Constellations

Some 90 subdivisions of the heavens, mostly named according to some outline traced among the principal stars within the area. There is no sharp line of demarcation between the various contiguous constellations. Twelve of these groups lie along the ecliptic, and are thus known as the Zodiac of Constellations. At about the commencement of the Christian era, these constellations coincided with the divisions of the ecliptic based on the point of the Vernal Equinox, where the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator. Since at no time did astrologers attribute the influences which repose in the twelve 30-degree arcs of the Earth's annual revolution around the Sun, to the background of stars against which celestial positions are measured, the name of the constellations were appropriated and attached to the zodiac of signs based upon the points of the Equinoxes and the Solstices.

The symbology of the constellations along the ecliptic is of interest in that it is probable the astrological significances preceded the naming of the constellations, which were named to symbolize the influences ascribed to the different arcs. The constellations of the Zodiac are:

Aries. The ram. It is mentioned by Aratus, in the third century B.C. According to Grecian mythology Nephele, mother of Phrixus and Helle, gave her son a ram with a golden fleece. To escape the evil designs of their stepmother, Hera, Phrixus and Helle mounted the ram and fled. As they reached the sea and attempted to cross, Helle fell into the water and perished - hence, the Hellespont. Arriving in Colchis, Phrixus was received by the King, Aeetes, who sacrificed the ram to Zeus, to whom he dedicated the fleece - later carried away by Jason. Zeus translated the ram into the heavens as a constellation.

Taurus. The Bull. A constellation of great antiquity containing two star-clusters: the Pleiades and the Hyades, which are referred to in the Old Testament. The principal star of the Hyades, Aldebaran, is mentioned by Hesiod and Homer. According to the Greeks it was the bull which carried Europa across the seas to Crete, and which Jupiter raised to the heavens. The Hyades, named Ambrosia, Coronis, Eudora, Pasithoë, Plexaris, Pytho and Tycho - after the seven daughters of Atlas - and Aethra, were also transformed into stars by Jupiter, for bewailing the death of their brother Hyas. The central star of the Pleiades, Alcyone, also Ple‹one and Atlas - are stars of the 3rd magnitude. They were the seven daughters of Atlas and Ple‹one, hence half-sisters of the Hyades. They too were said to have been turned into stars for grieving over the loss of their sisters, and the suffering of their father: but another account tells how the sisters met the great hunter Orion in Boeotia, whose passions were so inflamed at the sight of them that he pursued them through the woods for five years, until Zeus translated the lot of them - the sisters, Orion, and his dogs Sirius and Betelguese - into the sky. As the Pleiades rise in mid-May, they are, as daughters of Atlas, the bringer of the fertilizing spring rains which come out of the west; as they set at the end of October, they are, as the pursued of Orion, the forerunners of the autumn storms. To them, Homer, in his Odyssey (XII. 62) probably alluded as the doves that brought Ambrosia from the west to Zeus. That one of the doves was lost while pursuing the wandering rocks, the Planetae, is a reference to the fact that one of the Pleiades, Merope, is always invisible - from hiding her light for shame at having had intercourse with Sisyphus - a mortal. However, all the Pleïades became ancestresses of heroic or divine families, called by the Romans: Vergiliae (probably from ver - Spring).

Gemini. The twins. The constellation Gemini contains Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri, twin sons of Jupiter and Leda, associated with Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. The constellation Lupus represents the wolf by whom the twins were suckled in infancy. In other references the twins are identified as Hercules and Apollo, and as Triptolemus and Iasion. With the Arabians -- the twins were a pair of peacocks.

Cancer. The crab. It contains a loose cluster of stars, Praesepe, the beehive, visible to the naked eye as a nebulous patch. Aratus mentions it in the third century B.C., and Ptolemy catalogued 13 stars within the area, none brighter than the 3d magnitude. Encyclopaedia Britannica explains the name as possibly due to the fact that at this point the Sun, passing the point of its greatest elongation, apparently retraces its path in a sidelong manner resembling a crab.

Leo. The Lion. The Nemean lion, slain by Hercules, and raised to the heavens in his honor, by Zeus. Regulus, the Lion's Heart, also known as Basilicus, is its brightest star, of a magnitude of 1-23. The Leonids are a meteoric swarm which radiate from the area, appearing in November.

Virgo. The Virgin. According to different fables she was Justitia, daughter of Astraeus and Ancora, who lived before man sinned, and taught him his duty; and at the end of the golden age she returned to her place in the heavens. Hesiod identified her as the daughter of Jupiter and Themis. Others variously identify her as Erigone, daughter of Icarius; and Parthene, daughter of Apollo. The principal star of the constellation is Spica, a star of the first magnitude, with a very faint companion.

Libra. The Balance. It was mentioned by Manetho in the 3d century, B.C. and by Germinus in the 1st Century B.C. It was not mentioned by Aratus, but Ptolemy catalogued 17 stars in the area. It contains the important star Algol, a variable, of a magnitude of from 5 to 6.2, with a period of 2d 7h 51m. Encyclopaedia Britannica finds no explanation for the name beyond the fact that there the days and nights are of equal duration, which would also apply to Aries.

Scorpio. The Scorpion. According to a Greek myth Orion boasted to Diana and Latona that he would kill every animal on the Earth. Whereupon the goddesses sent a scorpion which stung him to death. Jupiter then raised the scorpion to the heavens, but later, at the request of Diana, he also raised Orion. The chief star of the constellation is Antares, a reddish star of the first magnitude which has a green companion of the seventh magnitude.

Sagittarius. The Archer. The Greeks represented this constellation as a centaur in the act of releasing an arrow; they identified him as Crotus, son of Eupheme, the nurse of the Muses. The constellation contains no notably large stars.

Capricorn. The Goat. Literally translated it means a goat with horns. Ptolemy and Tycho Brahe catalogued 28 stars in this area, none of notable size. The ancients sometimes represented it as a goat, at other times only as the forepart of that animal with the tail of a fish. No record is available as to the origin of the term, but Eudoxus mentions it in the fourth century B.C..

Aquarius. The Waterbearer. A constellation mentioned by Aratus in the third century B.C. Ptolemy catalogued 47 stars in the area; Tycho Brahe 41. There appear to be no records that appear to connect the name with any of the stars or configurations within the area. The Encyclopaedia Britannica merely says that perhaps it was because the period when it was tenanted by the Sun was the rainy season.

Pisces. The Fishes. Sometimes represented by the two fishes tied together by their tails. It is mentioned by Eudoxus in the fourth century B.C., and Ptolemy catalogued 38 stars in the area. In Greek mythology Aphrodite and Eros, surprised by Typhon on the banks of the Euphrates, sought safety in the water and were changed into two fishes; but this is said to be an adaptation of an earlier Egyptian tale. The constellation contains no notably large stars.

Listed are all the constellations within 45° on each side of the equator. The month indicated is that in which the constellation is on the meridian at approx. 9 P.M..