Constellation, Microscope
Microscopium
An early compound microscope, one of the scientific instruments Nicolas Louis de Lacaille set among the southern stars. It lies in a dim patch of sky below Capricornus.
From New York on October 13, 2026, the centre of Microscopium rises at 4:57 PM, is highest at 8:35 PM (15° above the horizon in the S) and sets at 12:12 AM.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Microscopium. 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
During his stay at the Cape of Good Hope in 1751–52, the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille filled gaps in the southern sky with tools of science and art. This one is a compound microscope, a microscope that uses more than one lens. He first called it le Microscope on his map of 1756 and later changed the name to the Latin Microscopium. Lacaille described the figure as ‘a tube above a square box’. There is no myth behind it.
Microscopium sits beneath the front legs of Capricornus, in an area with only faint stars. Ptolemy had listed some of them as loose stars outside Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish. When Johann Bode drew it in his atlas of 1801, he added a slide holder with specimens ready for study. Ian Ridpath remarks that the most notable thing about it is that anyone saw a constellation here at all.
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| γ Mic | γ Mic | 4.67 | 229 light-years |
| ε Mic | ε Mic | 4.71 | 182 light-years |
| θ1 Mic | θ1 Mic | 4.80 | 197 light-years |
| α Mic | α Mic | 4.89 | 378 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 210 square degrees (66 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Mic |
| Sky | Southern sky |
| Origin | First shown as le Microscope on Lacaille’s planisphere of 1756, from his observations at the Cape in 1751–52 |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 4 |
| Centre (J2000) | 21.1 h, -35° |
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.
No deep-sky object brighter than magnitude 9.
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.