Nicolas Louis de Lacaille
Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (March 15, 1713 - March 21, 1762)
(public domain image)
(public domain image)
Lacaille, sometimes referred to as Abbe Lacaille, was a French mathematician and astronomer who performed one of the first thorough surveys of the southern sky from the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa (1750 to 1754) during which he cataloged 9,800 stars between the South Celestial Pole and the Tropic of Capricorn. He introduced fifteen new constellations, fourteen of which are still found on modern charts.
More information...