Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,
I had a very busy day, so I will keep this episode short (I hope). We are on a space odyssey and we are encountering another not so well known constellation. Today I hope to inspire you with Octans (Octant).
Octans is a
faint constellation located in the deep southern sky. Its name is Latin for the
eighth part of a circle, but it is named after the octant, a navigational
instrument. Octans was one of 14 constellations created by Nicolas
Louis de Lacaille during his expedition to the Cape of Good Hope, and
was originally named "l’Octans de Reflexion", French for “the
reflecting octant”. It was part of his catalogue of the southern sky, the
Coelum Australe Stelliferum, which was published posthumously in 1763. In
Europe, it became more widely known as "Octans Hadleianus", in honor
of English mathematician John Hadley, who invented the octant in 1730. There is
no real mythology related to Octans, partially due to its faintness and
relative recentness, but mostly because of its extreme southerly latitude.
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| Credits: Octans |
navigating on the stars
a lone sailer
© Chèvrefeuille
This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions. I will try to publish our new episode, Ophiuchus (Serpent bearer), later on.
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