Hydrus: A small constellation in the deep southern sky, created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Dutch explorers in the late 16th century. It represents a male water snake, as opposed to Hydra, a larger constellation that represents a female water snake.
Stars: The brightest star is Beta Hydri, a yellow subgiant that is the closest bright star to the south celestial pole. Other notable stars include Alpha Hydri, a white subgiant; Gamma Hydri, a variable red giant; and Eta2 Hydri, a yellow giant with a planet. Four star systems in Hydrus have been found to have exoplanets, including HD 10180, which has seven confirmed planets and possibly two more.
Deep-sky objects: Hydrus contains only faint deep-sky objects, such as IC 1717, a mysterious object that is no longer visible; PGC 6240, a spiral galaxy with shells resembling rose petals; and NGC 1466, a globular cluster that is an outlying component of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The constellation also contains part of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.
Read about other constellations