History

The Greek constellation ...

Leo and Virgo above the MUŠ-Dragon, two claytablet drawings from the Seleucid era (roughly 2nd century BCE), CC BY SMH based upon the drawings by E. Weidner (1967) and Thureau-Dangin (1922).

Origin of Constellation

Babylonian

Constellation Hydra with Crater and Corvus on the Kugel Globe (1st century BCE), detail from drawing by SMH (Hoffmann 2025), Some Results on the Ancient Globes, Globe Studies – The Journal of the International Coronelli Society, 69, 4169.

Greco-Roman

Aratos

[448?] Midway on its coiling form is set the Crater, and at the tip the figure of a Raven [Corvus] that seems to peck at the coil.

[520?] the dim-lit Crater and the Crow

(Kidd 1997)

Hipparchus

Rising (Lib II Cap V §10)

The Rising of ...

	east		south
	lam1	lam2	lam1	lam2
star
duration	2 1/8 hours = 127.5 min = 31 7/8 degree

Setting (Lib II Cap VI §10)

	west		south
	lam1	lam2	lam1	lam2
star
duration	2 2/3 hours = 160 min = 40°

Stars Mentioned

	Greek	German	English	ident.	src		lam_culm
					Lib II Cap V §10	rising, east, first
					Lib II Cap V §10	rising, east, last
					Lib II Cap VI §2	setting CrB, south, last	Psc 13.5
					Lib II Cap VI §13	setting Aql, south, first	Ari 2
					Lib III Cap I §9	rising Ori, south, last	Psc 13

Almagest Κόραξ.

id	Greek (Heiberg 1898)	English (Toomer 1984)	ident.
	Κόρακος ἀστερισμός
1	ὁ ἐν τῷ ῥάμφει καὶ κοιφὸς τοῦ Ὕδρου.	The star in the beak, which is [applied in] common to Hydra	alf Crv
2	ὁ ἐν τῷ τραχήλῳ πρὸς τῇ κεφαλῇἡ	The star in the neck, by the head	eps Crv
3	ὁ ἐν τῷ στήθει.	The star in the breast	zet Crv
4	ὁ ἐν τῇ προηγουμένῃ καὶ δεξιᾷ πτέρυγι.	The star in the advance, right wing	gam Crv
5	τῶν ἐν τῇ ἐπομένῃ πτέρογι β’ ὁ ἠγούμενος;	The more advanced of the 2 stars in the rear wing	del Crv
6	ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶ	The rearmost of them	ety Crv
7	ὁ ἐπ’ ἄκρου τοῦ ποδὸς κοιφὸς τοῦ Ὕδρου	The star on the end of the leg, which is [applied in] common to Hydra	bet Crv
all	ὁ ἀστέρες ξ, ὧν γ’ μεγέθους ἔ, δ’ ἂ, ε’ ἄ

Convex Hull for the stars inside Korax (CC BY Youla Azkarrula).

Stars within the Constellation Area

id	Label	IAU design.	description	Vmag
1	Gienah	HIP 59803	Constellation lines (Vertex)	2.58
2	Kraz	HIP 61359	Constellation lines (Vertex)	2.64
3	Algorab	HIP 60965	Constellation lines	2.94
4	ϵ Corvi	HIP 59316	Constellation lines (Vertex)	2.98
5	Alchiba	HIP 59199	Constellation lines (Vertex)	4.01
6	η Corvi	HIP 61174	Constellation lines (Vertex)	4.294
7	ζ Corvi	HIP 60189	Constellation lines	5.21
8	3 Crv	HIP 59394	Inside the hull	5.47
9	-	HIP 59728	Inside the hull	5.807
10	-	HIP 60157	Inside the hull	5.97
11	-	HIP 60809	Inside the hull	6.294
12	-	HIP 61208	Inside the hull	6.39

Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation

• 
  Hydra with Crater and Corvus on the Kugel Globe (-1st c., drawing by SMH)
• Hydra with Corvus and Crater on the Mercator Globe (1551)
  Hydra with Corvus and Crater on the Mercator Globe (1551)
• Hydra in the Uranometria (1603), Corvus not drawn but in map
  Hydra in the Uranometria (1603), Corvus not drawn but in map
• Corvus in Flamsteed (1776)
  Corvus in Flamsteed (1776)
• 
  Corvus and Crater in Fortin's Atlas Céleste, 3rd edition (1795).
• Corvus in Hall (1825)
  Corvus in Hall (1825)

References

• References (general)
• References (Babylonian)
• References (ancient Greco-Roman)
• References (medieval)