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Sky Chart and Artist Rendering of Norma
Origin:
Norma, the Level or Rule, is an insignificant
constellation in the southern hemisphere.
Even the two brightest stars Alpha- and Beta-Normae were moved to another
constellation so the brightest star is a mere magnitude 4.7. The
Rule was introduced by French astronomer, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1752,
celebrating the surveying and astronomical precision measuring
instruments. The original name was Norma
et Regula (the level and the square) but was shortened to its present name
by 1930 when the International Astronomical
Union set the constellation boundaries. Earlier in history, the
star group was known as Quadra Euclidis (Euclid's Square).
Information:
Being so far south in the sky and being a diminutive constellation, Norma
is difficult to find. Observers north of 30° N lat will probably
only be able to find the region of the sky containing the constellation by
first finding the hind end of Lupus (the Wolf),
then scanning towards the lower curl of Scorpius'
tail. Norma is immersed in the southern Milky Way so it
contains rich binocular fields. For the telescope, only a few deep
sky objects are visible -- two planetary nebulae (gas ejected by a dead
star) both of which require larger telescopes and a few open clusters of
stars. |
