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Musca
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Musca

constellation
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Also known as: Apis
Written by
Erik Gregersen
Erik Gregersen is a senior editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica, specializing in the physical sciences and technology. Before joining Britannica in 2007, he worked at the University of Chicago Press on the...
Erik Gregersen
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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
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Latin:
“Fly”
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Musca, constellation in the southern sky at about 13 hours right ascension and 70° south in declination. Its brightest star is Alpha Muscae, with a magnitude of 2.7. This constellation was invented by Pieter Dircksz Keyser, a navigator who joined the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies in 1595 and who added 12 new constellations in the southern skies. However, it was originally called Apis (Latin: “Bee”); it was dubbed Musca by the Dutch cartographer Willem Janszoon Blaeu in 1603.

Erik Gregersen