Hydrus
The (Lesser or Little) Water Snake
Map of Hydrus

Since antiquity, the large and rich equatorial constellation of Hydra has been well known to astronomers. In the seventeenth century, though, Johann Bayer decided that a single Water Snake was insufficient for a full sky, and created a second, far less prominent, in this small region between the two Magellanic Clouds.

Relative Galactic Position of Hydrus
The thin constellation shape of Hydrus defines a 'slice' of space 'beneath' the main disc of the Milky Way.
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