934 B
| name | constellation | created_by | created_date | updated_by | updated_date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sualocin a Rotanev | Del | editor.cs | 2022-01-21 17:00:00 | skybber | 2022-01-27 17:56:59.125658 |
α (3.77mag) and β Del (3.63mag), the constellation's two brightest stars, exemplify the unquenchable human desire to leave something lasting behind. If we read the names of these stars backwards, we discover the words Nicolaus Venator, the Latin name of the Palermo astronomer Niccolo Cacciatore, a long-time assistant to the famous Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi. He was anxious to keep his name in the sky. So he used a ruse and gave the two stars their own names, even though no one has the right to name a star after themselves. This lie was discovered too late, however, and the names have in the meantime caught on, and even today some atlases give them as names of unknown origin. They are the only stars in the sky that bear the name of a real person.