Noctua: Difference between revisions
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
[[File:Sidney Hall - Urania's Mirror - Noctua, Corvus, Crater, Sextans Uraniæ, Hydra, Felis, Lupus, Centaurus, Antlia Pneumatica, Argo Navis, and Pyxis Nautica.jpg|thumb|plate 32 in ''Urania's Mirror'' by S. Hall, a set of celestial cards accompanied by ''A familiar treatise on astronomy ...'' by Jehoshaphat Aspin. London. Astronomical chart, 1 print on layered paper board : etching, hand-colored.]] |
|||
[[File:Athene noctua - the little owl.jpg|thumb|The little owl at Haifa district in Israel]] |
|||
Noctua, the owl, was an extinct constellation introduced by Alexander Jamieson (1822) "''Celestial Atlas Comprising A Systematic Display Of The Heavens In A Series Of Thirty Maps''". |
Noctua, the owl, was an extinct constellation introduced by Alexander Jamieson (1822) "''Celestial Atlas Comprising A Systematic Display Of The Heavens In A Series Of Thirty Maps''". |
||
Revision as of 01:16, 30 October 2024
Noctua, the owl, was an extinct constellation introduced by Alexander Jamieson (1822) "Celestial Atlas Comprising A Systematic Display Of The Heavens In A Series Of Thirty Maps".
Etymology and History
The joint history of the extinct constellations Turdus Solitarius (Solitaire) and Noctua in the tail of Hydra are discussed at length in Chapter 29 of John Barentine's (2015) "The Lost Constellations: A History of Obsolete, Extinct, or Forgotten Star Lore," with the origins of Noctua discussed on p. 454.
Early 19th century English atlases did not adopted Bode's "Solitaire", but retained figures of birds in the same region. Thomas Young (1807; "A Course of Lectures on Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts") replaced the Solitaire with a Mockingbird.
Alexander Jamieson (1822) "Celestial Atlas Comprising A Systematic Display Of The Heavens In A Series Of Thirty Maps" (p.49) reimagined the bird constellation. Not mentioning either Bode's or Young's version, but only mentioning Monnier's earlier version:
"L'ERMITE (Oiseau), which appears on Map XIX, was formed some years ago by M. Monnier, under the Southern scale of the Celestial Balance. I have transformed L'Ermite Oiseau into the sage looking Noctua, a bird, which, considering the frequency it is met with on all Egyptian monuments, it appears strange our astronomers have not long ere this transferred among the celestials."
Variants of the image
IAU Working Group Star Names
The name "Noctua" was discussed as a proper name for ET Vir (HR 5301, HIP 69269) in October 2024, but withdrawn due to the existence of an asteroid name "Noctua":
- 8962 Noctua (NASA JPL Small Body Database)