Octans in Chinese astronomy


The modern constellation Octans is not included in the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions system of traditional Chinese uranography because its stars are too far south for observers in China to know about them before the introduction of Western star charts. Based on the work of Xu Guangqi and the German Jesuit missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell in the late Ming Dynasty, this constellation has been classified under the 23 Southern Asterisms with the names Snake's Tail and Exotic Bird.
The name of the western constellation in modern Chinese is 南極座, meaning "the south pole constellation".

Stars

The map of Chinese constellation in constellation Octans area consists of:
Four SymbolsMansion RomanizationTranslationAsterisms RomanizationTranslationWestern star nameChinese star nameRomanizationTranslation
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms 蛇尾ShéwěiSnake's Tail----
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms 蛇尾ShéwěiSnake's Tailγ1 Oct蛇尾二Shéwěièr2nd star
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms 蛇尾ShéwěiSnake's Tailβ Oct蛇尾三Shéwěisān3rd star
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms 蛇尾ShéwěiSnake's Tailα Oct蛇尾四Shéwěisì4th star
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms 異雀YìquèExotic Birdδ Oct異雀五Yìquèwǔ5th star