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Dorado

The Goldfish, The Swordfish

Constellation of the southern sky

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GenitiveDoradus
AbbreviationDor
Constellation FamilyBayer
Celestial QuadrantSQ1
Right Ascension03h54 to 06h34
Declination-69° 54' to -48° 40'
Area (sq deg)179
Brightest StarAlpha Doradus
Optimum VisibilityDecember (Usually visible from southern latitudes)
NotesThough lacking stars brighter than third magnitude, Dorado contains the major portion of the Large Magellanic Cloud, and the point marking the Southern Ecliptic Pole also falls within its boundaries.
Map of Dorado Map of Dorado

The most conspicuous features of Dorado lie outside the bounds of the Milky Way Galaxy: it contains the majority of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a smaller 'companion' galaxy to our own.

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