Pronunciation:

(MEN-suh)

Abbreviation:

Men

  Genitive:

Mensae

Right Ascension:

5 hours

  Declination:

-80 degrees

Area in Square Degrees:

153

Crosses Meridian:

9 PM, January 30

Visible Between Latitudes:

0 and -90 degrees

The constellation Mensa, the table mountain, is located in the southern hemisphere of the sky. It is the second southernmost constellation and cannot be seen in most of the northern hemisphere. It is visible at latitudes south of 5 degrees from May through July. It can best be seen in northern latitudes in January. It is a small constellation that covers an area of only 153 square degrees. It ranks 75th in size among the 88 constellations in the night sky. It is bordered by Dorado to the north, Hydrus to the northwest and west, Octans to the south, Chamaeleon to the east, and Volans to the northeast.

There are no myths associated with Mensa. It is one of 14 southern constellations named by the French astronomer Abbé Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century. The name means “the table” in Latin. Lacaille named it to commemorate the table mountain near his observatory in Cape Town, South Africa. Lacaille originally named the constellation Montagne de la Table on his planisphere in 1756. He later Latinized it to Mons Mensae for the second edition in 1763. The name was later shortened to Mensa by British astronomer Francis Baily at the suggestion of John Herschel. The constellation is depicted as a mountain with a flattened top.