#wasp-43

[quiltofstars]

The constellation of Sextans, the Sextant // E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani

Click below to read some more about this relatively new addition to our night sky as well as an annotated image!

Sextans, which is Latin for "sextant," is a relatively recent addition to the night sky. It was created by the Polish astronomy Johannes Hevelius in 1687. He created it in the memory of his personal sextant*, which he lost when his observatory was destroyed by fire in 1679.

*A sextant is a device that shows one-sixth of a circle used to measure the positions of stars.

Sextans is a relatively small and faint constellation and none of its bright stars have names. However, two stars with planetary systems have been given names:

Bibhā (HD 86081), a Sun-like star about 337 light years from Earth. It has one confirmed exoplanet orbiting it, about 1.5 times the mass of Jupiter, named Santamasa. Both names were given by the people of India: Bibhā is the Bengali pronunciation of the Sanskrit word vibha meaning "bright beam of light," while Santamasa is a Sanskrit word that means "clouded."

Gnomon (WASP-43), is a red dwarf star about 284 light years away. It has one confirmed exoplanet orbiting it, about twice the mass of Jupiter, named Astrolábos. Both names were given by the people of Romania: Gnomon is the part of a sundial that casts the shadow, and Astrolábos is the Greek word for the astrolabe.