Sky and Telescope - October 2017 - 35

Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille by Brian Ventrudo

The
Father of Southern
Astronomy

Introverted and unassuming, the French
astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille
created more of today's constellations
than anyone before or since.

W

hen 15th-century European navigators first sailed
south of the equator, they watched nervously as the
North Star sank below the horizon. What new dangers would the southern seas hold? And how would they
navigate under unfamiliar stars?
The dangers of the southern seas were real enough. But the
Southern Cross served as a good omen to Christian navigators,
and it was practical, too: its long shaft points to within a few
degrees of the south celestial pole. And in time navigators learned
to find their way using many other bright southern stars.
By the late 1500s, the Dutch navigators Pieter Keyser and
Frederick de Houtman and the astronomer Petrus Plancius had
invented new constellations for the leading southern stars. Many
of these were based on exotic austral creatures: Tucana, the Toucan; Pavo, the Peacock; Dorado, the Golden Fish; Volans, the Flying Fish; Apus, the supposedly footless Bird of Paradise - as well
as creatures mythical (Phoenix) and annoying (Musca, the Fly).
Johann Bayer included many of these newly invented constellations in his epic star atlas Uranometria in 1603, and many, including all of the above, remain in use today.
But large patches of the far southern sky remained uncharted
and their patterns unnamed until the mid-18th century, when
the industrious French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille,
during a scientific expedition to South Africa of astounding range
and productivity, carried out the best southern sky survey that
would exist for the next hundred years.

PA RIS OBSERVATORY

Smitten by Astronomy
The son of a prosperous and respected family, Lacaille (pronounced "la-KAI") was born on March 15, 1713, in Rumigny,
France, near the Belgian border. His father invented a number of
industrial machines and supported his family through positions
appointed by the Duke of Bourbon. Nicolas-Louis studied classics, philosophy, and theology. When his father died suddenly,
Nicolas-Louis, then near age 20, was left without means to continue his studies. But the Duke recognized the young man's abil-

p WORKAHOLIC Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille (1713-1762)
was said to have made more observations and calculations that all other astronomers of his time combined.
Today he is best known for inventing 17 southern
constellations that are still in use, more than anyone in
history. This portrait was painted by Anne-Louise Le
Jeuneux in the year of his death.
t JUMBLED ATTIC Lacaille's map of the sky below
the Tropic of Capricorn mixes classical constellations
around the edges, birds and beasts added by previous
Southern Hemisphere explorers, and devices Lacaille
revered from the arts and sciences - from the Artist's
Easel and Palette to the Chemist's Furnace to the Air
Pump. This second edition gives constellation names in
Latin; for Lacaille's original French, see page 37.
s k y a n d t e l e s c o p e . c o m * O C T O B E R 2 0 17

35


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Sky and Telescope - October 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky and Telescope - October 2017

Contents
Sky and Telescope - October 2017 - Cover1
Sky and Telescope - October 2017 - Cover2
Sky and Telescope - October 2017 - 1
Sky and Telescope - October 2017 - Contents
Sky and Telescope - October 2017 - 3
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