Lynx describes a faint area of sky between Ursa Major and Auriga. Its brighteststar, Alpha Lyncis, is only magnitude +3.2, and few of its other stars exceed fifth magnitude. Indeed, its deviser Hevelius chose the name Lynx because an observer would need the eyesight of that animal to detect the constellation.
Lynx looks outward and 'upward' from the galactic disc of the Milky Way, out into
intergalactic space.
This unremarkable constellation was first described
by Hevelius in 1690. Because part of this star group originally belonged to Ursa Major,
Lynx has 'inherited' one of that constellation's stars - 10 Ursae Majoris actually lies
within the boundaries of the Lynx.
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