Fornax: The Furnace

Pronunciation: FOR-naks

The Myth Behind the Constellation Fornax

Fornax, “the furnace”, was created by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de La Caille. He named this constellation Le Fourneau on his 1756 planisphere, representing it as a chemist’s furnace used for distillation.  In the 1763 edition of his planisphere he Latinized the name to Fornax Chimiae, and in 1845 it was shortened to Fornax for the British Association Catalogue.

Fornax Constellation Points of Interest

Interesting stars and objects.

Bright Stars in Fornax

There are no stars in Fornax with a magnitude of 3.0 or brighter.