Testudo

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Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann


Aldabra giant tortoise = Aldabrachelys gigantea = Dipsochelys dussumieri (CC BY Childzy at en.wikipedia)

Testudo, the Tortoise, is one of the extinct early modern European constellations. It was located in modern Pisces.

Concordance, Etymology, History

Early modern astronomers invented many new constellations to fill gaps between the classical ones.

Origin of Constellation

Testudo is from Hill (1754) "Urania or a Compleat View of the Heavens"); see Barentine (2016)[1]

It became obsolete with the standardisation constellations by the IAU in the 1920s Delporte (1930)[2].

Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation

baretine ...

IAU Nomenclature

The IAU named the asteroid (16405) Testudo, original designator 1985 DA2.

The term was also proposed as a modern star name to keep the heritage of the constellation, but could not be used as it is already an asteroid name. There is, however, a traditional Chinese constellation of a River Turtle, Bie (鳖), which was used as a modern star name.

Mythology

no mythology

References

  1. John C. Barentine (2016). Uncharted Constellations: Asterisms, Single-Source and Rebrands, Springer Nature, published in association with Praxis Publishing, Chichester, UK p.193-195, Fig. B.14.
  2. Delporte, Eugène, Délimitation scientifique des constellations (tables et cartes) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1930) -- published on behalf of the International Research Council of the International Astronomical Union.