Corvus is one of the 48 constellations identified by the astronomer Ptolemy in the second century. Its name means “crow” in Latin. It is an ancient constellation that was known since the time of the Babylonians. They saw it as a raven, and it was sacred to Adad, the god of rain and storm. To the ancient Greeks, it was a crow sent by Apollo to fetch water. The raven wasted his time eating figs. After returning late, Apollo punished him by throwing him into the heavens. He was also condemned to endure eternal thirst. This is why the crow caws instead of singing like other birds.

NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 are a pair of interacting galaxies known as the Antennae Galaxies and the Ringtail Galaxy. These two galaxies are colliding with each other, distorting their original shapes. NGC 4027 is a barred spiral galaxy located approximately 83 million light years from Earth. NGC 4361 is a large planetary nebula with a shape similar to that of an elliptical galaxy. These objects are extremely dim and can only be seen in large telescopes, in the Corvus constellation.