In 1643, Antonius Maria Schyrleus de Rheita, an astronomer and friar of the Catholic Church’s Capuchin Order, detected through his binocular telescope a stellar grouping resembling the sacred Sudarium Veronicae, or the Veil of St. Veronica. According to the Christian Stations of the Cross, when Veronica used this cloth to wipe the face of Jesus on his way to Calvary, it took on the impression of his face. But the knowledge of which stars formed this asterism has been lost to time. Since de Rheita’s original observation, there have been no other recorded sightings — until, perhaps, now.
A problematic portrait
Before we share the solution, let’s look first at the problem. To search for the Veil, many observers (myself included) relied on an illustration by Joannes Zahn, first published in 1685. It was then reproduced in Admiral William Henry Smyth’s classic 1844 book, A Cycle of Celestial Objects.
Smyth writes that de Rheita saw the figure “most clearly, by means of his binocular telescope.” This description suggests binoculars or a small telescope are required to see the star pattern. But where do we look?
Smyth tells us Veronica’s Veil is between the celestial equator and the zodiac, on or near the spot of NGC 3166. This description places the asterism roughly 10˚ south of Regulus, in the constellation Sextans. No apparent size or orientation is offered, leaving much room for speculation. The search, then, has long been for a binocular or telescopic asterism in Sextans.
But we were horribly wrong. It turns out that Zahn’s figure does not fit de Rheita’s description and is most likely — as George F. Chambers’s caption reads for Zahn’s illustration in his 1881 revision of Smyth’s work — “a pious fraud.”