Mensa constellation lies in the southern hemisphere. Its name means “the table” in Latin.
Next to Octans, Mensa is the southernmost of the 88 constellations and it cannot be observed from the northern hemisphere. The constellation was introduced by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century. Lacaille named it Mons Mensae, or Table Mountain, after the mountain in South Africa, from where he had observed the constellations in the southern sky.
Mensa does not contain any stars brighter than fifth magnitude and, other than a part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, does not have any notable deep sky objects.
FACTS, LOCATION & MAP
Mensa is the 75th constellation in size, occupying an area of only 153 square degrees. It is located in the first quadrant of the southern hemisphere (SQ1) and can be seen at latitudes between +4° and -90°. The neighboring constellations are Chamaeleon, Dorado, Hydrus, Octans and Volans.
Mensa belongs to the Lacaille family of constellations, along with Antlia, Caelum, Circinus, Fornax, Horologium, Microscopium, Norma, Octans, Pictor, Reticulum, Sculptor, and Telescopium.
Mensa contains two stars with known planets and does not have any Messier objects. The brightest star in the constellation is Alpha Mensae, with an apparent magnitude of 5.09. There are no meteor showers associated with the constellation.
STORY
Mensa is not associated with any myths. Lacaille created it out of dim southern stars to commemorate Table Mountain near Cape Town in South Africa, from where he observed and catalogued southern stars in 1751 and 1752. Mensa contains a part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, which makes the constellation appear as if it were capped by a white cloud, similar to the way clouds cap the Table Mountain.
Lacaille originally named the constellation Montagne de la Table on his planisphere from 1756, but later Latinized it to Mons Mensae in the second edition in 1763. The English astronomer John Herschel suggested shortening the constellation’s name to Mensa, and in 1845, Francis Baily adopted this suggestion in his British Association Catalogue.
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