A faint constellation south of Leo, introduced by the Polish astronomer Johannes
Hevelius in 1687 under the name Sextans Uraniae to commemorate the instrument
with which he measured star positions, and which was destroyed along with other
instruments in a fire at his observatory in 1679.
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Sextans above the coils of Hydra, illustrated in the
Atlas Coelestis of John Flamsteed. For the original depiction
by Hevelius, see here.
Hevelius had continued to make naked-eye sightings with his sextant throughout
his life, even though telescopes were available; it was perhaps to demonstrate
the keenness of his eyes that he formed Sextans out of such faint stars, as he
also did with another of his inventions, Lynx. The brightest star in Sextans is
of magnitude 4.5 and none of the stars are named.
Chinese associations
Three stars in Sextans formed the Chinese constellation Tianxiang, ‘celestial minister’, symbolizing the prime minister, although sources differ as to which three
stars these were.
© Ian Ridpath. All rights reserved
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