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Ara - Ara the Altar

  • Aps - Apus the Bird of Paradise

    IAU Constellation
    Aps - Apus the Bird of Paradise

    Size

    67 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Circumpolar (southern)
    Southern
  • Ara - Ara the Altar

    IAU Constellation
    Ara - Ara the Altar

    Size

    63 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
  • CrA - Corona Australis the Southern Crown

    IAU Constellation
    CrA - Corona Australis the Southern Crown

    Size

    80 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
  • Nor - Norma the Carpenter's Square

    IAU Constellation
    Nor - Norma the Carpenter's Square

    Size

    74 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
  • Pav - Pavo the Peacock

    IAU Constellation
    Pav - Pavo the Peacock

    Size

    44 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Circumpolar (southern)
  • Sco - Scorpius the Scorpion

    IAU Constellation
    Sco - Scorpius the Scorpion

    Size

    33 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Zodiac
    Southern

    Intro and Visual description

    East of Virgo along the ecliptic the constellation Scorpius creeps above the treetops, with his menacing tail below, and stinger above. Continue eastward along the ecliptic to the next constellation, Sagittarius the Archer.

  • Tel - Telescopic the Telescope

    IAU Constellation
    Tel - Telescopium the Telescope

    Size

    57 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
  • TrA - Triangulum Australe the Southern Triangle

    IAU Constellation
    TrA - Triangulum Australe the Southern Triangle

    Size

    83 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Circumpolar (southern)
  • Hyginus (1485) figure: Ara

    Image

    Hyginus-1485-Ara

    Note the dragons in the fire.

  • Bode (1801), plate 2: Libra Planisphere

    Image

    Bode-1801-02-planisphere

    Uranographia Tab II. Stellatum Hemisphaeri um Librae. 

    Bode included two planisphere plates. They are not southern and northern hemispheres; each one has Polaris at the top and the south pole at the bottom. Each one is centered upon an equinox point (where the ecliptic or path of the Sun and the celestial equator intersect). The March equinox point was in Aries in antiquity; by Bode’s time, due to the precession of the equinoxes, it had shifted to Pisces. The September equinox point was in Libra in antiquity; by Bode’s time it had shifted to Virgo.  Bode titled the plates as the Aries and Libra planispheres.

    The Libra planisphere, centered on the September equinox in Virgo, includes these constellations, among others, which appear high overhead in the night skies of spring:

    Equatorial:  Ophiuchus, Serpens, Libra, Virgo, Crater, Corvis, Hydra, Sextans, Leo, Cancer, Monoceros.

    Northern:  Hercules, Quadrans Muralis, Bootes, Canes Venatici, Ursa Major, Telescopium Herschelii, Gemini, Lynx, Ursa Minor.

    Southern:  Scorpius, Tubus Astronomicus, Lupus, Centaurus, Apis, Chameleon, Crux, Argo Navis, Robur Caroli II, Circinus (sector compass), Canis Major, Pixis Nautica (magnetic compass), Machina Pneumatica (air pump), Officina Typographica (printing press).

    In September, the Libra-Virgo equinox (the center of the Libra plate) is traveling with the Sun, rising in the east in the morning and setting in the west in the evening.  Imagine the center of the planisphere has the Sun pinned to it for that day, and that’s how it would move across the sky. Therefore the constellations near the center of this planisphere are invisible in the daytime sky at that time unless there is a solar eclipse.  They would be visible directly opposite the Sun at the March equinox.

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Tau - Taurus the Bull

IAU Constellation
Tau - Taurus the Bull

Size

17 of 88
Astronomical Regions
Zodiac
Northern
Equatorial

Intro and Visual description

Taurus the Bull is easily spotted. Its head is the Hyades, a V-shaped cluster of stars. His horns point outward from the V. Aldebaran is the red eye of the Bull as he charges down upon us.

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| And | Ant | Aps | Aql | Aqr | Ara | Ari | Aur | Boo | Cae | Cam | Cap | Car | Cas | Cen | Cep | Cet | Cha | Cir | CMa | CMi | Cnc | Col | Com | CrA | CrB | Crt | Cru | Crv | CVn | Cyg | Del | Dor | Dra | Equ | Eri | For | Gem | Gru | Her | Hor | Hya | Hyi | Ind | Lac | Leo | Lep | Lib | LMi | Lup | Lyn | Lyr | Men | Mic | Mon | Mus | Nor | Oct | Oph | Ori | Pav | Peg | Per | Phe | Pic | PsA | Psc | Pup | Pyx | Ret | Scl | Sco | Sct | Ser | Sex | Sge | Sgr | Tau | Tel | TrA | Tri | Tuc | UMa | UMi | Vel | Vir | Vol | Vul |

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Kerry Magruder, Brent Purkaple, and Aja Tolman, editors, "The Sky Tonight: Cultural Archaeology of the Stars" (December 21, 2019 - ongoing), skytonight.org.


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