The

Its story

Theta Mensae is a hot blue B-type star in the constellation of the Table —one of the faintest figures of the sky, created by Lacaille in honour of Cape Town's Table Mountain, from where he carried out his great southern survey. About 352 light-years away, it shines along the southern edge of the Large Magellanic Cloud, the satellite galaxy that shares its sky with Mensa and turns it, despite its modest stellar pomp, into one of the most interesting regions of the southern hemisphere.