Tarandus
Designations
- Flamsteed: 2 UMi
- Hipparchos: HIP 5372
Data
- Constellation: Cepheus
- Apparent Magnitude: 4.23
- Right Ascension (J2000): 01h08m55.06s
- Declination (J2000): +86°15'07".9
- Colour Index (B-V): 1.23
- Distance: 302.00±3.36ly
Nomenclature
Tarandus
Tarandus is one of two stars named to commemorate Pierre-Charles Le Monnier's invention le Reene, 'the reindeer' (see also Rangifer (49 Cas)). He was inspired to add it to the menagerie of early modern constellations in his book La Théorie des Comètes () as the comet of 's path traced through this part of the sky. The constellation took inspiration from the Sámi constellation Sarvvis (see also Sarvvis (δ Per), Aldu (ε Per)), a reindeer spanning the constellations Auriga, Perseus, Cepheus, and Cassiopeia. le Monnier likely learnt of this figure during his journey to Lapland to take geodetic measurements along with fellow Frenchman Pierre Louis de Maupertuis. The original constellation name was misspelt by le Monnier which is correctly rendered as le Renne, a mistake sorted by Jean Fortin in his