Delphinus

Del star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg).

One of the 88 IAU constellations.

Cyg, Lyr, Del, Aql and Sge on the Kugel Globe (1st century BCE), SMH 2024.

Etymology and History

The Greek constellation ...

Origin of Constellation

Almagest Δελφὲν

id	Greek (Heiberg 1898)	English (Toomer 1984)	ident.
	Δελφῖνος ἀστερισμός
1	τῶν ἐν τῇ οὐρᾷ γ’ ὁ προηγούμενος	The most advanced of the 3 stars in the tail	eps Del
2	τῶν λοιπῶν β’ ὁ βορειότερος	The northernmost of the other 2	iot Del
3	ὁ νοτιώτερος αὐτῶν.	The southernmost of them	kap Del
4	τῶν ἐν τῷ ῥομβοειδεῖ τετραπλεύρῳ τῆς προηγουμένης πλευρᾶς ὁ νότιος	The stars in the rhomboid quadrilateral: the southernmos.t one on the advance side	bet Del
5	ὁ βορειότερος τῆς προηγουμένης πλευρᾶς	The stars in the rhomboid quadrilateral: the northernmost one on the advance side	alf Del
6	τῆς ἐπομένης τοῦ ῥόμβου πλευρᾶς ὁ νότιος	The stars in the rhomboid quadrilateral: the south'ernmost one on the rear side of the rhombus	del Del
7	ὁ βόρειος τῆς ἐπομένης πλευρᾶς	The stars in the rhomboid quadrilateral: the northernmost one on the rear side	gam Del
8	τῶν μεταξὺ τῆς οὐρᾶς καὶ τοῦ ῥόμβου γ’ ὁ νότιος	The southernmost of the 3 stars between the tai! and the rhombus	eta Del
9	τῶν λοιπῶν β τῶν βορείων ὁ προηγούμενος	The more advanced of the other 2 to the north	zet Del
10	ὁ λοιπὸς καὶ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν.	The remaining, rearmost one	tet Del
	ἀστέρες ἰ, ὧν γ’ μεγέθους ἔ, δ’ β, ς' γ	10 stars, 5 of the third magnitude, 2 of the fourth, 3 of the sixth

IAU WGSN names

1. Sualocin for α Delphini was approved in 2016
2. Rotanev for β Delphini was approved in 2016
3. Aldulfin for ε Delphini was approved in 2017.

References

• References (general)
• References (Babylonian)
• References (ancient Greco-Roman)
• References (medieval)