Mensa is a constellation in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere near the south celestial pole, one

of twelve constellations drawn up in the 18th century by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de
Lacaille. Its name is Latin for table, though it originally commemorated Table Mountain and was
known as Mons Mensae. One of the 88 modern constellations, it covers a keystone-shaped
wedge of sky approximately 153.5 square degrees by area. Other than the south polar
constellation of Octans, it is the most southerly of constellations and is only observable south of
the 5th parallel of the Northern Hemisphere.
One of the faintest constellations in the night sky, Mensa contains no apparently bright stars—the
brightest, Alpha Mensae is barely visible in suburban skies. At least three of its star systems
have been found to have exoplanets, and part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, several star
clusters and a quasar lie in the area covered by the constellation.