Abbreviation:

Lup

English name:

Wolf

Coordinates

see Stellar data

Particulars:

• Binaries epsilon Lup, eta Lup, kappa Lup, mu Lup, xi Lup, pi Lup
• Open star cluster NGC 5822
• Globular Clusters NGC 5986, NGC 5927

General:

Lupus belongs to the constellations of the Southern Hemisphere roughly between DECL=-30 degrees and DECL=-55 degrees and RA=14h 20m and RA=16h 15m, respectively.
It is located between Centaurus on the western and Scorpius and Norma on the eastern boundary. In the north Lupus borders on Libra, to the south it tops Circinus.

As a part of the Milky Way stretches through Lupus it is an interesting part of the sky for simple stargazing with binoculars.

Stars and objects

To split Episilon Lup into its components an 4 to 5 inch scope is required. The pair consists of an 3mag B2 star with a 9mag companion.
A similar big difference in brightness is present in eta Lup. An 8 mag star is circling a B2.5 subgiant of 3.42 mag.
NGC 5822 is a nice object for binoculars and small telescopes. The star cluster is fairly large and consists of about 100 faint stars.

Mythological Background:

There is no clear track of what was Lupus thought in mythology. It is sitting right in front of Centaurus whether threatening or running away is not clear.
Donald Menzel (A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets, 1964) considered it to represent the Erymanthian boar which has been captured alive by Hercules as one of his tasks.