Apus
About Apus
The Bird of Paradise. One of twelve constellations created by Petrus Plancius from observations by the Dutch navigators Keyser and de Houtman in the 1590s. Its name means without feet in Greek, from the old European belief that birds of paradise had no feet, since trade skins arrived with the feet removed. Lies close to the south celestial pole. Contains the globular clusters NGC 6101 and IC 4499.
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