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ALPHA ARA (Alpha Arae). Though some of the ancient constellations extend far to the south (Eridanus and Centaurus cases in point), Ara, the Altar, taken in its entirety, is the most southerly of them all.
[567] alpha Arae, only one percent fainter than beta, is a spectroscopic binary, a variable Be star, that rotates very quickly and is surrounded by a dense equatorial disk of ejected material. The Chinese call the star Tchou or Choo ("pestle").
It lies in the northeastern corner (17:44:8.7-51:50:2.6, ICRS 2000.0) of Constellation Ara, the Altar -- southeast of Alpha Arae, south of Lambda Arae, southwest of Theta Arae, and northeast of Beta Arae.
NGC 6193 is a large open star cluster located eight degrees west of Alpha Arae. Binoculars will show about 30 stars, the brightest of which shining at 6th magnitude.
NGC 6208 is an elusive open star cluster located 1.
While there are no Messier objects, several clusters are of some interest. NGC 6193 is a very large open cluster of about thirty stars, in Ara, located eight degrees west of alpha Arae and one degree north (or about seven degrees SSW of zeta ...
 See also: Constellation, Beta Ara, Ara, Beta Arae, Solar
  
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