Mensa, mythology, history, characteristics and observations by telescope

	Mensa or the table was designed Nicolas Louis of the Caille in 1756, represents the denominated mountain Mesa (Table Mountain) that is in the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa where the Caille remained in this country from 1750 to 1754.

Mensa, one is a visible austral circumpolar constellation solely in the South hemisphere. It is formed by weak enough stars and the only interest of the constellation is that in her is the Great Cloud of Magallanes that shares it with the Doradus neighbor.

Mensa it limits the north with Doradus, to the east with the constellation of Hydrus, to the south with the polar constellation of Octants and to the west with the constellations of Chamaleon and Volans.

Mensa hspear the date, I have not been able to locate it to be in very austral latitudes from the island of Majorca where alive, although I do not discard to someday make a trip to the seas of the south, and to lose to me in an island of the desert Pacific to be able to contemplate and to locate the constellations that I have left to discover.

Constellation of Mensa

Main stars

Alpha, a; of 5.07 magnitude and color orange, Earth light is to 33 years, is a star of the solar type a little less luminous than our Sun.

Beta, b; of 5.30 magnitude and orange color, dista 642 years Earth light and he is 244 times more shining than the Sun.

Gamma, g; from 5.18 magnitude and color dista Earth orange 100 years light, it turns out to be 6 times more shining than the Sun.

Other objects

GNM; Great Cloud of Magallanes, galaxy satellite to dista the Milky Way that 150,000 years light of the Sun, in her we can observe several stellar and globular accumulations of those places.

To date observations by telescope have not been made since it is located in the South hemisphere, next to the celestial and invisible South Pole from where I write these lines to you, Majorca, Spain, although I do not discard to someday make a trip to the seas of the south, and to lose to me in an island of the Pacific to be able to contemplate and to locate the constellations that still I have left to discover.

Next in the following window you can select the constellation that you want to locate, to observe and to discover following with the thematic one of the Web of Masm.