Lilium

Lilium in "Globi coelestis in tabulas planas redacti descriptio auctore R.P. Ignatio Gastone Pardies Societatis Jesu mathematico opus postumum" by Ignace-Gaston Pardies (1636-1673). digitalized

In 1674, the French Jesuit priest and scientist Ignace-Gaston Pardies introduced a new (now obsolete) constellation Lilium, the fleur-de-lis of France. He had reused four stars in the north of Aries which had originally been catalogued by Claudius Ptolemy as a small group of "unformed" stars in the same constellation. The individual stars of the Lily were unnamed.

Etymology and History

Lilium, Triangulum - Thomas Corbinian 1730 (CC0)

The constellation Lilium, the fleur-de-lis of France, was posthumously published in 1674 on plate 2 of the atlas Globi coelestis in tabulas planas redacti descriptio, although Pardies did not attach a name to the image. He had reused four stars in the north of Aries from which the Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius in 1613 had previously formed Apes, the Bee to model the constellation.

In 1679, the French architect Augustin Royer published his Cartes du ciel réduites en quatre tables and an accompanying star catalogue, both of which contain the constellation Lilium, this time carrying the name and the translation "La Fleur de lys".

In 1730, the constellation Lilium also appeared in Mercurii philosophici firmamentum firmianum descriptionem et usum globi artificialis coelestis by Thomas Corbinian, a German-Austrian monk who lived in Augsburg and Salzburg.

In 1795, Jean Nicolas Fortin published his commentary to Flamsteed's Atlas Coelestis and mentions the Fleur de Lis:

La tête de Méduse A l’Orient du triangle, on remarque un groupe de cinq étoiles, formant la tête de Méduse; la plus orientale est de la seconde grandeur, & se nomme Algol; cette étoile est singuliere en ce qu’elle diminue de grandeur & de lumiere dans l’espace de 2 jours 20 heures 49 minutes 1 seconde. Si l’on prend le triangle & la tête de Méduse pour les deux extrémités de la base d’un triangle équilatéral dont le sommet seroit au Midi, on remarquera trois étoiles dont une est de la troisieme grandeur, c’est la petite Constellation de la Mouche, ou le Lys.

English translation:

The Head of Medusa To the east of the triangle (Triangulum) we see a group of five stars, forming the Head of Medusa; the easternmost is of the second magnitude, and is called Algol; this star is singular in that it diminishes in magnitude and luminosity in the period of 2 days 20 hours 49 minutes 1 second. If we take the triangle (Triangulum) and the Head of Medusa for the two extremities of the base of an equilateral triangle whose summit would be southwards, we will notice three stars of which one is of the third magnitude, it is the small Constellation of the Fly, or the Lily.

Mythology

The Lily was an emblem of France: the "Fleur-de-lis" (Unicode U+269C ⚜) is a heraldic symbol. In particular, in the time of Louis XIV this symbol was dedicated to the French king as the country's representative.

IAU Working Group Star Names

Lacaille later introduced the star names "Lilii Borea" and "Lilii Austrina" for two stars in this constellation. They both were discussed by the IAU WGSN. Lilii Borea was applied in 2017, but Lilii Austrina was dropped because the respective star already was given another name.