Naturalist John Hill Named Pinna Marina the Mussel Constellation in 1754

Summary: English Naturalist John Hill named Manis the Pangolin constellation in his 1754 astronomical dictionary, Urania, or, A Compleat View of the Heavens.

John Hill's Pinna Marina the Mussel constellation (lower right) inhabits the southern celestial hemisphere's fourth quadrant (SQ4) and shares the quadrant with two other Hill-invented constellations, Anguilla the Eel and Dentalium the Tooth Shell: Ultima Thulean, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

Eighteenth-century English apothecary, naturalist and writer John Hill introduced Pinna Marina the Mussel constellation in his astronomical dictionary, Urania, or, A Compleat View of the Heavens, published in 1754.

"A conſtellation offered to the aſtronomical world," stated Hill (1714-Nov. 21, 1775) at the beginning of his dictionary entry on Patella as a replication of the standard introductory phrase in his dictionary entries for each of his 14 additional invented constellations. He then added a brief description of the new constellation's celestial location: ". . . and formed of a cluſter of very conſpicuous ſtars near the left foot of Antinous."

The constellatory locator that Hill referenced, Antinous, was created by Hadrian (Latin: Caesar Traianus Hadrianus; Jan. 24, 76-July 10, 138 CE), who reigned as Roman Emperor from Aug. 11, 117, until his death. The constellation commemorated the emperor's young lover, who had drowned in 130 CE in the Nile, near modern-day Mallawi (Arabic: ملوي; Coptic: ⲙⲁⲛⲗⲁⲩ), south central Minya Governorate (Arabic: محافظة المنيا Muḥāfẓet El Minya) in Upper Egypt (Arabic: صعيد مصر Ṣaʿīd Miṣr; Coptic: ⲙⲁⲣⲏⲥ, Mares), also known as South Egypt. Hadrian situated his constellation adjacent to Aquila the Eagle, with the youth carried in the raptor's claws.

Constellation Antinous has not been recognized as an official constellation by the International Astronomical Union. Accordingly, Antinous classifies currently as an obsolete constellation that also may be designated synonymously as defunct, extinct, forgotten or former.

Antinous the Beloved of Hadrian constellation's vicinity epitomized the perfect location for newly devised constellations, according to Hill. "The occaſion of making new conſtellations is in no part of the heavens ſo conſpicuous as with reſpect to this of Antinous. The ſtars of which it is compoſed, although of a very conſiderable conſequence as to the ſize, and of conſiderable number, were formerly reckoned among thoſe of the Eagle, or rather werre counted with them under the name of the unformed ſtars of the Eagle; although ſome of them are very remote from that conſtellation."

The constellation-making opportunities offered by this neighborhood had not been explored adequately, according to Hill. He continued: "It was a great aſſiſtance to the aſtronomers to arrange theſe into a new conſtellation, and yet this has not done what was intended perfectly, for ſtill there remain a cluſter of conſiderable ſtars between Antinous and Ophiucus's Serpent, ſo ſituated, that they are as near one as the other, and as proper to be added to the numbers of one as of the other. It is of theſe that the new conſtellation, here propoſed, is formed."

Hill's scrutiny revealed the celestial figure of one of the species in the Pinna genus of bivalve molluscs. "The creature, under the out-lines of whoſe figure they are represented, is a ſhell-fiſh, an inhabitant of the ſeas, ſomewhat approaching to the nature of the muſcle kind, but very large, and having, in the place of their beard, a tuft of fine ſilky matter of great length, of which, in ſome places, they make gloves and other manufactures."

In addition to obsolete constellation Antinous, Pinna Marina the Mussel neighbors with the Serpens Cauda the Serpent's Tail section of constellation Serpens the Serpent and Sagittarius the Archer. Yet, the Mussel largely associates with Antinous. "The conſtellations, between which it is placed, are Antinous, the Serpent, and Sagittary. There is a large extent of the heavens between theſe, but it is only in that part of it near Antinous that there are any conſpicous ſtars, all about the head of Sagittary is in a manner vacant."

Essentially, the starry cluster near Antinous configures the Mussel, observed Hill. "Theſe ſtars, toward Antinous, are the cluſter which make the new conſtellation; the whole figure of the ſhell ſtands between the tail of the Serpent and the two feet of Antinous, and the beard is extended almoſt to one of thoſe feet; the head of Sagittary is directly under the ſhell, but it is at a great diſtance."

Pinna Marina's visibility does not suffer from its occupancy of a small space and its formation from a small number of stars, according to Hill's design. "It is of ſmall extent, and it takes in but a few ſtars, but they are large, conſpicuous, and, as has been already obſerved, remote from all the other conſtellations."

John Hill's Pinna Marina the Mussel constellation emerges from unformed stars in the space framed by Aquila the Eagle, the Serpens Cauda the Serpent's Tale section of Serpens the Serpent and Sagittarius the Archer; John Hill, Urania, or, A Compleat View of the Heavens (MDCCLXVIII [1768]): via Internet Archive

Hill identified seven "conſpicous ſtars" in the celestial Mussel. " The conſpicous ſtars in the Pinna are only ſpicous ſeven, but they are very conſpicuous . . ." The star that marks the figure's anterior end is the smallest of the seven. Yet, "this is not a very inconſiderable ſtar." The next star is positioned on the shell near the point of the beard's outward passage. Two stars reside in the beard. A trio of stars triangulates at the Mussel's other, wide end, with ". . . one of them . . . at one corner of the lip, another . . . in the out-line a little above it, and the last . . . on the verge of the lip, but not at the corner."

Five of Pinna Marina the Mussel's stars are identified by David Harper, once an astronomer specializing in celestial mechanics and positional astronomy but now a genome researcher, and his wife, astronomer L. (Lynne) M. Stockman, in "Pinna Marina -- The Mussel," posted on their Obliquity website. One star occurs in Aquila the Eagle: 12 Aquilae (abbreviated 12 Aql). Scutum the Shield, the IAU-approved constellation in which Pinna Marina is located mostly, contributes four stars: Alpha Scuti (α Scuti; abbreviated Alpha Sct, α Sct), Beta Sct (β Sct), Delta Sct (δ Sct), Eta Sct (η Sct).

Pinna Marina resides in the southern celestial hemisphere's fourth quadrant (SQ4). The celestial Mussel shares the quadrant with two other Hill-invented constellations, Anguilla the Eel and Dentalium the Tooth Shell.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has not recognized Pinna Marina as an official constellation. The celestial representation of the Pinna genus of bivalve molluscs, therefore, is not included in the list of 88 IAU-approved constellations. Accordingly, Pinna Marina classifies as an obsolete constellation. Yet, non-membership in the IAU-approved constellations does not equate to invisibility. Pinna Marina the Mussel may be discerned as a reconfiguration of parts of Scutum the Shield.

John Hill equated his Pinna Marina the Mussel constellation with a member of the Pinna genus of bivalve molluscs; depiction of the Pinna Marina (right center), in John Hill, An History of Animals (1752), Plate 9, opposite page 163: Biodiversity Heritage Library (BioDivLibrary), Public Domain, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

John Hill's Pinna Marina the Mussel constellation (lower right) inhabits the southern celestial hemisphere's fourth quadrant (SQ4) and shares the quadrant with two other Hill-invented constellations, Anguilla the Eel and Dentalium the Tooth Shell: Ultima Thulean, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Southern_Hemisphere_Hill's_Constellations.png

John Hill's Pinna Marina the Mussel constellation emerges from unformed stars in the space framed by Aquila the Eagle, the Serpens Cauda the Serpent's Tale section of Serpens the Serpent and Sagittarius the Archer; John Hill, Urania, or, A Compleat View of the Heavens (MDCCLXVIII [1768]): via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_urania-a-new-astronom_hill-john-m-d-calli_1768/page/23/mode/1up; Ultima Thulean, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pinna_Marina_Constellation.jpg

John Hill equated his Pinna Marina the Mussel constellation with a member of the Pinna genus of bivalve molluscs; depiction of the Pinna Marina (right center), in John Hill, An History of Animals (1752), Plate 9, opposite page 163: Biodiversity Heritage Library (BioDivLibrary), Public Domain, via Flickr @ via Flicker @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/50375295541/; Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/56071373

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Hill, John. "Shell Fish Series 3: The Pinna Marina." Plate 9, opposite page 163. An History of Animals: Containing Descriptions of the Birds, Beasts, Fishes, and Insects, of the Several Parts of the World; and Including Accounts of the Several Classes of Animalcules, Visible Only by the Assistance of Microscopes. London: Printed for Thomas Osborne, in Gray's-Inn, M.DCCLII [1752].
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