Rangifer was a small
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The origins of the e ...
between the constellations of
Cassiopeia and
Camelopardalis
Camelopardalis is a large but faint constellation of the northern sky representing a giraffe. The constellation was introduced in 1612 or 1613 by Petrus Plancius. Some older astronomy books give Camelopardalus or Camelopardus as alternative for ...
. It was also known as Tarandus. Both words mean "
reindeer
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
" in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
. "''Rangifer''" is the
generic name of the reindeer, and "''tarandus''" is the
specific name.
History
The constellation Rangifer was created by the
French astronomer
Pierre Charles Le Monnier
Pierre Charles Le Monnier (; 23 November 1715 – 3 April 1799) was a French astronomer. His name is sometimes given as Lemonnier.
Biography
Le Monnier was born in Paris, where his father Pierre (1675–1757), also an astronomer, was professor ...
in 1736 to commemorate the expedition of
Maupertuis
Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (; ; 1698 – 27 July 1759) was a French mathematician, philosopher and man of letters. He became the Director of the Académie des Sciences, and the first President of the Prussian Academy of Science, at the ...
to
Lapland.
Geodetical observations from the expedition proved
Earth's oblateness. The constellation is no longer in use.
External links
Rangifer, the reindeer:Ian Ridpath's Star Tales
Shane Horvatin
Former constellations
1736 in France
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