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SkyTour - Delphinus - The Dolphin

Aquarius The Sun

Delphinus is a very small cluster of stars that can be found near the head of Aquila. It looks a bit like a kite. Although none of its stars are very bright, they are crowded into such a small area, that they are very easy to identify - like a small, pretty and not very flashy jewel in the sky.

You might have read about various companies that enable you to "buy" or name a star. You send them money and they send you a certificate claiming that such and such star is now "yours". There was an Italian astronomer Niccolo Cacciatore who in the beginning of the 19th century did get his name into the sky and he didn't pay a single lira. The brightest stars of Delphinus are alpha and beta Delphini whose names are Sualocin and Rotanev. Most star names have an Arabic language origin. Nobody could figure out where the names Sualocin and Rotanev came from until someone reversed their letters and got Nicolaus Venator which happens to be the Latin name of the above mentioned Niccolo Cacciatore.

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