The father of
southern
astronomy
W
hen15th-centuryEuropeannavigatorsfirstsailed
south of the equator, they watched nervously as
the North Star sank below the horizon. What new
dangers would the southern seas hold? And how would they
navigate under unfamiliar stars?
Thedangersofthesouthernseaswererealenough.Butthe
Southern Cross served as a good omen to Christian navigators,
anditwaspractical,too:itslongshaftpointstowithinafew
degrees of the south celestial pole. And in time navigators learned
to find their way using many other bright southern stars.
Bythelate1500s,theDutchnavigatorsPieterKeyserand
Frederick de Houtman and the astronomer Petrus Plancius
had invented new constellations for the leading southern stars.
Many of these were based on exotic austral creatures: Tucana,
the Toucan; Pavo, the Peacock; Dorado, the Golden Fish; Volans,
theFlyingFish;Apus,thesupposedlyfootlessBirdofParadise—
aswellascreaturesmythical(Phoenix)andannoying(Musca,
the Fly). Johann Bayer included many of these newly invented
constellations in his epic star atlasUranometriain 1603, and
many,includingalloftheabove,remaininusetoday.
But large patches of the far southern sky remained uncharted
and their patterns unnamed until the mid-18th century, when
theindustriousFrenchastronomerNicolas-LouisdeLacaille,
duringascientificexpeditiontoSouthAfricaofastoundingrange
and productivity, carried out the best southern sky survey that
would stand for the next hundred years.Smitten by astronomy
Thesonofaprosperousandrespectedfamily,Lacaille
(pronounced “la-KAI”) was born on March 15, 1713, in
Rumigny, France, near the Belgian border. His father invented
anumberofindustrialmachinesandsupportedhisfamily
through positions appointed by the Duke of Bourbon. Nicolas-
Louis studied classics, philosophy and theology. When his father
died suddenly, Nicolas-Louis, then near age 20, was left without
PARIS OBSERVATORYmeanstocontinuehisstudies.ButtheDukerecognisedthe
SWORKAHOLIC Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille (1713–
1762) was said to have made more observations and
calculations that all other astronomers of his time
combined. Today he is best known for inventing 17
southern constellations that are still in use, more than
anyone in history. This portrait was painted by Anne-
Louise Le Jeuneux in the year of his death.Introverted and unassuming, the French
astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille
invented more of today’s constellations
than anyone before or since.
WJUMBLED ATTIC Lacaille’s map of the sky below the
Tropic of Capricorn mixes classical constellations around
the edges, birds and beasts added by previous Southern
Hemisphere explorers, and devices Lacaille revered
from the arts and sciences — from the Artist’s Easel and
Palette to the Chemist’s Furnace to the Air Pump. This
second edition gives constellation names in Latin; for
Lacaille’s original French, see the next page spread.by Brian Ventrudo NICOLAS-LOUIS DE LACAILLEhttp://www.skyandtelescope.com.au 35