A tiny, dim constellation in the southern sky is called Reticulum. Reticle, a net of crosshairs near the focus of a telescope eyepiece used to determine star locations, is referred to as its name in Latin. (Ridpath 1989) Except for one bright star that can be seen under ideal circumstances, the constellation is best viewed between October and December and cannot be seen from north of the 30th parallel north. (Farinacci 2008)
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History
Rhombus is the name of a constellation that Isaac Habrecht II gave to this region in his celestial globe in 1621. Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, a French astronomer, replaced it with a different constellation in the eighteenth century. While he was at the Cape of Good Hope, he gave the constellation the name Le Réticule Rhomboide in honour of the reticle in his telescope eyepiece. In his star catalogue Coelum Australe Stelliferum, the name was later Latinized to Reticulum. William Croswell created the constellation Marmor Sculptile in 1810 using the stars in Reticulum to depict Christopher Columbus' bust, but this was not well received by scientists. (Kanas 2007)
In 1922, at the International Astronomical Union's First General Assembly, the constellation Reticulum received formal recognition. Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporte drew the boundaries of this and other constellations using arcs of right ascension and declination for the year 1875. At the request of the IAU, these were printed in the 1930's Delimination Scientifique des Constellations. (Kanas 2007)
Rhombus is the name of a constellation that Isaac Habrecht II gave to this region in his celestial globe in 1621. Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, a French astronomer, replaced it with a different constellation in the eighteenth century. While he was at the Cape of Good Hope, he gave the constellation the name Le Réticule Rhomboide in honour of the reticle in his telescope eyepiece. In his star catalogue Coelum Australe Stelliferum, the name was later Latinized to Reticulum. William Croswell created the constellation Marmor Sculptile in 1810 using the stars in Reticulum to depict Christopher Columbus' bust, but this was not well received by scientists. (Kanas 2007)
In 1922, at the International Astronomical Union's First General Assembly, the constellation Reticulum received formal recognition. Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporte drew the boundaries of this and other constellations using arcs of right ascension and declination for the year 1875. At the request of the IAU, these were printed in the 1930's Delimination Scientifique des Constellations. (Kanas 2007)
Features
Only the stars Alpha (α) and Beta (β) reticuli are brighter than visual magnitude five in this constellation. A Mira variable, R Reticuli is a reddish star. At the Madras Observatory in India, C. Ragoonatha Chary discovered this variable.
A white dwarf orbits a spectral class K2IV star in the binary star system Epsilon Reticuli. This system is located around 50 light years away from the Sun according to parallax readings. A planetary companion that orbits the star Reticuli A was announced in the year 2000. (Chauvin et all., 2007)
The wide binary star system Zeta Reticuli has two stars that resemble the Sun. It is thirty-nine light years away from us. When Betty and Barney Hill, two claimed extra-terrestrial abductees, identified this system as the location of their captors, it received considerable recognition in the field of ufology.
In the constellation's spiral galaxy NGC 1559, a type 1a supernova was found in 2005.
The r-process heavy elements are more abundant in the dwarf galaxy Reticulum II. (Ji et al., 2016)
The Chronologium-Reticulum A galaxy supercluster known as Supercluster is seven hundred million to 1.2 billion light-years away from Earth.
Only the stars Alpha (α) and Beta (β) reticuli are brighter than visual magnitude five in this constellation. A Mira variable, R Reticuli is a reddish star. At the Madras Observatory in India, C. Ragoonatha Chary discovered this variable.
A white dwarf orbits a spectral class K2IV star in the binary star system Epsilon Reticuli. This system is located around 50 light years away from the Sun according to parallax readings. A planetary companion that orbits the star Reticuli A was announced in the year 2000. (Chauvin et all., 2007)
The wide binary star system Zeta Reticuli has two stars that resemble the Sun. It is thirty-nine light years away from us. When Betty and Barney Hill, two claimed extra-terrestrial abductees, identified this system as the location of their captors, it received considerable recognition in the field of ufology.
In the constellation's spiral galaxy NGC 1559, a type 1a supernova was found in 2005.
The r-process heavy elements are more abundant in the dwarf galaxy Reticulum II. (Ji et al., 2016)
The Chronologium-Reticulum A galaxy supercluster known as Supercluster is seven hundred million to 1.2 billion light-years away from Earth.
Deep-sky Objects
Main stars - 4
Bayer stars - 11
Stars with planets - 7
Stars brighter than magnitude 3.00 - none
Stars within 32 Ly - none
Messier objects - none
Bordering
constellations
- NGC 1559 – Barred Spiral Galaxy
Main stars - 4
Bayer stars - 11
Stars with planets - 7
Stars brighter than magnitude 3.00 - none
Stars within 32 Ly - none
Messier objects - none
Bordering
constellations
- Horologium
- Dorado
- Hydrus