swap_horiz Testudo Alternatives

1

Vultur cadens

Vultur cadens was an obsolete constellation identified by ancient astronomers. It’s historically significant as a Latin...

Bird Classical Obsolete Alternate

8.5 Great

2

Xiphias

Xiphias is an obsolete swordfish name for Dorado, used by Johannes Kepler in the 1627 Rudolphine Tables; Dorado contains...

Obsolete Fish Kepler Dorado

6.7 Fair

3

Chara

Chara was one of Hevelius's two dogs in Canes Venatici, named in 1690; the name survives as Beta Canum Venaticorum's pro...

Dog Obsolete Hevelius Seventeenth

6.1 Fair

4

Phaethon

Phaethon was a medieval star figure identified with Auriga, recalling Helios's son whose fatal chariot ride was retold b...

Mythic Obsolete Eridanus Seventeenth

5.8 Mediocre

5

Asterion

Asterion was one of Hevelius's two hunting dogs in Canes Venatici, named in 1690 and later absorbed into the modern cons...

Dog Obsolete Hevelius Seventeenth

5.4 Mediocre

6

Ramus Pomifer

Ramus Pomifer was Hevelius's 1690 Apple-Bearing Branch in Hercules; in 2025 the IAU named 102 Herculis Ramus after the o...

Branch Obsolete Hercules Hevelius

4.9 Poor

7

Rangifer

Rangifer was Pierre Charles Le Monnier's 1736 Reindeer between Cassiopeia and Camelopardalis, also known as Tarandus in...

Northern Animal Obsolete Eighteenth

4.5 Poor

8

Lilium

Lilium was Augustin Royer's 1679 fleur-de-lys constellation for Louis XIV, using stars later known as Musca Borealis nea...

Flower Obsolete Aries Seventeenth

4.4 Poor

9

Anser Americanus

Anser Americanus was Kepler's 1627 Latin alternative for Tucana, the American Goose, later superseded by modern Tucana i...

Bird Obsolete Alternate Kepler

4.2 Poor

10

Passer

Passer is an obsolete constellation representing a sparrow, briefly depicted on 17th-century southern sky charts before...

Bird Historical Animal Obsolete

4.1 Poor

11

Apes

Apes was Petrus Plancius's 1612 northern Bees constellation between Perseus and Aries, later renamed Vespa, Lilium, and...

Insect Obsolete Aries Seventeenth

4.1 Poor

12

Rosa

Rosa was Petrus Apianus's 1536 Rose constellation, an early symbolic addition that did not survive into the IAU's modern...

Northern Flower Obsolete Seventeenth

3.6 Poor

13

Apis

Apis was a former southern hemisphere constellation representing a bee, created by Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius at t...

Animal Southern Obsolete Bayer

3.2 Poor

14

Limax

Limax is an obsolete constellation representing a slug, created by British naturalist John Hill in his 1754 astronomical...

Historical Animal Obsolete Bode

3.2 Poor

15

Cancer Minor

Cancer Minor was Petrus Plancius's 1613 Lesser Crab in southwestern Gemini, a small northern constellation later dropped...

Obsolete Gemini Crab Seventeenth

3.2 Poor

16

Musca Borealis

Musca Borealis was an obsolete northern constellation representing a northern fly, depicted above Aries by Johannes Heve...

Northern Historical Animal Obsolete

2.9 Poor

17

Lumbricus

Lumbricus is a discarded constellation representing an earthworm, introduced by English writer John Hill in his 1754 cel...

Historical Animal Obsolete Bode

2.8 Poor

18

Felis

Felis was an obsolete southern constellation representing a cat, proposed by French astronomer Jérôme Lalande in 1799 bu...

Historical Animal Obsolete Lalande

2.7 Poor

19

Gryphus

Gryphus was a former southern constellation representing a griffin, introduced by German astronomer Johann Bode in his 1...

Mythological Historical Animal Obsolete

2.7 Poor

20

Leo Belgicus

Leo Belgicus was a former constellation mapping the Seventeen Provinces of the Low Countries into a lion, introduced by...

Historical Animal Obsolete Geographic

2.6 Poor