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Sky Chart and Artist Rendering of Octans
Origin:
The important navigation instrument, known as the octant, was invented by
John Hadley in 1730. French astronomer, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille memorialized
the instrument in his star atlas of 1754 with the name Octans Hadleianus
which was shortened to just Octans after the constellation's boundaries
were set by the International Astronomical
Society in 1930.
Information:
The southern constellation Octans has only one bright star and it is only
magnitude 3. All other stars in the constellation are magnitude 4 or
fainter. Octans is the southern-most constellation and actually
crosses the southern celestial pole. As such, Octans can never be
seen by northern observers. |
