Reticulum in Chinese astronomy

The modern constellation Reticulum 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 prior to 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 as two of the 23 Southern Asterisms (近南極星區, Jìnnánjíxīngōu) under the name Snake's Head (蛇首, Shéshǒu) and White Patches Attached (夾白, Jiābái).

The name of the western constellation in modern Chinese is 網罟座 (wǎng gǔ zuò), meaning "net for birds or fish constellation".

Stars edit

The map of Chinese constellation in constellation Reticulum 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)
蛇首 Shéshǒu Snake's Head β Ret[2] 蛇首二 Shéshǒuèr 2nd star
夾白 Jiābái White Patches Attached α Ret[2] 夾白二 Jiābáièr 2nd star

See also edit

References edit

  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. ^ a b (in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 7 月 27 日