CONSTEL (A0): Official IAU constellation boundaries (19911106)
FILE: constel.a0 (89 entries)
CONTENTS: Official IAU equinox 1875 constellation boundaries
DATASET: This file comes in HyperSky dataset A-0.5, version 19911106 (part of the original basic dataset supplied with HyperSky). Availability on HyperSky CD-ROM: Vol. 1 (1993)
DESCRIPTION: This datafile contains the official IAU (International Astronomical Union) equinox 1875 boundaries for the constellations as given in "Delimitation Scientifique des Constellations", by Eugene Delporte 1930. Although there are 88 constellations, there are 89 areas defined in the datafile since once constellation, Serpens, appears in two separate parts of the sky, known as Serpens Cauda (the Serpent's head) and Serpens Caput (the Serpent's tail).
DATA: By its nature, the datafile covers the entire sky. Included in the displayed text information are the full Latin constellation name, the 3-character constellation abbreviation in parentheses, and finally the equivalent English name. The English equivalent is particularly useful for some of the obscure southern constellations, which can be unfamiliar to the majority of northern hemisphere users.
If you set a non-BLACK line color for this file the boundaries of all AAVSO atlas charts surrounding your current cursor position will be drawn in your chosen color when you request datafile information (using ENTER or the right mouse button) or draw boundaries (with the 'b' command).
SEE ALSO: File CONSFIG.A0: Identifies the constellations in the same manner as this file, but draws figures representing the constellations instead of constellation boundaries.