The fascinating story behind a star named Bob
Posted by staff / August 30, 2014
Way up in the heavens, there’s a faint constellation known as Delphinus the Dolphin that reaches its highest point this week, only noticed by ancient astronomers because its component stars were clustered so close together in a dark corner of the sky.
For years, the origin of two of the stars’ unusual names was a mystery until English astronomer Thomas William Webb realized that Sualocin (Alpha Delphini) and Rotanev (Beta Delphini) was Nicolaus Venator spelled backwards. Venator was the assistant and eventual director at the Palermo Observatory back in the day.
A popular lecturer in the ’60s and ’70s at New York’s Hayden Planetarium, Fred Hess, always claimed he was jealous of Venator’s claim to fame, and so dubbed the other two stars in the diamond-shaped constellation Bob and Derf for his best bud Robert Little and himself.
So, if you catch a glance of the Dolphin this week, say hello to Bob for us.
Full story at Space.com.
Graphics credit: Canva
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