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FORNAX
The Furnace
Apparatus Chemicus - Johann Bode's Uranographia, 1801
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Fornax was one of the twelve southern constellations introduced by French astronomer Nicholas Louis de Lacaille. It paid homage to the French Chemist Antoine Lavoisier, who made significant discoveries regarding the nature of combustion and chemical reactions. Just as with Lacaille's constellation Sculptor, there is little chance of finding the shape of a furnace in the stars of Fornax, and we are left with a renewed appreciation for the strength of Lacaille's imagination. Indeed, most star charts do not even attempt to trace an image among the faint stars of fornax, and leave the area blank. Originally named Fornax Chimiae by Lacaille, Latin for chemical furnace it was eventually shortened to Fornax.
The dim stars of Fornax are located within the great eastern loop of the river Eridanus, and although unimpressive to the naked eye, it becomes a field of spectacular wonders through the lens of a telescope. The constellation contains the Fornax Galaxy Cluster, a dense grouping of hundreds of galaxies about 60 million light years away.
The most impressive galaxy in the Fornax Cluster is NGC 1365, known as The Great Barred Spiral Galaxy. It has a face-on magnitude of 10.1, so it is a good target for a backyard telescope.
To the northwest of the cluster is another bright spiral galaxy, NGC 1097. In the stunning ESO image below, you can see the small galaxy NGC 1097A in the upper left being drawn in and ultimately consumed by the larger galaxy.
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