The Sea Serpent (Hydra) is the largest constellation in the sky. It is long and narrow and consists of rather faint stars. The brightest star is Alphard, marking the heart of the Sea Serpent. It has a brightness of only 2 magnitudes. The large number of faint stars and the size make it rather difficult to identify the Hydra in the night-sky. Hydra supposedly was killed by Hercules.
 
Hydra contains a number of interesting deek-sky objects even for amateur telescopes. M48 is an open star cluster comprising some 80 stars. M83 is a spiral galaxy. NGC 3242 is a planetary nebula. Hydra also contains a number of variable stars that can be observed with amateur instruments.

This constellation belongs to the zodiac. Its time of the year is between and . This constellation does not belong to the zodiac. It's brightest star is (not in database).

Neighboring constellations are Cancer, Canis Minor, Centaurus, Corvus, Crater, Leo, Libra, Lupus, Monoceros, Puppis, Pyxis, Sextans, Virgo, and Antlia. Have a look at our full list of all constellations.

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M83 (NGC 5236, Southern Pinwheel Galaxy)

a spiral galaxy in the constellation Sea Serpent

Image credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgement: William Blair (Johns Hopkins University)

M68 (NGC 4590)

a globular star cluster in the constellation Sea Serpent

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA