Norma was created in the 18th Century bu Nicolas-Louis Lacaille, at a time when he has filling the Southern Hemisphere with all kinds of instruments.

You can see from the chart that this constellation does not have an alpha or beta star designation. This is because since it was formed segments have been taken away by neighbouring constellations.

Norma is a small but interesting region of space lying over the Milky Way. A planetary nebula Sp1 can be found almost in the middle of Norma. A large telescope probably needs to be used to give best results.

Towards the bottom you can see NGC 6087 an open cluster containing about 40 stars and lying 3000 light years away. Best viewed with low power in binoculars or a telescope.

Just above NGC 6087 you can find another open cluster NGC 6067 containing about 100 stars.