Constellation, Dove
Columba
The dove, usually taken to be the bird Noah sent out from the ark to look for dry land. It was added in the late 1500s from faint stars near the Great Dog.
From New York on October 13, 2026, the centre of Columba rises at 1:49 AM, is highest at 5:19 AM (13° above the horizon in the S) and sets at 8:48 AM.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Columba. Drag to look around.
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Evening visibility over the year
Height of the constellation’s centre above the horizon at 10 pm local time on the 15th of each month, from New York. Above about 30° it is well placed.
Name and history
Ptolemy listed some faint stars south of the Hare and the Great Dog as lying outside any figure. In 1592 the Dutch theologian and cartographer Petrus Plancius drew them as a dove, on a small map of the sky in the margin of his great map of the world. He named it Columba Nohae, Noah’s dove, after the bird in the Book of Genesis that flew back to the ark with an olive branch, a sign that the flood was ending. In 1603 Frederick de Houtman listed it as the dove with the olive branch.
Plancius showed it again on his globe of 1598, and Johann Bayer included it on his chart of the Great Dog in 1603. Lacaille gave its stars their Greek letters in 1756. Those who know the story of Argo might instead see the dove the Argonauts sent between the Clashing Rocks. Its brightest star is called Phact, from the Arabic for ring dove.
Sources: Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Columba
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phact | α Col | 2.65 | 261 light-years |
| Wazn | β Col | 3.12 | 87 light-years |
| δ Col | δ Col | 3.85 | 234 light-years |
| ε Col | ε Col | 3.86 | 263 light-years |
| η Col | η Col | 3.96 | 472 light-years |
| γ Col | γ Col | 4.36 | 870 light-years |
| κ Col | κ Col | 4.37 | 183 light-years |
| ο Col | ο Col | 4.81 | 106 light-years |
| λ Col | λ Col | 4.88 | 335 light-years |
| ξ Col | ξ Col | 4.97 | 333 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 269 square degrees (55 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Col |
| Sky | Southern sky |
| Origin | First shown on a small sky map in the margin of Plancius’s world map of 1592, as Columba Nohae, Noah’s dove |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 11 |
| Centre (J2000) | 5.9 h, -36° |
Deep-sky objects
Galaxies, clusters and nebulae brighter than magnitude 9, from the OpenNGC catalogue. Most need binoculars or a telescope and a dark sky.
| Object | Type | Magnitude |
|---|---|---|
| NGC1851 | Globular cluster | 7.2 |
Boundaries: International Astronomical Union, via Astronomy Engine. Areas are computed from the boundaries by sampling (within about one percent). Names and lines: Stellarium. Stars: HYG Database. Deep-sky objects: OpenNGC. Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. Data sources
How to use this page
Choose your place and a night at the top. The answer and the 3D view show where the constellation is, when it is highest and whether it rises at all from where you are. The chart shows its stars and lines, and the tables list its brightest stars and the deep-sky objects inside it.
Frequently asked questions
When is a constellation best seen?
When it is highest in a dark sky, which the page gives for the night you pick. Each constellation is best placed in a particular season, because the stars rise about four minutes earlier every night.
Why can I not see a constellation from my place?
Constellations far south of the celestial equator never rise from northern places, and those far north never rise from southern ones. The page says when this is the case.
What are the constellation boundaries?
The International Astronomical Union divides the sky into 88 areas with official boundaries. The stick figures are only a drawing aid, the boundaries say which constellation a point in the sky belongs to.
Related guides
- How to learn the constellationsStart with one bright pattern you cannot miss, use it as a signpost to its neighbours, and come back a month later: the sky will have turned, and you will know a little more of it.
- Altitude and azimuth: finding things in the skyTwo angles tell you exactly where to look: which direction, and how high.
- Light pollution and dark skies: the Bortle scaleFrom a city centre you can count a few dozen stars. From a truly dark site you can count a few thousand, with the Milky Way bright enough to cast a shadow. The Bortle scale puts a number on the difference.
- Binoculars for stargazing: what to buy and what to look atA pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars shows the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, dozens of star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy, for a fraction of the cost of a telescope.