Talk:Octans
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editDoes this word come from octa-, which is the Greek numerical prefix for 8?? 66.32.252.184 01:23, 30 Oct 2004 (UTC)
- No, octans/octantis implies Latin, had it been Greek it would have been octas/octantis per pattern of elephas/elephant(is). Said: Rursus 19:06, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
Interesting fact
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In the A Celestial Atlas by Alexander Jamieson Octans wrongly named Quadrans (true Quadrans named Quadrans Muralis) Ultima Thulean (talk) 01:37, 9 July 2021 (UTC)
Proposal: add NOIRLab annotated chart of Octans (COI request)
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Hello — I have a conflict of interest to disclose: I am affiliated with NSF NOIRLab and so I am not editing the article directly, but instead requesting that an uninvolved editor consider this change. I would like to suggest adding an annotated star chart of Octans to the Stars section. To be clear, this is purely additive: the existing naked-eye photograph (File:Constellation Octans.jpg) would stay exactly where it is. The annotated chart serves a different purpose — it shows the IAU boundaries, the stick figure, and labelled stars as an identification reference, whereas the existing photograph conveys the visual impression of the field. I would propose placing the annotated chart immediately above the existing naked-eye photograph, within the same Stars section, with the existing image left in place directly beneath it. The image is available on Wikimedia Commons: File:Octans-ann.tif, sourced from NOIRLab's 88 Constellations project (image page). Suggested caption:
- The constellation Octans showing the IAU boundaries, the constellation stick figure, and labels for its brightest stars. Astrophotograph by Eckhard Slawik, from NOIRLab's 88 Constellations project.
The exact wikitext I would suggest inserting (immediately above the existing File:Constellation Octans.jpg line in the Stars section):
On the choice of placement: the Stars section is fairly text-heavy and the left-floated naked-eye image currently sits beside several paragraphs before the {{clear}}, so there is room to stack a second left-floated thumbnail above it without crowding the prose or colliding with the infobox on the right. This keeps the change minimally disruptive and leaves the existing layout intact.
License note: the image is released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), credited to NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, which is compatible with Commons and Wikipedia reuse.
A few fallbacks, in case any of this is preferable to reviewers:
The caption wording can be adjusted however editors see fit.
The external link in the caption can instead be moved into a <ref> citation if an inline external link is not preferred.
I am happy to withdraw the proposal entirely if the community would rather leave the article as it stands.
Thanks for considering this. Marcodatadev (talk) 01:52, 30 May 2026 (UTC)