Earth and Space News: Naturalist John Hill Named Testudo the Tortoise Constellation in 1754

Summary: English naturalist John Hill named Testudo the Tortoise constellation in his 1754 astronomical dictionary, Urania, or, A Compleat View of the Heavens.

John Hill's Testudo the Tortoise constellation (lower left) inhabits the southern celestial hemisphere's first quadrant (SQ1) and shares the quadrant with two other Hill-invented constellations, Hippocampus the Sea Horse (center right) and Limax the Slug (upper right): Ultima Thulean, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

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

"A conſtellation offered to the aſtronomical world in the plates of this work," began Hill (1714-Nov. 21, 1775) at the beginning of his dictionary entry on Testudo as a slight expansion, with the addition of the phrase "in the plates of this work," of the standard phrase introducing his dictionary entries for each of his 14 additional invented constellations. He then completed the sentence by briefly describing the new constellation's celestial location: ". . . and compoſed of certain conſpicuous and unformed ſtars over the conſtellation Cetus."

Hill visualized the particular stars as depicting one of the members of the Testudo genus of tortoises native to North Africa, Western Asia and Europe. "The figure under which it is repreſented is that of a tortoise, drawing up its legs within, or nearly within the ſhell, and ſtretching out its neck, a common poſture with that ſlow animal, which apprehenſive of danger."

Testudo the Tortoise neighbors with Aquarius the Water Bearer, Cetus the Sea Monster and Pisces the Fishes. "The conſtellations between which the Tortoiſe is placed, are the Whale, the Fiſhes, and the water of Aquarius; there is left a vacant ſpace in the heavens between theſe, and this is very happily occupied by the figure."

The celestial Tortoise represents a moving figure, as "it ſeems crawling over the tail and toward the back of the Whale." Pisces the Fishes constellation swims overhead, with the western fish closely paralleling Testudo's back. The Tortoise's tail points toward the water flowing from Aquarius the Water Bearer's upended pot. "The two fiſhes are carried almoſt parallel over its back, and its tail is pointed toward the urn of Aquarius, it is in its hinder part, very near one of the fiſhes, but at a greater diſtance from Aquarius, and it is toward the head, very near the Whale."

A starry abundance occurs within Testudo's adequately sized territory. As surveyed by Hill, the chelonian constellation ". . . is not a very large one, but for the ſpace it occupies in the heavens, it comprehends a conſiderable number of ſtars."

Hill tallied 26 "conſpicous ſtars" in constellation Testudo the Tortoise. Six stars associated with Testudo's head, with one at the nose, one between the nose and the eye, one above the eye, two at the mandible and one at the neck's projection from the shell. Three stars represent the front foot while two signify the hind foot. "In the fore paw there are three, two of theſe very cloſe to one another, and the other at a diſtance, in the hinder foot one of the two, the anterior one is a large and bright ſtar, and the others is equal to moſt of the others." The shell contains four in the front half, one as delineator of the shell's top, and five in the back half.

One star indicates the tail's point of emergence from the shell. Four stars cluster near the tail's end, in proximity to the lower of the two Pisces fishes. "Of the five at the tail, one is very near its inſertion to the body, and the other four are very near its extremity, and near to one another; theſe are at a ſmall diſtance from the lower fiſh."

Six of Testudo the Tortoise'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 "Testudo -- The Tortoise," posted on their Obliquity website. Cetus the Sea Monster contributes four stars: 13 Ceti (abbreviated 13 Cet), 14 Cet, 20 Cet and 42 Cet. Two inhabit the Fishes constellation: 27 Piscium (abbreviated 17 Psc and 29 Psc.

Testudo the Tortoise resides in the southern celestial hemisphere's first quadrant (SQ1). The celestial Tortoise shares the quadrant with two other Hill-invented constellations, Hippocampus the Sea Horse and Limax the Slug.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has not adopted Testudo the Tortoise as an official constellation. Its unofficial status has rendered Testudo an obsolete constellation, also known as defunct, extinct, forgotten or former. Yet, skygazers seeking the chelonian constellation still may find Testudo the Tortoise in its sheltered location east of Aquarius the Water Bearer's spilling water and sandwiched between Pisces the Fishes to the north and Cetus the Sea Monster to the south.

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

John Hill's Testudo the Tortoise constellation emerges from unformed stars in the space between Aquarius the Water Bearer, Cetus the Sea Monster and Pisces the Fishes; John Hill, Urania, or, A Compleat View of the Heavens, vol. I (M.DCC.LIV [1754]), between first and second of two pages on Pisces: Public Domain, via Google Books Read for Free @ https://www.google.com/books/edition/Urania_or_a_compleat_view_of_the_Heavens/n_ReAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1; Ultima Thulean, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Testudo_Constellation.jpg

John Hill equated his Testudo the Tortoise constellation with a member of the Testudo genus of tortoises native to North Africa, Western Asia and Europe; depictions (last row) of two species of tortoises in the Testudo genus, in John Hill, An History of Animals (1752), Plate 6, opposite page 113: Biodiversity Heritage Library (BioDivLibrary), Public Domain, via Flickr @ via Flicker @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/50375294556/; Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/56071317

For further information:

Forde, Tanya C. "Cygnus Constellation Guide -- The Graceful, Night-Sky Swan." Love the Night Sky > Astronomy.
Available @ https://lovethenightsky.com/cygnus-constellation-guide/

Harper, David; and L. (Lynne) M. Stockman. "Scarabaeus -- The Rhinoceros Beetle. Unofficial Abbreviation: Sca. Genitive: Scarabaei. Origin: John Hill." Obliquity > Sky Eye > The Constellations > Extinct Constellations.
Available @ https://www.obliquity.com/skyeye/88const/Sca.html

Hill, John. 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].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/56071277

Hill, John. "Serpents Lizards & Tortoises: Beetles: Testudo Sp. 1, Testudo Sp. 3." Plate 6, opposite page 113. 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].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/56071317
Available via Flicker @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/50375294556/

Hill, John. "Testudo." Urania, or, A Compleat View of the Heavens, Containing the Antient and Modern Astronomy, in Form of a Dictionary. London: T. Gardner, M.DCC.LIV [1754].
Available via Google Books @ https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/lzigAAAAMAAJ?hl=en
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_lzigAAAAMAAJ/page/27/mode/1up

Hill, John. "Testudo." Pages 112-113. 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].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/56071315

Hill, John. Urania, or, A Compleat View of the Heavens, Containing the Antient and Modern Astronomy, in Form of a Dictionary. London: T. Gardner, M.DCC.LIV [1754].
Available via Google Books @ https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/lzigAAAAMAAJ?hl=en
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_lzigAAAAMAAJ/

Marriner, Derdriu. "English Naturalist John Hill Introduced 15 Constellations in 1754." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/08/english-naturalist-john-hill-introduced.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "English Naturalist John Hill Named Bufo the Toad Constellation in 1754." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/08/english-naturalist-john-hill-named-bufo.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "English Naturalist John Hill Named Eel Constellation Anguilla in 1754." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023.
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Marriner, Derdriu. "English Naturalist John Hill Named Leech Constellation Hirudo in 1754." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/11/english-naturalist-john-hill-named.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "English Naturalist John Hill Named Slug Constellation Limax in 1754." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/11/english-naturalist-john-hill-named-slug.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "English Naturalist John Hill Named Spider Constellation Aranea in 1754." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/08/english-naturalist-john-hill-named.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "John Hill Named Scarabaeus the Rhinoceros Beetle Constellation in 1754." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/12/john-hill-named-scarabaeus-rhinoceros.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Naturalist John Hill Named Earthworm Constellation Lumbricus in 1754." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/11/naturalist-john-hill-named-earthworm.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Naturalist John Hill Named Manis the Pangolin Constellation in 1754." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/11/naturalist-john-hill-named-manis.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Naturalist John Hill Named Patella the Limpet Constellation in 1754." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/11/naturalist-john-hill-named-patella.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Naturalist John Hill Named Pinna Marina the Mussel Constellation in 1754." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/12/naturalist-john-hill-named-pinna-marina.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/09/naturalist-john-hill-named-shellfish.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Naturalist John Hill Named Tooth Shell Constellation Dentalium in 1754." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/08/naturalist-john-hill-named-tooth-shell.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Naturalist John Hill Named Sea Horse Constellation Hippocampus in 1754." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Sep. 27, 2023.
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Available @ https://theskylive.com/sky/stars/14-ceti-star

Sassarini, Iacopo. "20 Ceti." The Sky Live > Constellations > Cetus.
Available @ https://theskylive.com/sky/stars/20-ceti-star

Sassarini, Iacopo. "42 Ceti." The Sky Live > Constellations > Cetus.
Available @ https://theskylive.com/sky/stars/42-ceti-star

Sassarini, Iacopo. "27 Piscium." The Sky Live > Constellations > Pisces.
Available @ https://theskylive.com/sky/stars/27-piscium-starbr />

Sassarini, Iacopo. "29 Piscium." The Sky Live > Constellations > Pisces.
Available @ https://theskylive.com/sky/stars/29-piscium-star

Earth and Space News

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Naturalist John Hill Named Testudo the Tortoise Constellation in 1754

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