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Stars and Sticks| Abbreviation | Tel |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Telescope |
| Pronunciation Guide is based on “Pronouncing Astronomical Names,” published in 1943 by the American Astronomical Society. | tel-ih-SCOPE-ee-um |
| Genitive The genitive is the Latin possessive form used in star names. For example, Alpha Orionis means “the Alpha of Orion.” | tel-ih-SKOH-pee-eye |
| Best Month | August |
| Visibility | Southern |
| Origin | EnlightenmentNamed by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in the 1750s; these represent the scientific and artistic tools of the "Age of Reason". |
| Author | LacailleKnown as the "Father of Southern Astronomy," he mapped nearly 10,000 stars and created 14 new constellations in the southern hemisphere. |
| Type | constellation |
| Difficulty | Expert |
| Description | The Telescope was created by Lacaille in the 1750s to honor the instrument that transformed astronomy since Galileo first turned one to the sky in 1609. It sits in a faint region of sky south of the rich Sagittarius-Scorpius Milky Way. The constellation contains RR Telescopii — one of the most luminous novae ever observed, a symbiotic nova that erupted around 1944 and is still slowly fading; it consists of a white dwarf accreting material from a giant companion star, undergoing a continuous slow thermonuclear burn on its surface that has kept it glowing for over 80 years — an extraordinary and sustained stellar event. |
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Images: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/E. Slawik · IAU and Sky & Telescope · Stellarium — Full credits →