Abbreviation: | Ran |
Genitive: | Rangiferi |
Origin: | Pierre Charles Le Monnier, 1743 |
Pierre Charles Le Monnier (1715–1799) was a French astronomer who, amongst other more noted accomplishments, created the small northern constellation Rangifer (also known as Tarandus) near another obsolate constellation called Custos Messium. The creature commemorates Le Monnier's 1736–1737 trip to Lapland as part of a geodetical expedition sponsored by the French Adaémie des sciences.