Mensa Constellation: The Ultimate Guide

Mensa is classified as one of the 88 modern constellations, meaning that it has no associated history in ancient Western cultures because it was not visible in those regions.

In the case of Greek culture, when Ptolemy wrote the Almagest, it did not mention the constellation Mensa nor did it appear on the celestial maps of the time.

Mensa is one of the faintest constellations, and most of its stars cannot be seen with the naked eye, so it was necessary to wait for telescopes to be invented.

Mensa was one of twelve constellations named by cartographer and astronomer Petrus Plancius from observations made by navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman in 1592.

The constellation Mensa first appears publicly on a celestial globe 35 centimeters in diameter (14 inches), published in 1597 in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius.

Originally the constellation had "Montagne de la Table" or "Mons Mensae," but Lacaille recalled that the natives occasionally called the Cape Clouds the Magellanic Clouds.

Lacaille had an observatory close to Table Mountain, a South African mountain overlooking Cape Town that was very important for people.

During an expedition to the Cape of Good Hope in 1750, Lacaille noticed that Mesa Mountain was often covered in clouds when a stormy wind was blowing from the southeast. For this reason, he related Mesa Mountain to the Magellanic clouds and gave that name to the constellation.

In 1922 the International Astronomical Association added the constellation Mensa to the 88 official night sky constellations. Since then, it has not undergone significant changes in its boundaries or name.

Currently, Mensa covers an area of only 153 square degrees. It ranks 75th in size among the 88 constellations in the night sky, so it is one of the minor constellations of all.

Mensa resides in the first quadrant of the Southern Hemisphere (SQ1) between latitudes 4° N and 90° S, which means that we can only see the constellation in the night sky from the southern hemisphere.

Mensa is visible in South America, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.

Mensa is not visible in regions above 4°N such as the USA, Mexico, Canada, Europe, Russia, Greenland, or Japan.

The best month to visualize the constellation Mensa is in November, which is visible during the winter in the northern hemisphere, while in the southern hemisphere, it is visible during the summer.

The constellation Mensa is small, faint, and very difficult to locate with the naked eye; you can find yourself by locating the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is within the constellation Mensa.

The easiest way to locate the constellation Mensa is by drawing a straight line from the star Canopus to the south celestial pole. You will find the Magellanic Clouds; you can observe the rest of the constellation.

The constellations bordering Mensa are Chamaeleon, Dorado, Hydrus, Octans, and Volans.

In addition, Mensa belongs to the Lacaille family of constellations, including Antlia, Caelum, Circinus, Fornax, Horologium, Microscopium, Norma, Octans, Pictor, Reticulum, Sculptor, and Telescopium.

The constellation Mensa officially contains 22 stars, of which 4 form the central figure of the constellation; these are Alpha Mensae, Beta Mensae, Gamma Mensae, and Eta Mensae.

It is the brightest star in the constellation Mensa with an apparent magnitude of +5.08. It is the faintest among all the stars with the denomination "Alpha" of the different modern constellations.

Alpha Mensae is located 33 light-years from Earth and has a slightly lower surface temperature than our star -5560 K-; its radius is 84% of the solar radius. It shines with 80% of the solar luminosity and has a mass of 0.93 solar masses.

Gamma Mensae is the second brightest star in the constellation, with a magnitude of 5.19. It is located 104 light-years from the earth.

It is an ancient star of at least 10,600 million years, with a mass of approximately 1.04 times that of the Sun; it is currently an orange giant of spectral type K2III, five times larger than the sun.

Mensa is also home to several deep-sky objects. Deep-sky objects often mean star clusters, nebulae (interstellar cloud bodies), or galaxies.

In the case of Mensa, in addition to being a small and faint constellation, it has almost no notable deep sky bodies, with the sizeable Magellanic cloud being the most remarkable of all.

It is a dwarf galaxy, a satellite of the Milky Way, a member of the Local Group, and the most notable deep-sky object in the constellation Mensa.

This galaxy contains about 30 billion stars and has a diameter of about 35,000 light-years. Its mass is about 30 billion times the mass of the sun and one-tenth the mass of the Milky Way.

The Great Cloud is rich in gas and dust and is currently going through an excellent activity phase in star formation.

It has been found in about 60 globular clusters, 400 planetary nebulae, 700 open clusters, and hundreds of thousands of giant stars and supergiants.

• Mensa is a constellation located primarily in the southern hemisphere. Its name comes from the Latin "Mesa" and represents Mesa Mountain.
• Table Mountain is a mountain with a flat top located in a well-known prominent location overlooking Cape Town in South Africa; it has always been an important symbol.
• Mensa is one of the 88 modern constellations, so its name is not derived from a myth, history, or ancient legend like the most famous constellations.
• The constellation Mensa is located between latitudes 4° N and 90° S. The best month to observe the constellation is in November.
• The easiest way to locate the constellation Mensa is by drawing a straight line from the star Canopus towards the south celestial pole. You will find the Magellanic Clouds; you can observe the rest of the constellation.
• The brightest star in the constellation Mensa is Alpha Mensae (α Men / HD 43834 / HR 2261), with an apparent magnitude of +5.08. 
• The most notable deep sky body of the constellation Mensa is the Large Magellanic Cloud.

1. https:// www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/mensa-constellation/
2. http://www.seasky.org/constellations/constellation-mensa.html
3. https://www.britannica.com/place/Mensa
4. https://www.universeguide.com/constellation/mensa
5. https://starregistration.net/constellations/mensa-constellation.html