Apus is one of a dozen Southern Hemisphere constellations introduced in the seventeenth century by Johann Bayer. This ‘Bird of Paradise’ has a wide binary, quite suitable for binoculars. The constellation is south of Triangulum Australe but it is easiest to find alpha Apodis by dropping due south from alpha Centauri three full FOVs.
Alpha Apodis is a 4th-magnitude star in the faint Southern Hemisphere constellation of Apus, ‘Bird of Paradise’. The star is found by dropping due south three complete FOVs from alpha Centauri. Here you can see the only binary of interest in the constellation -- delta -- at the opposite edge. This wide binary (4.7, 5.3, PA 12º and separation 103") is nicely suited for binoculars. You may find the two components to have a slight colour contrast, reddish and orange, although most observers report both as orange.
