Delphinus

If not for a couple of faint stars in the constellation Delphinus, the dolphin, the modern world would never know of a 19th-century astronomer named Niccolo Cacciatore. But thanks to a bit of sneakiness on his part, his name far outweighs his accomplishments.

Cacciatore was assistant director of Sicily’s Palermo Observatory. The director put him in charge of compiling a large star catalog, which was published in 1814.

Years later, other astronomers noted a couple of odd names in the catalog: Sualocin and Rotanev. No one was sure where they came from or what they meant. Eventually, though, a British astronomer solved the puzzle: If you reverse the letters in the names, they spell the Latin name Nicolaus Venator. In English, that translates as Nick Hunter. But in Italian, it translates as Niccolo Cacciatore — the man who compiled the catalog.

If you have clear, dark skies, far from city lights, these two little stars are in good view on summer evenings.

Delphinus is in the east at ni