- An insignificant constellation representing a pair of dividing compasses as used by geometers, draughtsmen, and navigators for drawing circles and measuring distances; they are also known as dividers. Circinus was introduced in the 1750s by the Frenchman Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, who fitted various figures into gaps between the existing constellations of the southern skies. In this case the gap seems to have been almost non-existent, and the compasses are squeezed in their folded position between the forefeet of Centaurus and Triangulum Australe. It is the smallest of Lacaille’s 14 inventions, and the fourth-smallest constellation in the entire sky.
- Megrez (stars.astro.illinois.edu)
MEGREZ (Delta Ursae Majoris). The faintest star of the Big Dipper, Megrez is in the Dipper’s middle, linking the handle to the bowl, and in the bigger picture linking Ursa Major’s tail to the Bear’s hindquarters. The name appropriately refers not to the Dipper, but to the Bear, and straightforwardly comes from a long Arabic phrase that means the root of the Great Bear’s tail.