Octans in Chinese astronomy

The modern constellation Octans is not included in the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions system of traditional Chinese uranography because its stars are too far south for observers in China to know about them before the introduction of Western star charts. Based on the work of Xu Guangqi and the German Jesuit missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell in the late Ming Dynasty, ^[1] this constellation has been classified under the 23 Southern Asterisms (近南極星區, Jìnnánjíxīngōu) with the names Snake's Tail (蛇尾, Shéwěi) and Exotic Bird (異雀, Yìquè).

The name of the western constellation in modern Chinese is 南極座 (nán jí zuò), meaning "the south pole constellation".

Stars

The map of Chinese constellation in constellation Octans area consists of:

Four Symbols	Mansion (Chinese name)	Romanization	Translation	Asterisms (Chinese name)	Romanization	Translation	Western star name	Chinese star name	Romanization	Translation
-	近南極星區 (non-mansions)	Jìnnánjíxīngōu (non-mansions)	The Southern Asterisms (non-mansions)	蛇尾	Shéwěi	Snake's Tail
							γ1 Oct [2]	蛇尾二	Shéwěièr	2nd star
							β Oct [2]	蛇尾三	Shéwěisān	3rd star
							α Oct [2]	蛇尾四	Shéwěisì	4th star
				異雀	Yìquè	Exotic Bird	δ Oct [3]	異雀五	Yìquèwǔ	5th star

See also

• Chinese astronomy
• Traditional Chinese star names
• Chinese constellations

References

1. Sun, Xiaochun (1997). Helaine Selin (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 910. ISBN   0-7923-4066-3.
2. (in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 7 月 27 日 Archived 2011-05-22 at the Wayback Machine
3. (in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 7 月 29 日 Archived 2011-05-22 at the Wayback Machine