Named in memory of Nicholas-Louis de Lacaille (1713–1762), French astronomer known as the “father of southern astronomy” for his naming of southern constellations and his countless astrometric observations of planets and stars. In 1750, the abbé Lacaille went to an expedition to the Cape for trigonometric determinations of the lunar and solar parallax, his observations being partly supported by simultaneous measurements by Lalande {see planet  (9136)} in Berlin. Lacaille’ observations of the southern heavens resulted in a famous catalogue of 9766 stars, a work that was eventually published in 1847 by Baily {see planet  (3115)}. Lacaille is also known as a precise observer of comet 1P/Halley in 1759. (M 34350; M 34385) _ _.