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A bear figure has been connected with the constellation Ursa Major since the Ice Ages.

The ancient Babylonians and Egyptians had constellation figures before the Greeks. In some cases, these may correspond with later Greek constellations; in other cases, there is no correspondence; and in yet other cases an earlier figure might be represented in a different part of the sky.

Coma Berenices and Antinous were the last two constellations to be identified by the Greeks and Romans.

Canopus was the "lowest" visible star to the Ancient Greeks.

Ancient poets identified the Milky Way as the "road of the gods."

In antiquity the constellation Libra was known as the "Claws of the Scorpion."

The constellations Hydra, Crater, Corvus are all explained by the same Greek myth.

The constellation of the Hunter (Orion) is accompanied by his hunting dogs (Canis Major and Canis Minor)

The figures of Pegasus, Taurus, and Argo are only partially represented in their constellations.

The myth most often represented among the constellations is that of Perseus and Andromeda

The Babylonians and Greeks both identified the five visible planets with one of their gods.

The Pleiades were a seasonal sign common to many ancient civilizations.

Triangulum is the only geometric shape among the Greek and Roman constellation figures.

Three animals are represented twice among the constellations: Canis Major/Canis Minor, Ursa Major/Ursa Minor, Pisces/Piscis Austrinus.

The constellation figures of the northern hemisphere are over 2000 years old.

The Mythology of the Constellations

Most ancient cultures saw pictures in the stars of the night sky. The earliest known efforts to catalogue the stars date to cuneiform texts and artifacts dating back roughly 6000 years. These remnants, found in the valley of the Euphrates River, suggest that the ancients observing the heavens saw the lion, the bull, and the scorpion in the stars. The constellations as we know them today are undoubtedly very different from those first few--our night sky is a compendium of images from a number of different societies, both ancient and modern. By far, though, we owe the greatest debt to the mythology of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

The earliest references to the mythological significance of the Greek constellations may be found in the works of Homer, which probably date to the 7th century B.C. In the Iliad, for instance, Homer describes the creation of Achilleus's shield by the craftsman god Hephaistos:

On it he made the earth, and sky, and sea, the weariless sun and the moon waxing full, and all the constellations that crown the heavens, Pleiades and Hyades, the mighty Orion and the Bear, which men also call by the name of Wain: she wheels round in the same place and watches for Orion, and is the only one not to bathe in Ocean (Iliad XVIII 486-490).

At the time of Homer, however, most of the constellations were not associated with any particular myth, hero, or god. They were instead known simply as the objects or animals which they represented--the Lyre, for instance, or the Ram. By the 5th century B.C., however, most of the constellations had come to be associated with myths, and the Catasterismi of Eratosthenes completed the mythologization of the stars. "At this stage, the fusion between astronomy and mythology is so complete that no further distinction is made between them"--the stars were no longer merely identified with certain gods or heroes, but actually were perceived as divine (Seznec, 37-40).

Despite the many mentions of the stars in Greek and early Roman texts, by far the most thorough star catalogue from ancient times belongs to the Roman Ptolemy of Alexandria, who grouped 1022 stars into 48 constellations during the 2nd century A.D. Although Ptolemy's Almagest does not include the constellations which may only be seen from the southern hemisphere, it forms the basis for the modern list of 88 constellations officially designated by the International Astronomical Union (Pasachoff, 134-135). The influence of both the Greek and Roman cultures may be plainly seen; the myths behind the constellations date back to ancient Greece, but we use their Latin names.

The Major Constellations(note that images of the constellations may be obtained by clicking on the constellation name once you are on that constellation's page)

Mythology, of course, had influence on a great many aspects of astronomy other than the naming of the constellations. The planets all bear mythological names which reflect their characteristics--Mars, for instance, is blood-red, while Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. On a particularly amusing note, the names of the Galilean moons of Jupiter (the four largest, which may be seen with even a small telescope) are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. It is ironic that the mythological characters the king of the gods so ardently pursued now revolve around him.

Short History of the Constellations

The study of celestial objects is an ancient one. Knowledge of the sun, moon, and stars, and their associated mythology, was passed from generation to generation but few conclusive records of prehistoric observations survive.

Constellations were part of the historical record in Mesopotamian culture around 4000 BC. In the 9th century Homer mentioned a few now familiar constellations in his epic poem, the Odyssey. Five hundred years later Eudoxus of Cnidus wrote about 43 of our present constellations. His original work was lost but his ideas were kept alive by Aratus (c. 3rd century BC., Macedonia). Aratus included Eudoxus’ constellations in a poem call Phaenomena.

Many of our present day constellations can be found in a book called the Almagest, written circa 150 AD. by Ptolemy, an Alexandrian astronomer. Ptolemy made his own celestial observations from about 120-150 AD. but also used historical data. He stated that the oldest astronomical record he had access to was from Babylonia in the 8th century BC. While some of the star data in the Almagest was his own Ptolemy certainly got part, and perhaps most, from Hipparchus, a 2nd century BC. Greek astronomer.

The 48 constellations listed in Ptolemy’s Almagest are:

21 Northern Constellations

Andromeda, Aquila, Auriga, Boötes, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Corona Borealis, Cygnus, Delphinus, Draco, Equuleus, Hercules, Lyra, Ophiuchus, Pegasus, Perseus, Sagitta, Serpens, Triangulum,

Ursa Major, Ursa Minor

12 Zodiacal Constellations

Aries, Aquarius, Cancer, Capricornus, Gemini,

Leo, Libra, Pisces, Sagittarius, Scorpius,

Taurus, Virgo

15 Southern Constellations

Ara, Argo Navis, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Centaurus, Cetus, Corona Australis,

Corvus, Crater, Eridanus, Hydra, Lepus, Lupus, Orion, Pisces Austrinus

These forty-eight classical constellations did not cover the entire sky. From Ptolemy’s latitude the extreme southern stars never rose above the horizon. That part of sky was left blank on celestial maps until the 16th century. Check out the area of the southern celestial void by clicking on the picture at the bottom of this page.

All of the Ptolemaic constellations are still in use today. The only one you may not be familiar with is Argo Navis (the Ship Argo). In our modern constellations the Ship has been broken up into smaller parts, Carina (the Keel), Puppis (the Stern), and Vela (the Sail). See past depictions of the classical and modern constellations at Celestial Map Illustrations (use your Back button to return here).

Al-Sufi, a Persian astronomer (mid-10th century AD.), reobserved the Ptolemaic stars in the Almagest and corrected their magnitudes. Another famous Arabic astronomy text is the Alfonsine Tables, completed by scholars in Moorish Spain in 1252. It included an updated version of the star coordinates found in Ptolemy’s then 1100 year old Greek text. The Alfonsine Tables was translated into many other languages and spread throughout the rest of Europe.

Two hundred years later the Almagest was again updated, this time by the great Tatar astronomer Ulugh Beg. He worked from the city of Samarkand (in what is now Uzbekistan) observing and correcting stellar coordinates to the contemporary epoch. Ulugh Beg’s 1437 Zig Tables was not to be superceded until Tycho Brahe’s star catalog of 1602.

For well over a thousand years the Almagest was taken as the last word on the stars. In spite of the fact that stellar positions were updated from time to time no astronomer had made any additions to Ptolemy’s constellation list. That finally changed in 1536 when German globe maker Caspar Vopel added two new constellations, Antinous and Coma Berenices, to the classical forty-eight. The stars in both figures had been cataloged earlier by Ptolemy but had not been set up as distinct constellations. Vopel’s Coma Berenices survives today, Antinous does not.

In 1589 the Dutch astronomer Plancius got into the act and added two more constellations, Crux and Triangulus Antarcticus. Plancius went on to invent new constellations at a rapid pace. In 1592 he made Columba from Ptolemaic stars and Polophylax from more recent observations. Only Columba was kept by astronomers. Six years later Plancius added twelve new constellations to the southern sky using stars plotted by Keyser, a Dutch navigator. Plancius did not stop there. In 1612 he used recently charted stars to add eight more constellations, only two of which are still recognized.

In the later 17th century Hevelius, and in the mid-18th LaCaille, added additional constellations. Finally, LaCaille and de Vaugondy broke up Argo Navis into three parts and these were to become the last officially recognized modern constellations.

Many other astronomers from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries invented constellations but most were quickly forgotten. In 1801 the German astronomer Johann Bode published a set of celestial maps which included 99 constellations and a handful of smaller asterisms. Bode’s work was the last great star atlas to illustrate so many constellations. Among his new figures was a static electricity machine, a hot air balloon, and a cat. These constellations now exist only in history books.

In 1919 a group of astronomers formed the International Astronomical Union or IAU. One of the first items they tackled was the celestial disarray. The IAU made a list of 88 ‘official’ constellations in 1922 and approved the boundary of each six years later.

The 88 official constellations chosen by the IAU were all European inventions, not out of cultural imperialism but because those constellations were already well known and used by many professional astronomers.

The official constellations are no more and no less important than the constellations of any other time, country, or culture. What they are is the common language for astronomers around the world. Think of the world’s spoken languages - there is no best or correct language and each conveys some meanings better than others. Still, English is becoming the lingua franca and like English the official constellations are a useful tool for international communication.

Constellation Chronology

1482
Erhard Ratdolt publishes the first printed images of the constellations in an edition of the celestial myths of Hyginus. Like earlier manuscript models, they are not, in fact, maps of the stars but merely decorative illustrations.

1540
Alessandro Piccolomini creates the first celestial atlas, dedicating one map for each of the 48 Ptolemaic constellations. Interestingly, his maps do not include constellation figures.

1603
Johann Bayer devises a cohesive system for labeling the stars, published in his Uranometria. Also included in this atlas is the first map of new Southern Hemisphere constellations, previously recorded only on a few globes.

1690
Johannes Hevelius’s great celestial atlas is finally printed, several years after his death. Not only does it introduce twelve new constellations, but it is the last major celestial atlas to be assembled primarily using star positions sighted with the naked eye.

1729
John Flamsteed’s life’s work is also published posthumously. This atlas is the first to be produced exclusively with telescopic observations.

1799
Christian Friedrich Goldbach modifies Flamsteed’s work, creating a smaller, paperback atlas designed more for a popular audience. It employs a novel white-on-black-background format that mimics the actual appearance of the night sky.

1801
Johann Elert Bode publishes the last great pictorial celestial atlas, his Uranographia. It depicts over 17,000 stars.
[image from Popular/Professional panel, but entire image]

1846
Atlases designed for the general public gain in popularity, such as this by Ezra Otis Kendall. Gone are elaborate constellation figures, replaced by simple outlines that are easy for people to decipher.
[Image from Popular/Professional panel]

1943
Constellation figures disappear entirely, replaced by geometric, “connect-the-dots” type formations that further aid the general public in locating patterns of stars in the sky. This atlas by Henry Neely is a typical example. This way of depicting constellations has lasted through to the present day.

Review

Constellation (astronomy), in astronomy, any of 88 imagined groupings of bright stars that appear on the celestial sphere (see Ecliptic) and that are named after religious or mythological figures, animals, or objects. The term also refers to the delimited areas on the celestial sphere that contain the named groups of stars.

The oldest known drawings of constellations are motifs on seals, vases, and gaming boards from the Sumerians, indicating that constellations may have been developed as early as 4000 bc. The constellation Aquarius was named by the Sumerians after their god of heaven An, who pours the waters of immortality upon the earth. The division of the zodiac into 12 equal signs was known around 450 BC by the Babylonians. The northern constellations known today are little different from those known by the Chaldeans and the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Homer and Hesiod mentioned constellations, and the Greek poet Aratus of Soli (circa 315-c. 245 bc) gave a verse description of 44 constellations in his Phaenomena. The Alexandrian astronomer and mathematician Ptolemy, in his Almagest, described 48 constellations, of which 47 are known today by the same name.

In the past many other peoples have grouped stars in constellations, although their arrangements usually did not correspond to those of the ancients. Some Chinese constellations, however, resemble those of the ancients, indicating the possibility of a common origin.

At the end of the 16th century the first explorers of the South Seas mapped the southern sky, which was largely unknown to the ancients. New constellations were added by a Dutch navigator, Pieter Dirckz Keyser, who participated in the exploration of the East Indies in 1595. Subsequently, other southern constellations were added by the German astronomer Johann Bayer, who published the first extensive star atlas in the Western world, the Uranometria; by Johannes Hevelius; and by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis Lacaille. Many others proposed new constellations, but astronomers finally settled on a list of 88. The boundaries of constellations, however, remained a matter of discussion until 1930, when definitive boundaries were fixed by the International Astronomical Union.

The genitive forms of the names of constellations, preceded by a Greek letter, are used to designate about 1300 bright stars; this system was introduced by Johann Bayer. The famous star Algol in the constellation Perseus, for example, is called Beta Persei. The accompanying table lists the constellations on which separate articles appear in this encyclopedia.

Short History of the Constellations

The study of celestial objects is an ancient one. Knowledge of the sun, moon, and stars, and their associated mythology, was passed from generation to generation but few conclusive records of prehistoric observations survive.

Constellations were part of the historical record in Mesopotamian culture around 4000 BC. In the 9th century Homer mentioned a few now familiar constellations in his epic poem, the Odyssey. Five hundred years later Eudoxus of Cnidus wrote about 43 of our present constellations. His original work was lost but his ideas were kept alive by Aratus (c. 3rd century BC., Macedonia). Aratus included Eudoxus’ constellations in a poem call Phaenomena.

Many of our present day constellations can be found in a book called the Almagest, written circa 150 AD. by Ptolemy, an Alexandrian astronomer. Ptolemy made his own celestial observations from about 120-150 AD. but also used historical data. He stated that the oldest astronomical record he had access to was from Babylonia in the 8th century BC. While some of the star data in the Almagest was his own Ptolemy certainly got part, and perhaps most, from Hipparchus, a 2nd century BC. Greek astronomer.

The 48 constellations listed in Ptolemy’s Almagest are:

21 Northern Constellations

Andromeda, Aquila, Auriga, Boötes, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Corona Borealis, Cygnus, Delphinus, Draco, Equuleus, Hercules, Lyra, Ophiuchus, Pegasus, Perseus, Sagitta, Serpens, Triangulum,

Ursa Major, Ursa Minor

12 Zodiacal Constellations

Aries, Aquarius, Cancer, Capricornus, Gemini,

Leo, Libra, Pisces, Sagittarius, Scorpius,

Taurus, Virgo

15 Southern Constellations

Ara, Argo Navis, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Centaurus, Cetus, Corona Australis,

Corvus, Crater, Eridanus, Hydra, Lepus, Lupus, Orion, Pisces Austrinus

These forty-eight classical constellations did not cover the entire sky. From Ptolemy’s latitude the extreme southern stars never rose above the horizon. That part of sky was left blank on celestial maps until the 16th century. Check out the area of the southern celestial void by clicking on the picture at the bottom of this page.

All of the Ptolemaic constellations are still in use today. The only one you may not be familiar with is Argo Navis (the Ship Argo). In our modern constellations the Ship has been broken up into smaller parts, Carina (the Keel), Puppis (the Stern), and Vela (the Sail). See past depictions of the classical and modern constellations at Celestial Map Illustrations (use your Back button to return here).

Al-Sufi, a Persian astronomer (mid-10th century AD.), reobserved the Ptolemaic stars in the Almagest and corrected their magnitudes. Another famous Arabic astronomy text is the Alfonsine Tables, completed by scholars in Moorish Spain in 1252. It included an updated version of the star coordinates found in Ptolemy’s then 1100 year old Greek text. The Alfonsine Tables was translated into many other languages and spread throughout the rest of Europe.

Two hundred years later the Almagest was again updated, this time by the great Tatar astronomer Ulugh Beg. He worked from the city of Samarkand (in what is now Uzbekistan) observing and correcting stellar coordinates to the contemporary epoch. Ulugh Beg’s 1437 Zig Tables was not to be superceded until Tycho Brahe’s star catalog of 1602.

For well over a thousand years the Almagest was taken as the last word on the stars. In spite of the fact that stellar positions were updated from time to time no astronomer had made any additions to Ptolemy’s constellation list. That finally changed in 1536 when German globe maker Caspar Vopel added two new constellations, Antinous and Coma Berenices, to the classical forty-eight. The stars in both figures had been cataloged earlier by Ptolemy but had not been set up as distinct constellations. Vopel’s Coma Berenices survives today, Antinous does not.

In 1589 the Dutch astronomer Plancius got into the act and added two more constellations, Crux and Triangulus Antarcticus. Plancius went on to invent new constellations at a rapid pace. In 1592 he made Columba from Ptolemaic stars and Polophylax from more recent observations. Only Columba was kept by astronomers. Six years later Plancius added twelve new constellations to the southern sky using stars plotted by Keyser, a Dutch navigator. Plancius did not stop there. In 1612 he used recently charted stars to add eight more constellations, only two of which are still recognized.

In the later 17th century Hevelius, and in the mid-18th LaCaille, added additional constellations. Finally, LaCaille and de Vaugondy broke up Argo Navis into three parts and these were to become the last officially recognized modern constellations.

Many other astronomers from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries invented constellations but most were quickly forgotten. In 1801 the German astronomer Johann Bode published a set of celestial maps which included 99 constellations and a handful of smaller asterisms. Bode’s work was the last great star atlas to illustrate so many constellations. Among his new figures was a static electricity machine, a hot air balloon, and a cat. These constellations now exist only in history books.

In 1919 a group of astronomers formed the International Astronomical Union or IAU. One of the first items they tackled was the celestial disarray. The IAU made a list of 88 ‘official’ constellations in 1922 and approved the boundary of each six years later.

The 88 official constellations chosen by the IAU were all European inventions, not out of cultural imperialism but because those constellations were already well known and used by many professional astronomers.

The official constellations are no more and no less important than the constellations of any other time, country, or culture. What they are is the common language for astronomers around the world. Think of the world’s spoken languages - there is no best or correct language and each conveys some meanings better than others. Still, English is becoming the lingua franca and like English the official constellations are a useful tool for international communication.

Constellation Chronology

1482

Erhard Ratdolt publishes the first printed images of the constellations in an edition of the celestial myths of Hyginus. Like earlier manuscript models, they are not, in fact, maps of the stars but merely decorative illustrations.

1540

Alessandro Piccolomini creates the first celestial atlas, dedicating one map for each of the 48 Ptolemaic constellations. Interestingly, his maps do not include constellation figures.

1603

Johann Bayer devises a cohesive system for labeling the stars, published in his Uranometria. Also included in this atlas is the first map of new Southern Hemisphere constellations, previously recorded only on a few globes.

1690

Johannes Hevelius’s great celestial atlas is finally printed, several years after his death. Not only does it introduce twelve new constellations, but it is the last major celestial atlas to be assembled primarily using star positions sighted with the naked eye.

1729

John Flamsteed’s life’s work is also published posthumously. This atlas is the first to be produced exclusively with telescopic observations.

1799

Christian Friedrich Goldbach modifies Flamsteed’s work, creating a smaller, paperback atlas designed more for a popular audience. It employs a novel white-on-black-background format that mimics the actual appearance of the night sky.

1801

Johann Elert Bode publishes the last great pictorial celestial atlas, his Uranographia. It depicts over 17,000 stars.

[image from Popular/Professional panel, but entire image]

1846

Atlases designed for the general public gain in popularity, such as this by Ezra Otis Kendall. Gone are elaborate constellation figures, replaced by simple outlines that are easy for people to decipher.

[Image from Popular/Professional panel]

1943

Constellation figures disappear entirely, replaced by geometric, “connect-the-dots” type formations that further aid the general public in locating patterns of stars in the sky. This atlas by Henry Neely is a typical example. This way of depicting constellations has lasted through to the present day.

Review

Constellation (astronomy), in astronomy, any of 88 imagined groupings of bright stars that appear on the celestial sphere (see Ecliptic) and that are named after religious or mythological figures, animals, or objects. The term also refers to the delimited areas on the celestial sphere that contain the named groups of stars.

The oldest known drawings of constellations are motifs on seals, vases, and gaming boards from the Sumerians, indicating that constellations may have been developed as early as 4000 bc. The constellation Aquarius was named by the Sumerians after their god of heaven An, who pours the waters of immortality upon the earth. The division of the zodiac into 12 equal signs was known around 450 BC by the Babylonians. The northern constellations known today are little different from those known by the Chaldeans and the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Homer and Hesiod mentioned constellations, and the Greek poet Aratus of Soli (circa 315-c. 245 bc) gave a verse description of 44 constellations in his Phaenomena. The Alexandrian astronomer and mathematician Ptolemy, in his Almagest, described 48 constellations, of which 47 are known today by the same name.

In the past many other peoples have grouped stars in constellations, although their arrangements usually did not correspond to those of the ancients. Some Chinese constellations, however, resemble those of the ancients, indicating the possibility of a common origin.

At the end of the 16th century the first explorers of the South Seas mapped the southern sky, which was largely unknown to the ancients. New constellations were added by a Dutch navigator, Pieter Dirckz Keyser, who participated in the exploration of the East Indies in 1595. Subsequently, other southern constellations were added by the German astronomer Johann Bayer, who published the first extensive star atlas in the Western world, the Uranometria; by Johannes Hevelius; and by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis Lacaille. Many others proposed new constellations, but astronomers finally settled on a list of 88. The boundaries of constellations, however, remained a matter of discussion until 1930, when definitive boundaries were fixed by the International Astronomical Union.

The genitive forms of the names of constellations, preceded by a Greek letter, are used to designate about 1300 bright stars; this system was introduced by Johann Bayer. The famous star Algol in the constellation Perseus, for example, is called Beta Persei.

See the Following Link:

History of the Constellations. Stars and Constellations. Very Detailed Description

Some Basic Facts About the Classical Constellations

A bear figure has been connected with the constellation Ursa Major since the Ice Ages.

The ancient Babylonians and Egyptians had constellation figures before the Greeks. In some cases, these may correspond with later Greek constellations; in other cases, there is no correspondence; and in yet other cases an earlier figure might be represented in a different part of the sky.

Coma Berenices and Antinous were the last two constellations to be identified by the Greeks and Romans.

Canopus was the "lowest" visible star to the Ancient Greeks.

Ancient poets identified the Milky Way as the "road of the gods."

In antiquity the constellation Libra was known as the "Claws of the Scorpion."

The constellations Hydra, Crater, Corvus are all explained by the same Greek myth.

The constellation of the Hunter (Orion) is accompanied by his hunting dogs (Canis Major and Canis Minor)

The figures of Pegasus, Taurus, and Argo are only partially represented in their constellations.

The myth most often represented among the constellations is that of Perseus and Andromeda

The Babylonians and Greeks both identified the five visible planets with one of their gods.

The Pleiades were a seasonal sign common to many ancient civilizations.

Triangulum is the only geometric shape among the Greek and Roman constellation figures.

Three animals are represented twice among the constellations: Canis Major/Canis Minor, Ursa Major/Ursa Minor, Pisces/Piscis Austrinus.

The constellation figures of the northern hemisphere are over 2000 years old

On it he made the earth, and sky, and sea, the weariless sun and the moon waxing full, and all the constellations that crown the heavens, Pleiades and Hyades, the mighty Orion and the Bear, which men also call by the name of Wain: she wheels round in the same place and watches for Orion, and is the only one not to bathe in Ocean (Iliad XVIII 486-490).

At the time of Homer, however, most of the constellations were not associated with any particular myth, hero, or god. They were instead known simply as the objects or animals which they represented--the Lyre, for instance, or the Ram. By the 5th century B.C., however, most of the constellations had come to be associated with myths, and the Catasterismi of Eratosthenes completed the mythologization of the stars. "At this stage, the fusion between astronomy and mythology is so complete that no further distinction is made between them"--the stars were no longer merely identified with certain gods or heroes, but actually were perceived as divine (Seznec, 37-40).

Despite the many mentions of the stars in Greek and early Roman texts, by far the most thorough star catalogue from ancient times belongs to the Roman Ptolemy of Alexandria, who grouped 1022 stars into 48 constellations during the 2nd century A.D. Although Ptolemy's Almagest does not include the constellations which may only be seen from the southern hemisphere, it forms the basis for the modern list of 88 constellations officially designated by the International Astronomical Union (Pasachoff, 134-135). The influence of both the Greek and Roman cultures may be plainly seen; the myths behind the constellations date back to ancient Greece, but we use their Latin names.

The Major Constellations(note that images of the constellations may be obtained by clicking on the constellation name once you are on that constellation's page)

Mythology, of course, had influence on a great many aspects of astronomy other than the naming of the constellations. The planets all bear mythological names which reflect their characteristics--Mars, for instance, is blood-red, while Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. On a particularly amusing note, the names of the Galilean moons of Jupiter (the four largest, which may be seen with even a small telescope) are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. It is ironic that the mythological characters the king of the gods so ardently pursued now revolve around him.

Constellations List (Descriptions from Wikipedia, Free Internet Encyclopedia

• Andromeda
• Antlia
• Aquarius
• Aquila
• Ara
• Aries
• Cancer
• Canis Major
• Canis Minor
• Capricornus
• Cetus
• Coma Berenices
• Crux
• Cygnus
• Delphinus
• Gemini
• Lacerta
• Leo
• Leo Minor
• Libra
• Lyra
• Monoceros
• Norma
• Ophiuchus
• Orion
• Perseus
• Pisces
• Sagitta
• Sagittarius
• Scorpius
• Serpens
• Taurus
• Ursa Major
• Ursa Minor
• Virgo
• Vulpecula

• Apus (body text is a stub)
• Auriga (body text is a stub)
• Boötes (no DSO section)
• Caelum (almost no body text, but a non-standard stars table)
• Camelopardalis (body text is a stub)
• Canes Venatici (body text is a stub)
• Carina (body text is a stub)
• Cassiopeia (missing: features/deep-sky/history sections)
• Centaurus (body text is a stub)
• Cepheus (constellation) (body text is a stub)
• Chamaeleon (stub)
• Circinus (stub)
• Columba (constellation) (stub)
• Corona Australis (stub)
• Corona Borealis (stub)
• Corvus (needs more info and some copy editing of body text)
• Hercules (constellation) (body text is a stub)
• Pegasus (constellation) (body text is still a bit short)
• Vela (constellation) (body text is a stub)

• Crater (constellation)
• Dorado
• Draco (constellation)
• Equuleus
• Eridanus (constellation)
• Fornax
• Grus (constellation)
• Horologium
• Hydra (constellation)
• Hydrus
• Indus (constellation)
• Lepus
• Lupus
• Lynx (constellation)
• Mensa (constellation)
• Microscopium
• Musca
• Octans
• Pavo (constellation)
• Phoenix (constellation)
• Pictor
• Piscis Austrinus
• Puppis
• Pyxis
• Reticulum
• Sculptor (constellation)
• Scutum
• Sextans
• Telescopium
• Triangulum Australe
• Triangulum
• Tucana
• Volans