Star Tales - Sextans (ianridpath.com) A faint constellation south of Leo, introduced by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in his star catalogue of 1687 under the name Sextans Uraniae and depicted in his star atlas published posthumously in 1690. It commemorated the instrument he used for measuring star positions, which was destroyed along with other instruments in a fire at his home in 1679. In his book Machina Coelestis (1673) he provided an engraving of himself displaying his sextant at his rooftop observatory, which was built over three adjoining properties he owned in the present-day Korzenna Street, Danzig (the modern Gdańsk).