Pronunciation:

(OK-tanz)

Abbreviation:

Oct

  Genitive:

Octantis 

Right Ascension:

22 hours

  Declination:

-85 degrees

Area in Square Degrees:

291

Crosses Meridian:

9 PM, September 20

Visible Between Latitudes:

-5 and -90 degrees

The constellation Octans, the octant, is located in the southern hemisphere of the sky. It is only visible at latitudes south of the equator. It is circumpolar which means it is visible all night long. It is a small constellation with a total area of only 291 square degrees. This ranks it 50th in size among the 88 constellations in the night sky. Octans is bordered by the constellations Apus, Chamaeleon, Hydrus, Indus, Mensa, Pavo and Tucana. It also contains the South Celestial Pole.

There is no mythology associated with the constellation Octans. It is one of 14 constellations named by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1752 after his trip to the Cape of Good Hope to study the southern night sky. It is named after the octant, a navigational tool that was the precursor to the modern day sextant. Octans was originally named de Reflexion", which was French for “the reflecting octant”. It eventually became known as Octans Hadleianus after John Gadkey, the English mathematician who invented the octant in 1730.