Abstract
Quadrans Muralis (Fig. 19.1) was introduced by Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois Lalande and first appeared as “Le Mural” in the second edition of the reissue of Flamsteed’s Atlas Coelestis published by Jean Fortin in 1795. In the text accompanying the Atlas Céleste de Flamstéed, Fortin argued that the new figure was justified in the tradition of Lacaille’s naming of southern constellations after items of scientific apparatus:
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Notes
- 1.
“Between the Dragon, the Herdsman and Hercules” (Fortin, 1795); “Between the Dragon, Hercules, and Boötes” (Bode, 1801b); “Bounded by Draco, Ursa Major, Boötes, and Hercules” (Green, 1824); “Immediately north of Boötes” (Bouvier, 1858); “Between the right foot of Hercules, the left hand of Boötes, and the constellation Draco” (Allen, 1899; Bakich, 1995).
- 2.
“Le Mural, ou Quart-de-cercle Mural (Pl. 2), est encore une nouvelle Constellation que le citoyen Lalande a placée dans une espace vide, entre le Dragon, le Bouvier & Hercule. Lacaille, après avoir observé les étoiles australes, forma des Constellations nouvelles avec les instruments de la Physique & des Arts (Mém. 1752). A son example, on a cru pouvoir consacrer dans l’Hemisphere Boréal l’instrument précieux qui a servi aux observations de 30 mille étoiles, c’est à-dire au plus grand monument de l’Astronomie; & les Astronomes à venir, profitant de cet immense travail, conserveront sans doute une Constellation propre à en rappeller la mémoire. Toutes ces nouvelles Constellations sont une richesse de plus pour notre Atlas.” (pp. v–vi).
- 3.
“Dies neue Gestirn ist erst im Jahr 1795 von dem Herrn de la Lande zwischen dem Drachen, Herkules, und Bootes zum Andenken des Mauerquadranten eingeführt, womit derselbe und sein Neveu Herr le François, seit einigen Jahren, eise sehr grosse Anzahl bisher noch nicht nach ihrer Stellung bekkanten Sterne sechster und geringerer Grösse, zu Paris beobachtet haben.” (p. 8)
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Barentine, J.C. (2016). Quadrans Muralis. In: The Lost Constellations. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22795-5_19
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