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Vulpecula
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Ursa major constellation illustration art. (Big Dipper) stars, space, night sky)
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Latin:
“Little Fox”
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Vulpecula

astronomy
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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Britannica Editors
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....
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History

Vulpecula, constellation in the northern sky at about 20 hours right ascension and 25° north in declination. It is a faint constellation; its brightest star is Alpha Vulpeculae, with a magnitude of 4.5. Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius invented this constellation in 1687. It originally represented a fox with a goose in its mouth, and Alpha Vulpeculae is sometimes called Anser, which is Latin for “Goose.”

Erik Gregersen