Dorado is a constellation in the southern sky, created in the sixteenth century and now one of the 88 modern constellations. Its name refers to the dolphinfish, which is known as dorado in Spanish, although it has also been depicted as a swordfish in the past. Dorado is notable for containing most of the Large Magellanic Cloud, the remainder being in the constellation Mensa. The South Ecliptic Pole also lies within this constellation.
Category Archives: Stars
Dorado – the swordfish
Dorado was one of twelve constellations created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman and it first appeared on a 35-cm diameter celestial globe published in 1597 (or 1598) in Amsterdam by Plancius with Jodocus Hondius. However, when it was first depicted in a celestial atlas – Johann Bayer’s Uranometria of 1603 – it was renamed Xiphias, the swordfish. The name Dorado ultimately become dominant.