Editing Grus (constellation) (section)

==History==

[[File:Grus and Piscis Austrinus from Atlas Coelestis.jpg|thumbnail|left|The constellations Grus and [[Piscis Austrinus]], which once formed a single constellation, as depicted in ''Atlas Coelestis'' by [[Johann Doppelmayr]], ca. 1742]]
[[File:Johann Bayer - Uraniometria - Southern Birds.jpg|thumb|left|The "southern birds", as depicted in [[Johann Bayer]]'s ''[[Uranometria]]'']]
The stars that form Grus were originally considered part of the neighbouring constellation [[Piscis Austrinus]] (the southern fish), with [[Gamma Gruis]] seen as part of the fish's tail.<ref name=tiriongrus>{{cite web| url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/grus.html | title=Grus | work= Star Tales |author=Ridpath, Ian|publisher=self-published | access-date= 8 February 2014| author-link=Ian Ridpath }}</ref> The stars were first defined as a separate constellation by the astronomer [[Petrus Plancius]], who created twelve new constellations based on the observations of the southern sky by the Dutch explorers [[Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser]] and [[Frederick de Houtman]], who had sailed on the first Dutch trading expedition, known as the ''[[First Dutch Expedition to Indonesia|Eerste Schipvaart]]'', to the [[East Indies]]. Grus first appeared on a 35-centimetre-diameter celestial globe published in 1598 in [[Amsterdam]] by Plancius with [[Jodocus Hondius]]. Its first depiction in a celestial atlas was in the German cartographer [[Johann Bayer]]'s ''[[Uranometria]]'' of 1603.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/bayer-southern.html | title=Bayer's Southern Star Chart | work= Star Tales |author=Ridpath, Ian|publisher=self-published | access-date= 18 August 2013}}</ref> De Houtman included it in his southern star catalogue the same year under the Dutch name ''Den Reygher'', "The Heron",<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/startales1c.html#houtman | title=Frederick de Houtman's catalogue| work= Star Tales |author=Ridpath, Ian|publisher=self-published | access-date= 15 August 2013}}</ref> but Bayer followed Plancius and Hondius in using Grus.<ref name=tiriongrus/>

An alternative name for the constellation, ''Phoenicopterus'' (Latin "[[flamingo]]"), was used briefly during the early 17th century, seen in the 1605 work ''Cosmographiae Generalis'' by Paul Merula of [[Leiden University]] and a c. 1625 globe by Dutch globe maker Pieter van den Keere. Astronomer Ian Ridpath has reported the symbolism likely came from Plancius originally, who had worked with both of these people.<ref name=tiriongrus/> Grus and the nearby constellations [[Phoenix (constellation)|Phoenix]], [[Tucana]] and [[Pavo (constellation)|Pavo]] are collectively called the "Southern Birds".<ref name="binocs">{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Patrick|author-link=Patrick Moore|title=Exploring the Night Sky with Binoculars|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |date=2000|page=[https://archive.org/details/exploringnightsk00moor/page/48 48]|isbn=978-0-521-79390-2|url=https://archive.org/details/exploringnightsk00moor|url-access=registration}}</ref>

The stars that correspond to Grus were generally too far south to be seen from China. In [[Chinese astronomy]], Gamma and [[Lambda Gruis]] may have been included in the tub-shaped asterism ''Bàijiù'', along with stars from Piscis Austrinus.<ref name=tiriongrus/> In Central Australia, the [[Upper Arrernte language|Arrernte]] and [[Luritja dialect|Luritja]] people living on a mission in [[Hermannsburg, Northern Territory|Hermannsburg]] viewed the sky as divided between them, east of the [[Milky Way]] representing Arrernte camps and west denoting Luritja camps. [[Alpha Gruis|Alpha]] and [[Beta Gruis]], along with [[Fomalhaut]], [[Alpha Pavonis]] and the stars of [[Musca]], were all claimed by the Arrernte.<ref name="noctuary">{{cite book|last=Johnson|first=Diane|title=Night Skies of Aboriginal Australia: a Noctuary|publisher=University of Sydney|location=Darlington, New South Wales|date=1998|pages=[https://archive.org/details/nightskiesofabor0000john/page/70 70–72]|isbn=1-86451-356-X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/nightskiesofabor0000john/page/70}}</ref>