Antlia (IPA: [ˈantlia], /ˈæntliːʌ/, Latin: pump, from Ancient Greek: ἀντλία - antlia, "bilge-water, filth") is a relatively new constellation as it was only created in the 18th century, being too faint to be acknowledged by the ancient Greeks. The IAU adopted it as one of the 88 modern constellations. Beginning at the north, Antlia is surrounded by the sea snake Hydra, the compass Pyxis, the sails (Vela) of the mythological ship Argo and finally the centaur Centaurus.
Notable features
Antlia is a faint constellation void of bright stars. The brightest star is α Antliae, a magnitude 4.25m orange giant.
Notable deep sky objects
History
The French astronomer Abbé Nicolas Louis de Lacaille created 14 constellations for the southern sky to fill some star-poor regions, among them Antlia. It was originally denominated Antlia pneumatica and commemorated the air pump invented by the French physicist Denis Papin.[2]
There is no mythology attached to Antlia as Lacaille discontinued the tradition of giving names from mythology to constellations and instead chose mostly names of instruments used in science.
Citations
References
External links
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Constellation history |
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The 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy after 150 AD |
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The 41 modern additional constellations from 1603 AD and forth |
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