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 Tales" by Ian Ridpath (1988, p.151) and "Star Names - Their Lore and Meaning" by R. H. Allen (1899), and have a dedicated chapter in "The Lost Constellations" by John C. Barentine (2015, Ch. 29, p. 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 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 des sciences, France) 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.

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,

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 size comparison diagram, relative to a human, wikicommons user LitigiousOx 2021.

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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)

Emoji

random versions of "dodo"-emojis displayed by a search engine

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
• 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"
• 56 Hya (5.2 mag, SIMBAD)

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