Musca

Musca is one of the 88 modern constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Its genitive form is Muscae, its standard abbreviation is Mus, it is traditionally shown as the Fly. It belongs to the Bayer family of constellations and lies in the third quadrant of the southern hemisphere. The constellation covers about 138 square degrees of sky, ranking 77th in size among the 88. Its brightest star is α Mus at apparent magnitude 2.69. It borders Apus, Carina, Centaurus, Chamaeleon, Circinus and Crux. In this atlas the entity is the shared sky reference for astronomical objects catalogued by constellation, so every star, nebula or galaxy located within Musca resolves to one identity.