Norma (constellation)
| Constellation | |
|
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| Abbreviation | Nor |
|---|---|
| Genitive | Normae |
| Pronunciation |
/ˈnɔːrmə/, genitive /ˈnɔːrmiː/ |
| Symbolism | the carpenter's square |
| Right ascension | 15h 12m 13.6119s to 16h 36m 08.3235s |
| Declination | −42.27° to −60.44° |
| Family | La Caille |
| Quadrant | SQ3 |
| Area | 165 sq. deg. (74th) |
| Main stars | 4 |
|
Bayer/Flamsteed stars |
13 |
| Stars with planets | 4 |
| Stars brighter than 3.00m | 0 |
| Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly) | 0 |
| Brightest star | γ2 Nor (4.01m) |
| Nearest star |
HD 145417 (44.83 ly, 13.75 pc) |
| Messier objects | 0 |
| Meteor showers | Gamma Normids |
| Bordering constellations |
Scorpius Lupus Circinus Triangulum Australe Ara |
|
Visible at latitudes between +30° and −90°. Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of July. |
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Norma is a small constellation in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere between Scorpius and Centaurus, one of twelve drawn up in the 18th century by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille and one of several depicting scientific instruments. Its name is Latin for normal, referring to a right angle, and is variously considered to represent a rule, a carpenter's square, a set square or a level. It remains one of the 88 modern constellations
Four of Norma's brighter stars—Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and Eta—make up a square in the field of faint stars. Gamma2 Normae is the brightest star with an apparent magnitude of 4.0. Mu Normae is one of the most luminous stars known, with a luminosity half- to one million times that of the Sun. Four star systems are known to harbour planets. The Milky Way passes through Norma, and the constellation contains eight open clusters visible to observers with binoculars. The constellation also hosts Abell 3627, also called the Norma Cluster, one of the most massive galaxy clusters known.
Norma was introduced in 1751–52 by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille with the French name l’Equerre et la Regle, "the Square and Rule", after he had observed and catalogued 10,000 southern stars during a two-year stay at the Cape of Good Hope. He devised 14 new constellations in uncharted regions of the Southern Celestial Hemisphere not visible from Europe. All but one honored instruments that symbolised the Age of Enlightenment. Lacaille portrayed the constellations of Norma, Circinus and Triangulum Australe, respectively, as a set square and ruler, a compass, and a surveyor's level in a set of draughtsman instruments, in his 1756 map of the southern stars. The level was dangling from the apex of a triangle, leading some astronomers to conclude he was renaming l’Equerre et la Regle to "le Niveau" "the level". In any case, the constellation's name had been shortened and Latinised by Lacaille to Norma by 1763.
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