Solitaire

Pierre Le Monnier's "Constellation du Solitaire" in the History of the French Academy of Science publication (1776)

This French term was used for the now-obsolete constellation Turdus Solitarius (= Solitaire = Noctua).

Etymology and History

The extinct constellations Turdus Solitarius and Noctua, which share some history and region of the sky, have brief summaries in Star Names - Their Lore and Meaning by Richard H. Allen (1899, pp. 418-419) and in Star Tales by Ian Ridpath (1988, p. 151) and have a dedicated chapter in The Lost Constellations by John C. Barentine (2015, ch. 29, pp. 449-464).

The classical constellation Hydra ends with the star Pi Hydrae. In early modern time, some astronomers extended the chain of stars towards Libra and even introduced yet another bird on its longer end (as traditionally, the Raven sits on the tail tip of Hydra). The constellation of "Solitaire" was first depicted in Pierre Charles Le Monnier's contribution to the Histoire de l'Académie royale des sciences ... avec les mémoires de mathématique & de physique... tirez des registres de cette Académie, from the French Academy of Science (Académie royale des sciences, Paris) 1776.

Animated GIF for the identifications of stars in the constellation of the "Solitaire" by Le Monnier (1776), modern star chart from Stellarium, GIF by SMH 2024.

Blue rock thrush, male, Spain (CC-BY Jose Maria Carretero Palacios from Jerez de los Caballeros, España), Spanish term: Roquero solitario.

Ian Ridpath elaborates that the engraver Yves-Marie Le Gouaz (1742–1816) accompanied Pierre Le Monnier's announcement of the new constellation and states:

Unfortunately the bird shown on the engraving is not the Rodrigues solitaire as Le Monnier had intended, but rather a blue rock thrush, known as the solitaire of the Philippines. Whether the error was due to Le Monnier or Le Gouaz is unknown.

Bode (1801) in his famous Uranographia takes over the idea of this additional bird but depicts it slightly differently. His label in Latin is "Turdus Solitarius" which is the scientific term for the Blue Rock Thrush, first described in Carl von Linné (Carl Linnaeus): Systema Naturae (10th edition 1758).

List of Identified Stars in Monnier's Map

Stars within the Constellation Area

id	label	IAU desig.	description	IAU name	Vmag
1	gamma (Sco)	sigma Lib	in the heart/ chest	Brachium	3.25
2	-	E Hya	in the east claw	-	4.4
3	-	60 Hya	at the edge of the wooden branch	-	5.8
4	-	57 Hya	lowest in the east leg	-	5.75
5	-	56 Hya	next to the lowest in the east leg	-	5.2
6	-	55 Hya	the next one of these	-	5.5
7	-	m Hya	the uppermost in the legs, where they join the body	-	5.05
8	-	4 Lib	the uppermost in the west leg	-	5.7
9	-	HIP 72488	the one above the west leg, surrounded by a group of faint ones (7 to 8 mag)	-	5.65
10	-	12 Lib	the northern one of the two between the heart and the legs	-	5.25
11	-	14 Lib	the southern one of the two between the heart and the legs	-	6.9
12	-	23 Lib	the faint one east of the heart	-	6.45
13	-	HIP 74732	chain of three equidistant in the upper spine: the easternmost	-	5.5
14	-	HIP 73927	chain of three equidistant in the upper spine: middle one	-	6.1
15	-	HIP 73884	the fainter one below the middle one	-	7.1
16	-	KX Lib	chain of three equidistant in the upper spine: the westernmost	-	5.75
17	-	HIP 76106	above the forehead	-	5.52
18	-	HIP 71816	the three faint ones where the tail joins the body: uppermost	-	7
19	-	HIP 71295	the three faint ones where the tail joins the body: middle	-	6.45
20	-	HIP 70961	the three faint ones where the tail joins the body: lowest	-	7.05
21	-	HIP 70518	where the wing meets the tail: upper	-	6.6
22	-	HIP 70261	where the wing meets the tail: lower	-	6.75
23	-	236 Vir	tip of the wing	-	5.85
24	-	HIP 69658	tip of the wing	-	5.5
25	-	HIP 76569	where the beak joins the head	-	5.8
26	-	HIP 72310	the brighter one of the two faint in the middle of the body	-	6
27	-	HIP 72217 B	the fainter one of the two faint in the middle of the body	-	7.3
28	-	k Hya	western edge of the wooden branch	-	4.75
29	-	l Hya	western claw of Solitaire	-	4.95
30	-	HIP 75939	in the eye of the Solitaire	-	6.2

Bright Stars within the Frame, not within the constellation area

id	Monnier's Label	IAU design.	description		IAU name	Vmag
1	-	iota1 Lib	above the neck		-	4.5
2	-	iota2 Lib	above the neck		-	6.2
3	kappa Vir	kappa Lib	above the beak		-	4.75
4	-	41 Lib	above the head		-	5.55
5	-	10 Lib	above the rump		-	6.25
6	-	42 Lib	below the beak		-	4.95
7	-	36 Lib	edge of the frame		-	5.1
8	e Vir	ups Lib	edge of the frame		-	3.6
9	delta [Lup]	f Lup	in front of the wooden branch		-	4.35
10	delta [Lup]	l Lup	below of the wooden branch		-	4.9
11	-	50 Hya	east of pi Hya		-	5.05
12	-	pi Hya	tip of Hydra's tail		-	3.25
13	-	47 Hya	last(double) before the tail tip of Hya		-	5.2
14	-	48 Hya	last(double) before the tail tip of Hya		-	5.75
15	-	59 Hya	above the wooden branch		-	6.3
16	-	HIP 76143	in front of the chest		-	6.9
17	-	HIP 70469	the one west of the legs		-	5.3

Species of Bird

The bird was native to the Rodrigues Island, east of Madagascar & east of Mauritius in the Southern Indian Ocean. It is considered a species of doves and pigeons although they were flightless and much taller (size of the swans). The Rodrigues Solitaire is considered an endemisms that derives from Madagascar pigeons, while the Dodo is considered an endemism of the same pigeon at another island (Mauritius).

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  The Rodrigues Solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria) was a flightless member of the pigeon order endemic to Rodrigues. It was a close relative of the Dodo. About One-Third Natural Size—from descriptions and drawings. Author Frederick William Frohawk  (1861–1946), wikicommons.

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  Picture of a Solitaire (1708). From Leguat, François (1891), The voyage of François Leguat of Bresse, to Rodriguez, Mauritius, Java, and the Cape of Good Hope. 2 Volumes., Edited and annotated by S. Pasfield Oliver, London: Hakluyt Society. It is a facsimile of a figure from: Leguat, François (1708), Voyage et avantures de François Leguat & de ses compagnons en deux isles desertes des Indes Orientales. 2 Volumes., London: Mortier (1708).

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  Mounted skeletons of a male and female solitaires (Pezophaps solitaria). The specimens are from the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. photo: Emőke Dénes, wikicommons.

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  Dodo and solitaire birds (unknown author 1879)

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  Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) skeleton at the Natural History Museum in London, England. Emőke Dénes (2011)

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  Didus cucullatus from Rothschild's Extinct birds (1907)

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  Dodo and Red Parakeet, attributed to William Hodges (1773)

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  Comparison of the size of the Rodrigues Solitaire and other species of pigeon with a human (by Narwhaler).

Emoji

The description reads:

A brown or gray dodo shown in full profile. Generally depicted with a curved yellow beak, small wings, a fluffy white tail, yellow or orange feet, and black talons.

May be used to represent dodos or the concept of being extinct.

Dodo was approved as part of Unicode 13.0 in 2020 and added to Emoji 13.0 in 2020.

Unicode: U+1F9A2

Transformations/ Variants

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  Pierre Le Monnier's "Constellation du Solitaire" in the History of the French Academy of Science publication (1776)

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  constellation "Turdus Solitarius" in Bode (1801)

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  Solitaire in Bode (1801) highlighted (CC BY WGSN).

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  Turdus Solitarius in Bode's Uranographia. This file is from Wikimedia Commons and may be used by other projects.

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  Animated GIF to identify the area of the constellation "Turdus Solitarius" in Bode (1801), modern star chart from Stelllarium, GIF by SMH 2024.

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  animated GIF for the comparison of the "Solitaire" in Monnier (1776) and Bode (1801); modern star chart from Stellarium, GIF by SMH 2024.

IAU Working Group Star Names

The brightest star of historical "Turdus Solitarius" was Sigma Librae, mag. 3.2, named Brachium by WGSN. It was suggested in 2023 to try naming another of its stars, if we can identify them reliably. The French "Solitaire" is an obvious name to use. The biological relative from the neighboring island, the Dodo, is much more popular and even has an emoji. Perhaps we should use this name, too and commemorate extinct animals. Or maybe use a double star for both, Solitaire and Dodo?

Suggestions:

• E Hya (4.41 mag, SIMBAD) is the second brightest star in the constellation, and is within the area of the bird in both versions, but not drawn in Monnier's map
• m Hya (5.05 mag, SIMBAD), HIP 72197 = HR 5497, is "double or multiple".
  • m Hya A has 5.46 mag - suggested name "Solitaire"
  • m Hya B has 7.25 mag - suggested name "Dodo"
• HIP 75939 (6.2 mag, SIMBAD) "the one in the bird's eye".

The name was discussed and approved by the IAU WGSN in 202x. The WGSN chose ... (not to apply/ to apply the name to a neighbouring star/ to ...) in the IAU-CSN.

Weblinks

• Le Monnier's depiction of the Solitaire (Gallica)
• Bode's depiction of the Solitaire (eRARA Zurich)
• Ian Ridpath's "Star Tales", online edition
• Video explaining the common ancestor of both, Solitaires and Dodos.
• Video explaining reconstruction and taxonomy of the dodo