Caelum

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann

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Caelum star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg)

One of the 88 IAU constellations. The constellation was invented by Lacaille in the 1750s.

Etymology and History

Lacaille on Caelum (1752)

Origin of Constellation

This tiny constellation was introduced by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille when he measured the starry sky from South Africa. His stated goal was to fill in small gaps between the constellations and, in contrast to the ancient myths, to immortalise the technical devices of his time. However, it is not known why he felt compelled to combine a few faint stars next to the river Eridanus into a constellation of several bundled sculpting tools. He named the figure ‘Caelum Sculptoris’ or ‘Burin’ in French. The word is singular, but can refer to several different sculpting tools, in particular various chisels and gravers. On his star map, Lacaille depicts two crossed engraving tools, which, according to his description, are held together with a ribbon. A good century later, Joh. Elert Bode draws them like a bouquet of flowers.

With regard to the constellation of the sculptor's workshop, also introduced by Lacaille, Caelum lies on the other side of the river Eridanus. There is no explanation for this.

Elijah Burritt, an American mathematician and astronomer who was particularly popular for his textbooks with very simple explanations, attempted in the 19th century to trace the new constellations back to classical references.

He named the constellation ‘Caelum Praxiteles’, meaning the chisel of Praxiteles, one of the most famous sculptors of ancient Athens in the 4th century BCE. Together with his rival Skopas, he was already considered the most important representative of the younger Attic school in ancient times. His works are characterised by their particular naturalness, and he is said to have introduced the youthful ideal images of some deities (Artemis, Apollo, Eros, etc.). These statues radiate a certain lightness and not as much pathos as earlier Greek art. It is therefore a revolutionary style.

This name did not catch on; on the contrary, astronomers shortened the name ‘Caelum Sculptoris’ to ‘Caelum’ at the suggestion of John Herschel.

Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation

• 
  Caelum in LAcaille (1756)
• 
  Caelum in Fortin's Atlas Céleste, 3rd edition (1795).

References

• References (general)
• References (Babylonian)
• References (ancient Greco-Roman)
• References (medieval)