Octans

Octans is one of the 88 modern constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Its genitive form is Octantis, its standard abbreviation is Oct, it is traditionally shown as the Octant. It belongs to the La Caille family of constellations and lies in the fourth quadrant of the southern hemisphere. The constellation covers about 291 square degrees of sky, ranking 50th in size among the 88. Its brightest star is ν Oct at apparent magnitude 3.73. It borders Tucana, Indus, Pavo, Apus, Chamaeleon, Mensa and Hydrus. In this atlas the entity is the shared sky reference for astronomical objects catalogued by constellation, so every star, nebula or galaxy located within Octans resolves to one identity.