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Tag: APUs

Apus ( /ˈeɪpəs/) is a faint constellation in the southern sky, first defined in the late 16th century. Its name means “no feet” in Greek, and it represents a bird-of-paradise (which were once believed to lack feet). It is bordered by Triangulum Australe, Circinus, Musca, Chamaeleon, Octans, Pavo and Ara. Its genitive is “Apodis”. Apus was one of twelve constellations created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman and it first appeared on a 35 cm diameter celestial globe published in 1597 (or 1598) in Amsterdam by Plancius with Jodocus Hondius. Plancius called the constellation “Paradysvogel Apis Indica”; the first word is Dutch for ‘bird of paradise’, but the others are Latin for “Indian Bee”; “apis” (Latin for “bee”) is presumably an error for “avis” or “bird”. The name “Apus” is derived from the Greek “apous”, meaning “without feet”, which referred to the Western conception of a bird-of-paradise as one without feet, a…