Editing Hydrus (section)

==History==

[[File:Johann Bayer - Uraniometria - Southern Birds.jpg|thumb|left|350px|Hydrus (lower right) in an extract from [[Johann Bayer]]'s ''[[Uranometria]]'', its first appearance in a celestial atlas.]]
Hydrus was one of the twelve constellations established by the astronomer [[Petrus Plancius]] from 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]]. It first appeared on a 35-cm (14&nbsp;in) diameter celestial globe published in late 1597 (or early 1598) in Amsterdam by Plancius with [[Jodocus Hondius]]. The first depiction of this constellation 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=Johann Bayer's Southern Star Chart|last1=Ridpath|first1=Ian|author-link=Ian Ridpath|publisher=self-published |work=Star Tales | access-date= 23 August 2013}}</ref><!-- cites previous three sentences --><ref>{{cite web |url = http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/constellations/hydrus.html |title = Hydrus (Water Snake) |publisher = Chandra X-ray Observatory |access-date =10 July 2012}}</ref> De Houtman included it in his southern star catalogue the same year under the Dutch name ''De Waterslang'', "The Water Snake",<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/startales1c.html#houtman | title=Frederick de Houtman's Catalogue|last1=Ridpath|first1=Ian|publisher=self-published  |work=Star Tales | access-date= 11 September 2013}}</ref> it representing a type of snake encountered on the expedition rather than a mythical creature.<ref name=ridphydrus>{{cite web| url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/hydrus.html | title=Hydrus—the Lesser Water Snake|last1=Ridpath|first1=Ian|author-link=Ian Ridpath|publisher=self-published  |work=Star Tales| access-date= 29 September 2013}}</ref> The French explorer and astronomer [[Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille|Nicolas Louis de Lacaille]] called it ''l’Hydre Mâle'' on the 1756 version of his [[planisphere]] of the southern skies, distinguishing it from the feminine [[Hydra (constellation)|Hydra]]. The French name was retained by [[Jean Nicolas Fortin|Jean Fortin]] in 1776 for his ''Atlas Céleste'', while Lacaille [[Latin]]ised the name to Hydrus for his revised ''Coelum Australe Stelliferum'' in 1763.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/lacaille.html | title=Lacaille's Southern Planisphere of 1756|last1=Ridpath|first1=Ian|author-link=Ian Ridpath|publisher=self-published  |work=Star Tales | access-date= 29 September 2013}}</ref>

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