The Marquesas islanders called it Na-pai-ka; the Maoriconstellation Pipiri may correspond to modern Aries as well.^[25] In indigenous Peruvian astronomy, a constellation with most of the same stars as Aries existed. It was called the "Market Moon" and the "Kneeling Terrace", as a reminder for when to hold the annual harvest festival, Ayri Huay. Sony VAIO VPCF23N1E Battery

Aries has three prominent stars forming an asterism, designated Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Arietis by Johann Bayer. All three are commonly used for navigation.^[26] There is also one other star above the fourth magnitude, 41 Arietis. α Arietis, called Hamal, is the brightest star in Aries. Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/L Battery

Its traditional name is derived from the Arabic word for "lamb" or "head of the ram" (ras al-hamal), which references Aries's mythological background.^[17] With a spectral class of K2^[12] and a luminosity class of III, it is an orange giant with an apparent visual magnitude of 2.00, which lies 66light-years from Earth. Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/G battery

Hamal has a luminosity of 96 L_☉ and its absolute magnitude is −0.1.^[28]

β Arietis, also known as Sheratan, is a blue-white star with an apparent visual magnitude of 2.64. Its traditional name is derived from "sharatayn", the Arabic word for "the two signs", referring to both Beta and Gamma Arietis in their position as heralds of the vernal equinox. Sony VAIO VPCF24M1E battery

The two stars were known to the Bedouin as "qarna al-hamal", "horns of the ram".^[29] It is 59 light-years from Earth. It has a luminosity of 11 L_☉ and its absolute magnitude is 2.1.^[28] It is a spectroscopic binary star, one in which the companion star is only known through analysis of the spectra. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW21EF/S Battery}

The spectral class of the primary is A5.^[12] Hermann Carl Vogel determined that Sheratan was a spectroscopic binary in 1903; its orbit was determined by Hans Ludendorff in 1907. It has since been studied for its eccentric orbit.^[31]

γ Arietis, with a common name of Mesartim, is a binary star with two white-hued components, located in a rich field of magnitude 8–12 stars. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW21JF Battery}

Its traditional name has conflicting derivations. It may be derived from a corruption of "al-sharatan", the Arabic word meaning "pair" or a word for "fat ram".However, it may also come from the Sanskrit for "first star of Aries" or the Hebrew for "ministerial servants", both of which are unusual languages of origin for star names. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF Battery}

Along with Beta Arietis, it was known to the Bedouin as "qarna al-hamal".^[29] The primary is of magnitude 4.59 and the secondary is of magnitude 4.68.^[28] The system is 164 light-years from Earth.^[33] The two components are separated by 7.8 arcseconds,^[2] and the system as a whole has an apparent magnitude of 3.9. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/W Battery}

The primary has a luminosity of 60 L_☉ and the secondary has a luminosity of 56 L_☉; the primary is an A-type star with an absolute magnitude of 0.2 and the secondary is a B9-type star with an absolute magnitude of 0.4.^[28] The angle between the two components is 1°. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF Battery}

Mesartim was discovered to be a double star byRobert Hooke in 1664, one of the earliest such telescopic discoveries. The primary, γ¹ Arietis, is an Alpha² Canum Venaticorum variable star that has a range of 0.02 magnitudes and a period of 2.607 days. It is unusual because of its strong silicon emission lines.^{[31] Sony VAIO VGN-NW31EF/W Battery}

The constellation is home to several double stars, including Epsilon, Lambda, and Pi Arietis. ε Arietis is a binary star with two white components. The primary is of magnitude 5.2 and the secondary is of magnitude 5.5. The system is 290 light-years from Earth.^[11] Its overall magnitude is 4.63, and the primary has an absolute magnitude of 1.4. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW31JF Battery}

Its spectral class is A2. The two components are separated by 1.5 arcseconds.^[28] λ Arietis is a wide double star with a white-hued primary and a yellow-hued secondary. The primary is of magnitude 4.8 and the secondary is of magnitude 7.3.^[11] The primary is 129 light-years from Earth. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW320F/B Battery}

It has an absolute magnitude of 1.7 and a spectral class of F0.^[28] The two components are separated by 36 arcseconds at an angle of 50°; the two stars are located 0.5° east of 7 Arietis.^[2] π Arietis is a close binary star with a blue-white primary and a white secondary. The primary is of magnitude 5.3 and the secondary is of magnitude 8.5.^{[11] Sony VAIO VGN-NW320F/TC Battery}

The primary is 776 light-years from Earth.^[35] The primary itself is a wide double star with a separation of 25.2 arcseconds; the tertiary has a magnitude of 10.8. The primary and secondary are separated by 3.2 arcseconds.^[28]

Most of the other stars in Aries visible to the naked eye have magnitudes between 3 and 5. δ Ari, ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW35E Battery}

called Boteïn, is a star of magnitude 4.35, 170 light-years away. It has an absolute magnitude of −0.1 and a spectral class of K2.^[28][36] ζ Arietis is a star of magnitude 4.89, 263 light-years away. Its spectral class is A0 and its absolute magnitude is 0.0.^[28][37] 14 Arietis is a star of magnitude 4.98, 288 light-years away. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW380F/S Battery}

Its spectral class is F2 and its absolute magnitude is 0.6.^[28][38] 39 Arietis is a similar star of magnitude 4.51, 172 light-years away. Its spectral class is K1 and its absolute magnitude is 0.0. 35 Arietis is a dim star of magnitude 4.55, 343 light-years away. Its spectral class is B3 and its absolute magnitude is −1.7. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW380F/T Battery}

41 Arietis, known both as c Arietis and Nair al Butain, is a brighter star of magnitude 3.63, 165 light-years away. Its spectral class is B8 and it has a luminosity of 105 L_☉. Its absolute magnitude is −0.2. 53 Arietis is a runaway star of magnitude 6.09, 815 light-years away. Its spectral class is B2. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW50JB Battery}

It was likely ejected from the Orion Nebula approximately five million years ago, possibly due to supernovae.^[31] Finally, Teegarden's Star is the closest star to Earth in Aries. It is a brown dwarf of magnitude 15.14 and spectral class M6.5V. With a proper motion of 5.1 arcseconds per year, it is the 24th closest star to Earth overall.^{[3] Sony VAIO VGN-NW51FB/N Battery}

Aries has its share of variable stars, including R and U Arietis, Mira-type variable stars, and T Arietis, a semi-regular variable star. R Arietis is a Mira variable star that ranges in magnitude from a minimum of 13.7 to a maximum of 7.4 with a period of 186.8 days.^[28] It is 4,080 light-years away. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW51FB/W Battery}

U Arietis is another Mira variable star that ranges in magnitude from a minimum of 15.2 to a maximum of 7.2 with a period of 371.1 days.^[28] T Arietis is a semiregular variable star that ranges in magnitude from a minimum of 11.3 to a maximum of 7.5 with a period of 317 days.^[28] It is 1,630 light-years away. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW70JB Battery}

One particularly interesting variable in Aries is SX Arietis, a rotating variable star considered to be the prototype of its class, helium variable stars. SX Arietis stars have very prominent emission lines of Helium I and Silicon III. They are normally main-sequence B0p—B9p stars, and their variations are not usually visible to the naked eye. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW71FB/N Battery}

Therefore, they are observed photometrically, usually having periods that fit in the course of one night. Similar to Alpha² Canum Venaticorum variables, SX Arietis stars have periodic changes in their light and magnetic field, which correspond to the periodic rotation; they differ from the Alpha² Canum Venaticorum variables in their higher temperature. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW71FB/W Battery}

There are between 39 and 49 SX Arietis variable stars currently known; ten are noted as being "uncertain" in the General Catalog of Variable Stars.

The few deep-sky objects in Aries are very dim. Nevertheless, several scientifically interesting galaxies lie within its borders; it has spiral, elliptical, andinteracting galaxies. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW91FS Battery}

NGC 772 is a spiral galaxy with an integrated magnitude of 10.3, located southeast of β Arietis and 15 arcminutes west of 15 Arietis.^[12] It is a relatively bright galaxy and shows obvious nebulosity and ellipticity in an amateur telescope. It is 7.2 by 4.2 arcminutes, meaning that its surface brightness, magnitude 13.6, is significantly lower than its integrated magnitude.^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW91GS Battery}

NGC 772 is a class SA(s)b galaxy, which means that it is an unbarred spiral galaxy without a ring that possesses a somewhat prominent bulge and spiral arms that are wound somewhat tightly. The main arm, on the northwest side of the galaxy, is home to many star forming regions; this is due to previous gravitational interactions with other galaxies. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-NW91VS Battery}

NGC 772 has a small companion galaxy, NGC 770, that is about 113,000 light-years away from the larger galaxy. The two galaxies together are also classified as Arp 78 in the Arp peculiar galaxy catalog. NGC 772 has a diameter of 240,000 light-years and the system is 114 million light-years from Earth. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR11M Battery}

Another spiral galaxy in Aries is NGC 673, a face-on class SAB(s)c galaxy. It is a weakly barred spiral galaxy with loosely wound arms. It has no ring and a faint bulge and is 2.5 by 1.9 arcminutes. It has two primary arms with fragments located farther from the core. 171,000 light-years in diameter, NGC 673 is 235 million light-years from Earth. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR11MR Battery}

NGC 678 and NGC 680 are a pair of galaxies in Aries that are only about 200,000 light-years apart. Part of the NGC 691 group of galaxies, both are at a distance of approximately 130 million light-years. NGC 678 is an edge-on spiral galaxy that is 4.5 by 0.8 arcminutes. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR140D Battery}

NGC 680, an elliptical galaxy with an asymmetrical boundary, is the brighter of the two at magnitude 12.9; NGC 678 has a magnitude of 13.35. Both galaxies have bright cores, but NGC 678 is the larger galaxy at a diameter of 171,000 light-years; NGC 680 has a diameter of 72,000 light-years. NGC 678 is further distinguished by its prominent dust lane. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR140D/B Battery}

NGC 691 itself is a spiral galaxy slightly inclined to our line of sight. It has multiple spiral arms and a bright core. Because it is so diffuse, it has a low surface brightness. It has a diameter of 126,000 light-years and is 124 million light-years away.^[46] NGC 877 is the brightest member of an 8-galaxy group that also includes NGC 870, ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR140D/P Battery}

NGC 871, and NGC 876, with a magnitude of 12.53. It is 2.4 by 1.8 arcminutes and is 178 million light-years away with a diameter of 124,000 light-years. Its companion is NGC 876, which is about 103,000 light-years from the core of NGC 877. They are interacting gravitationally, as they are connected by a faint stream of gas and dust. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR140D/S Battery}

Arp 276 is a different pair of interacting galaxies in Aries, consisting of NGC 935 and IC 1801.NGC 821 is an E6 elliptical galaxy. It is unusual because it has hints of an early spiral structure, which is normally only found in lenticular and spiral galaxies. NGC 821 is 2.6 by 2.0 arcminutes and has a visual magnitude of 11.3. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR140E Battery}

Its diameter is 61,000 light-years and it is 80 million light-years away.^[46]Another unusual galaxy in Aries is Segue 2. Segue 2 is a dwarf galaxy that is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, recently discovered to be a potential relic of the epoch of reionization.

Aries is home to several meteor showers. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR140E/B Battery}

The Daytime Arietid meteor shower is one of the strongest meteor showers that occurs during the day, lasting from 22 May to 2 June. It is an annual shower associated with the Marsden group of comets that peaks on 7 June with a maximum zenithal hourly rate of 54 meteors.^[49][50]Its parent body may be the asteroid Icarus. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR140E/P Battery}

The meteors are sometimes visible before dawn, because the radiant is 32 degrees away from the Sun. They usually appear at a rate of 1–2 per hour as "earthgrazers", meteors that last several seconds and often begin at the horizon. Because most of the Daytime Arietids are not visible to the naked eye, they are observed in the radio spectrum. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR140E/S Battery}

This is possible because of the ionized gas they leave in their wake.^[51][52] Other meteor showers radiate from Aries during the day; these include the Daytime Epsilon Arietids and the Northern and Southern Daytime May Arietids.^[53] The Jodrell Bank Observatory discovered the Daytime Arietids in 1947 when James Hey and G.S. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR140N/S Battery}

Stewart adapted the World War II-era radar systems for meteor observations.^[52]

The Delta Arietids are another meteor shower radiating from Aries. Peaking on 9 December with a low peak rate, the shower lasts from 8 December to 14 January, with the highest rates visible from 8 to 14 December. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR165E/B Battery}

The average Delta Aquarid meteor is very slow, with an average velocity of 13.2 kilometres (8.2 mi) per second. However, this shower sometimes produces bright fireballs.^[54] This meteor shower has northern and southern components, both of which are likely associated with 1990 HA, a near-earth asteroid.^{[55] Sony VAIO VGN-SR165E/P Battery}

The Autumn Arietids also radiate from Aries. The shower lasts from 7 September to 27 October and peaks on 9 October. Its peak rate is low.^[56] The Epsilon Arietids appear from 12 to 23 October.^[7] Other meteor showers radiating from Aries include the October Delta Arietids, Daytime Epsilon Arietids, Daytime May Arietids, ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR165E/S Battery}

Sigma Arietids, Nu Arietids, and Beta Arietids.^[53] The Sigma Arietids, a class IV meteor shower, are visible from 12 to 19 October, with a maximum zenithal hourly rate of less than two meteors per hour on 19 October.

Aries contains several stars with extrasolar planets. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR190EBJ Battery}

HIP 14810, a G5 type star, is orbited by three giant planets (those more than ten times the mass of Earth).^[58] HD 12661, like HIP 14810, is a G-type main sequence star, slightly larger than the Sun, with two orbiting planets. One planet is 2.3 times the mass of Jupiter, and the other is 1.57 times the mass of Jupiter. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR190EBQ Battery}

HD 20367 is a G0 type star, approximately the size of the Sun, with one orbiting planet. The planet, discovered in 2002, has a mass 1.07 times that of Jupiter and orbits every 500 days.

Taurus is one of the constellations of the zodiac, which means it is crossed by the plane of the ecliptic. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR190EEJ/C Battery}

Its name is aLatin word meaning "bull", and its astrological symbol is a stylized bull's head:   (Unicode ♉). Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere's winter sky. It is one of the oldest constellations, dating back to at least the Early Bronze Age when it marked the location of the Sun during the spring equinox. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR190NAB Battery}

Taurus came to symbolize the bull in the mythologies of Ancient Babylon, Egypt and Greece.

There are a number of features of interest to astronomers. Taurus hosts two of the nearest open clusters to Earth, thePleiades and the Hyades, both of which are visible to the naked eye. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR190NBB Battery}

At first magnitude, the red giant Aldebaran is the brightest star in the constellation. In the northwest part of Taurus is the supernova remnant Messier 1, more commonly known as the Crab Nebula. One of the closest regions of active star location, the Taurus-Auriga complex, crosses into the northern part of the constellation. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR190NDB Battery}

The variable star T Tauri is the prototype of a class of pre-main-sequence stars.

Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere's winter sky, between Aries to the west andGemini to the east; to the north lie Perseus and Auriga, to the southeast Orion, to the south Eridanus, and to the southwest Cetus. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR190NEB Battery}

In September and October, Taurus is visible in the evening along the eastern horizon. The most favorable time to observe Taurus in the night sky is during the months of December and January. By March and April, the constellation will appear to the west during the evening twilight.^{[5] Sony VAIO VGN-SR190NGB Battery}

This constellation forms part of the zodiac, and hence is intersected by the ecliptic. This circle across the celestial sphere forms the apparent path of the Sun as the Earth completes its annual orbit. As the orbital plane of the Moon and the planets lie near the ecliptic, they can usually be found in the constellation Taurus during some part of each year. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR190PAB Battery}

The galactic plane of the Milky Way intersects the northeast corner of the constellation and the galactic anticenter is located near the border between Taurus and Auriga. Taurus is the only constellation crossed by all three of the galactic equator, celestial equator, and ecliptic. A ring-like galactic structure known as the Gould's Belt passes through the Taurus constellation. ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR190PCB Battery}

The recommended three-letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922, is "Tau".^[2] The official constellation boundaries, as set by Eugène Delporte in 1930, are defined by a polygon of 26 segments. In the equatorial coordinate system, ^{Sony VAIO VGN-SR190PFB Battery}

the right ascension coordinates of these borders lie between 03^h 23.4^mand 05^h 53.3^m, while the declination coordinates are between 31.10° and −1.35°.^[7] Because a small part of the constellation lies to the south of the celestial equator, this can not be a completely circumpolar constellation at any latitude. Sony VAIO VGN-SR19VN Battery

During November, the Taurid meteor shower appears to radiate from the general direction of this constellation. The Beta Taurid meteor shower occurs during the months of June and July in the daytime, and is normally observed using radio techniques. In October, between the 18th and the 29th, both the Northern Taurids and the Southern Taurids are active; Sony VAIO VGN-SR19VN Battery

though the latter stream is stronger.^[11] However, between November 1 and 10, the two streams equalize.The brightest member of this constellation is Aldebaran, an orange-hued,spectral class K5 III giant star.^[13] Its name is from الدبران al-dabarān, Arabicfor "the follower" (of the Pleiades). Sony VAIO VGN-SR19VRN Battery

Forming the profile of a Bull's face is a V or A-shaped asterism of stars. This outline is created by prominent members of the Hyades,^[16] the nearest distinct open star cluster after the Ursa Major Moving Group.^[17] In this profile, Aldebaran forms the bull's bloodshot eye, which has been described as "glaring menacingly at the hunter Orion",Sony VAIO VGN-SR19XN Battery

a constellation that lies just to the southwest. The Hyades span about 5° of the sky, so that they can only be viewed in their entirety with binoculars or the unaided eye.^[19] It includes a naked eye double star, Theta Tauri, with a separation of 5.6 arcminutes.^[20]

In the northeastern quadrant of the Taurus constellation lie the Pleiades (M45), Sony VAIO VGN-SR19XN Battery

one of the best known open clusters, easily visible to the naked eye. The seven most prominent stars in this cluster are at least visual magnitude six, and so the cluster is also named the "Seven Sisters". However, many more stars are visible with even a modest telescope. Sony VAIO VGN-SR210J/S Battery

The name of the star Aldebaran most likely comes from the fact that it follows the Pleiades during the nightly motion of the celestial sphere across the sky.^[14] Astronomers estimate that the cluster has approximately 500-1,000 stars, all of which are around 100 million years old. However, they vary considerably in type. Sony VAIO VGN-SR21M/S Battery

The Pleiades themselves are represented by large, bright stars; there are also many small brown dwarfs and white dwarfs. The cluster is estimated to dissipate in another 250 million years. The Pleiades cluster is classified as a Shapley class c and Trumpler class I 3 r n cluster, indicating that it is irregularly shaped and loose, though concentrated at its center and detached from the star field. Sony VAIO VGN-SR21RM/H Battery

In the northern part of the constellation to the northwest of the Pleiades lies the Crystal Ball Nebula, known by its catalogue designation of NGC 1514. Thisplanetary nebula is of historical interest following its discovery by German-born English astronomer William Herschel in 1790. Prior to that time, Sony VAIO VGN-SR21RM/S Battery

astronomers had assumed that nebulae were simply unresolved groups of stars. However, Herschel could clearly resolve a star at the center of the nebula that was surrounded by a nebulous cloud of some type. In 1864, English astronomer William Huggins used the spectrum of this nebula to deduce that the nebula is a luminous gas, rather than stars. Sony VAIO VGN-SR220J/B Battery

To the west, the two horns of the bull are formed by Beta (β) Tauri and Zeta (ζ) Tauri; two star systems that are separated by 8°. Beta is a white, spectral class B7 III giant star known as El Nath, which comes from the Arabic phrase "the butting", as in butting by the horns of the bull. Sony VAIO VGN-SR220J/H Battery

It is the second brightest star in the constellation, and shares the border with the neighboring constellation of Auriga. As a result, it also bears the designation Gamma Aurigae. Zeta Tauri is an eclipsing binary star that completes an orbit every 133 days.

A degree to the northwest of ζ Tauri is the Crab Nebula (M1), a supernova remnant. Sony VAIO VGN-SR240J/B Battery

This expanding nebula was created by a Type II supernova explosion, which was seen from Earth on July 4, 1054. It was bright enough to be observed during the day, and is mentioned in Chinese historical texts. At its peak the supernova reached magnitude −4, but the nebula is currently magnitude 8.4 and requires a telescope to observe. Sony VAIO VGN-SR240N/B Battery

North American peoples also observed the supernova, as evidenced from a painting on a New Mexican canyon and various pieces of pottery that depict the event. However, the remnant itself was not discovered until 1731, when John Bevis found it.^[22]

The star Lambda (λ) Tauri is an eclipsing binary star. Sony VAIO VGN-SR290JTH Battery

Constellation

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In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms (which themselves are generally referred to in non-technical language as "constellations"), which are patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky. Sony VAIO PCG-3B1M Battery

There are also numerous historical constellations not recognized by the IAU, or constellations recognized in regional traditions of astronomy or astrology, such as Chinese, Hindu and Australian Aboriginal.

The Late Latin term constellātiō can be translated as "set with stars". Sony VAIO PCG-3C1T Battery

The term was first used in astrology, of asterisms that supposedly exerted influence, attested in Ammianus (4th century). In English the term was used from the 14th century, also in astrology, of conjunctions of planets. The modern astronomical sense of "area of the celestial sphere around a specific asterism" dates to the mid 16th century. Sony VAIO PCG-3D1M Battery

Colloquial usage does not distinguish the senses of "asterism" and "area surrounding an asterism". The modern system of constellations used in astronomy focuses primarily on constellations as grid-like segments of the celestial sphere rather than as patterns, while the term for a star-pattern is asterism. Sony VAIO PCG-3G2M Battery

For example, the asterism known as the Big Dipper corresponds to the seven brightest stars of the larger IAU constellation ofUrsa Major.The term circumpolar constellation is used for any constellation that, from a particular latitude on Earth, never sets below the horizon. From the north pole, all constellations north of the celestial equator are circumpolar constellations. Sony VAIO PCG-5R1M Battery

In the northern latitudes, the informal term equatorial constellation has sometimes used for constellations that lie to the south of the circumpolar constellations.^[1] Depending on the definition, equatorial constellations can include those that lie entirely between declinations 45° north and 45° south, or those that pass overhead between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.Sony VAIO PCG-7141M Battery

They generally include all constellations that intersect the celestial equator.

The current list of 88 constellations recognised by the International Astronomical Union since 1922 is based on the 48 listed by Ptolemy in his Almagest in the 2nd century. Ptolemy's catalogue is informed by Eudoxus of Cnidus, a Greek astronomer of the 4th century BC who introduced earlier Babylonian astronomy to the Hellenistic culture. Sony VAIO PCG-7143M Battery

Of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy, thirty can be shown to have a much longer history, reaching back into at least the Late Bronze Age. This concerns the zodiacal constellations in particular.The oldest catalogues of stars and constellations are from Old Babylonian astronomy, beginning in the Middle Bronze Age. Sony VAIO PCG-7151M Battery

The numerous Sumerian names in these catalogues suggest that they build on older, but otherwise unattested, Sumerian traditions of the Early Bronze Age. The classical Zodiac is a product of a revision of the Old Babylonian system in later Neo-Babylonian astronomy 6th century BC. Knowledge of the Neo-Babylonian zodiac is also reflected in the Hebrew Bible. Sony VAIO PCG-7154M Battery

E. W. Bullinger interpreted the creatures appearing in the books of Ezekiel (and thence in Revelation) as the middle signs of the four quarters of the Zodiac,^[5][6] with the Lion as Leo, the Bull is Taurus, the Man representing Aquarius and the Eagle standing in for Scorpio. Sony VAIO PCG-7162M Battery

The biblical Book of Job (dating to the 6th to 4th century BC) also makes reference to a number of constellations, including עיש `Ayish "bier", כסיל Kĕciyl "fool" and כימה Kiymah "heap" (Job 9:9, 38:31-32), rendered as "Arcturus, Orion and Pleiades" by the KJV, but `Ayish "the bier" actually corresponding to Ursa Major. Sony VAIO PCG-7181M Battery

The term Mazzaroth מַזָּרֹות, ahapax legomenon in Job 38:32, may be the Hebrew word for the zodiacal constellations.The Greeks adopted the Babylonian system in the 4th century BC. A total of twenty Ptolemaic constellations are directly continued from the Ancient Near East. Another ten have the same stars but different names. Sony VAIO PCG-41112M Battery

There is only limited information on indigenous Greek constellations. Some evidence is found in Hesiod. Greek astronomy essentially adopted the older Babylonian system in the Hellenistic era, first introduced to Greece by Eudoxus of Cnidus in the 4th century BC. Sony VAIO PCG-7153M Battery

The original work of Eudoxus is lost, but it survives as a versification by Aratus, dating to the 3rd century BC. The most complete existing works dealing with the mythical origins of the constellations are by the Hellenistic writer termed pseudo-Eratosthenes and an early Roman writer styled pseudo-Hyginus. Sony VAIO PCG-71312M Battery

The basis of western astronomy as taught during Late Antiquity and until the Early Modern period is the Almagest by Ptolemy, written in the 2nd century. Indian astronomy is also based on Hellenistic tradition, via transmission by the Indo-Greek kingdoms.

In classical Chinese astronomy, the northern sky is divided geometrically, Sony VAIO PCG-7144M Battery

into five "enclosures" and twenty-eight mansions along the ecliptic, grouped intoFour Symbols of seven asterisms each. The 28 lunar mansions are one of the most important and also the most ancient structures in the Chinese sky, attested from the 5th century BC. Parallels to the earliest Babylonian (Sumerian) star catalogues suggest that the ancient Chinese system did not arise independently from that of the Ancient Near East. Sony VAIO PCG-7191L Battery

Classical Chinese astronomy is recorded in the Han period and appears in the form of three schools, which are attributed to astronomers of the Zhanguo period. The constellations of the three schools were conflated into a single system by Chen Zhuo, an astronomer of the 3rd century (Three Kingdoms period). Sony VAIO PCG-3C1M Battery

Chen Zhuo's work has been lost, but information on his system of constellations survives in Tang period records, notably by Qutan Xida. The oldest extant Chinese star chart dates to the Tang period and was preserved as part of the Dunhuang Manuscripts. Native Chinese astronomy flourished during the Song Dynasty, and during the Yuan Dynasty became increasingly influenced by medieval Islamic astronomy. Sony VAIO PCG-3F1M Battery

The constellations around the South Pole were not observable from north of the equator, by Babylonians, Greeks, Chinese or Arabs.The modern constellations in this region were defined during the age of exploration, notably by Dutch navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman at the end of sixteenth century. Sony VAIO PCG-3H1M Battery

They were depicted by Johann Bayer in his star atlas Uranometria of 1603. Several more were created by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in his star catalogue, published in 1756.

Some modern proposals for new constellations were not successful; an example is Quadrans, eponymous of the Quadrantid meteors, now divided between Boötes andDraco. Sony VAIO PCG-3J1M Battery

The classical constellation of Argo Navis was broken up into several different constellations, for the convenience of stellar cartographers.By the end of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Guangqi introduced 23 asterisms of the southern sky based on the knowledge of western star charts. These asterisms have since been incorporated into the traditional Chinese star maps. Sony VAIO PCG-8141M Battery

In 1922, Henry Norris Russell aided the IAU in dividing the celestial sphere into 88 official constellations.^[13] Where possible, these modern constellations usually share the names of their Graeco-Roman predecessors, such as Orion, Leo or Scorpius. The aim of this system is area-mapping, i.e. the division of the celestial sphere into contiguous fields. Sony VAIO PCG-8161M Battery

Out of the 88 modern constellations, 36 lie predominantly in the northern sky, and the other 52 predominantly in the southern.In 1930, the boundaries between the 88 constellations were devised by Eugène Delporte along vertical and horizontal lines of right ascension and declination.However, the data he used originated back to epoch B1875.0, which was when Benjamin A. Sony VAIO PCG-3C2M Battery

Gould first made the proposal to designate boundaries for the celestial sphere, a suggestion upon which Delporte would base his work. The consequence of this early date is that due to the precession of the equinoxes, the borders on a modern star map, such as epoch J2000, are already somewhat skewed and no longer perfectly vertical or horizontal. Sony VAIO PCG-5N2M Battery

This effect will increase over the years and centuries to come.

The stars of the main asterism within a constellation are usually given Greek letters in their order of brightness, the so-called Bayer designation introduced by Johann Bayer in 1603. A total of 1,564 stars are so identified, out of approximately 10,000 stars visible to the naked eye. Sony VAIO PCG-5P1M Battery

The brightest stars, usually the stars that make up the constellation's eponymous asterism, also retain proper names, often from Arabic. For example, the "Little Dipper" asterism of the constellation Ursa Minor has ten stars with Bayer designation, α UMi to π UMi. Of these ten stars, seven have a proper name, viz. Sony VAIO PCG-5S1M Battery

Polaris (α UMi),Kochab (β UMi), Pherkad (γ UMi), Yildun (δ UMi), Urodelus (ε UMi), Ahfa al Farkadain (ζ UMi) and Anwar al Farkadain (η UMi).

The stars within an asterism rarely have any substantial astrophysical relationship to each other, Sony VAIO PCG-9Z1M Battery

and their apparent proximity when viewed from Earth disguises the fact that they are far apart, some being much farther from Earth than others. However, there are some exceptions: many of the stars in the constellation of Ursa Major(including most of the Big Dipper) are genuinely close to one another, Sony VAIO PCG-7171M Battery

travel through the galaxy with similarvelocities, and are likely to have formed together as part of a cluster that is slowly dispersing. These stars form the Ursa Major moving group.

The Great Rift, a series of dark patches in the Milky Way, is more visible and striking in thesouthern hemisphere than in the northern. Sony VAIO PCG-7186M Battery

It vividly stands out when conditions are otherwise so dark that the Milky Way's central region casts shadows on the ground. Some cultures have discerned shapes in these patches and have given names to these "dark cloud constellations." Members of theInca civilization identified various dark areas or dark nebulae in the Milky Way as animals, and associated their appearance with the seasonal rains. Sony VAIO PCG-81112M Battery

Australian Aboriginal astronomy also describes dark cloud constellations, the most famous being the "emu in the sky" whose head is formed by the Coalsack.

Aries is one of the constellations of the zodiac, the groups of stars through which the apparent course of the sun passes during the year. Sony VAIO PCG-31311M Battery

It is located in the Northern Hemisphere between Pisces to the west and Taurus to the east. The name Aries is Latin for ram, and its symbol is   (Unicode ♈), representing a ram's horns. It is one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations. Sony VAIO PCG-8152M Battery

It is a mid-sized constellation, ranking 39th overall size, with an area of 441 square degrees (1.1% of the celestial sphere).Although Aries came to represent specifically the ram whose fleece became the Golden Fleece of Ancient Greek mythology, it has represented a ram since late Babylonian times. Before that, the stars of Aries formed a farmhand. Sony VAIO PCG-31111M Battery

Different cultures have incorporated the stars of Aries into different constellations including twin inspectors in China and a porpoise in the Marshall Islands. Aries is a relatively dim constellation, possessing only four bright stars: Hamal(Alpha Arietis, second magnitude), Sheratan (Beta Arietis, third magnitude), Sony VAIO PCG-61111M Battery

Mesartim (Gamma Arietis, fourth magnitude), and 41 Arietis (also fourth magnitude). The few deep-sky objects within the constellation are quite faint and include several pairs of interacting galaxies. Several meteor showers appear to radiate from Aries, including the Daytime Arietids and the Epsilon Arietids. Sony VAIO PCG-51112M Battery

Aries is now recognized as an official constellation, albeit as a specific region of the sky, by the International Astronomical Union. It was originally defined in ancient texts as a specific pattern of stars, and has remained a constellation since ancient times; it now includes the ancient pattern as well as the surrounding stars. Sony VAIO PCG-51211M Battery

In the description of the Babylonian zodiac given in the clay tablets known as the MUL.APIN, the constellation now known as Aries was the final station along the ecliptic. The MUL.APIN was a comprehensive table of the risings and settings of stars, which likely served as an agricultural calendar. Sony VAIO PCG-51212M Battery

Modern-day Aries was known as ^MULLÚ.ḪUN.GÁ, "The Agrarian Worker" or "The Hired Man".^[5] Although likely compiled in the 12th or 11th century BCE, the MUL.APIN reflects a tradition which marks the Pleiades as the vernal equinox, which was the case with some precision at the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age. Sony VAIO PCG-41111M Battery

The earliest identifiable reference to Aries as a distinct constellation comes from the boundary stones that date from 1350 to 1000 BCE. On several boundary stones, a zodiacal ram figure is distinct from the other characters present. Sony VAIO PCG-41111V Battery

The shift in identification from the constellation as the Agrarian Worker to the Ram likely occurred in later Babylonian tradition because of its growing association with Dumuzi the Shepherd. By the time the MUL.APIN was created—by 1000 BCE—modern Aries was identified with both Dumuzi's ram and a hired laborer. Sony VAIO PCG-61412V Battery

The exact timing of this shift is difficult to determine due to the lack of images of Aries or other ram figures.

In ancient Egyptian astronomy, Aries was associated with the god Amon-Ra, who was depicted as a man with a ram's head and represented fertility and creativity. Sony VAIO PCG-71112M Battery

Because it was the location of the vernal equinox, it was called the "Indicator of the Reborn Sun".During the times of the year when Aries was prominent, priests would process statues of Amon-Ra to temples, a practice that was modified by Persian astronomers centuries later. Aries acquired the title of "Lord of the Head" in Egypt, referring to its symbolic and mythological importance. Sony VAIO PCG-81111V Battery

Aries was not fully accepted as a constellation until classical times.^[9]In Hellenistic astrology, the constellation of Aries is associated with the golden ram of Greek mythology that rescued Phrixos and Helle on orders from Hermes, taking him to the land of Colchis. Sony VAIO PCG-81111V Battery

Phrixos and Helle were the son and daughter of King Athamas and his first wifeNephele. The king's second wife, Ino, was jealous and wished to kill his children. To accomplish this, she induced a famine in Boeotia, then falsified a message from the Oracle of Delphi that said Phrixos must be sacrificed to end the famine. Sony VAIO PCG-81212M Battery

Athamas was about to sacrifice his son atopMount Laphystium when Aries, sent by Nephele, arrived.^[13] Helle fell off of Aries's back in flight and drowned in the Dardanelles, also called the Hellespont in her honor. After arriving, Phrixos sacrificed the ram toZeus and gave the Fleece to Aeëtes of Colchis, who rewarded him with an engagement to his daughter Chalciope. Sony VAIO PCG-81212V Battery

Aeëtes hung its skin in a sacred place where it became known as the Golden Fleece and was guarded by a dragon. In a later myth, this Golden Fleece was stolen by Jason and the Argonauts.

Historically, Aries has been depicted as a crouched, wingless ram with its head turned towards Taurus. Sony VAIO PCG-51111M Battery

Ptolemy asserted in his Almagest that Hipparchus depictedAlpha Arietis as the ram's muzzle, though Ptolemy did not include it in his constellation figure. Instead, it was listed as an "unformed star", and denoted as "the star over the head". John Flamsteed, in his Atlas Coelestis, followed Ptolemy's description by mapping it above the figure's head. Sony VAIO VPCS13X9E/B battery

Flamsteed followed the general convention of maps by depicting Aries laying down.^[7] Astrologically, Aries has been associated with the head and its humors.^[15] It was strongly associated with Mars, both the planet and the god. It was considered to govern Western Europe and Syria, and to indicate a strong temper in a person.^[16] Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B battery

The First Point of Aries, the location of the vernal equinox, is named for the constellation. This is because the Sun crossed the celestial equator from south to north in Aries more than two millennia ago. Hipparchus defined it in 130 BCE. as a point south of Gamma Arietis. Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B battery

Because of the precession of the equinoxes, the First Point of Aries has since moved into Pisces and will move into Aquarius by around 2600 CE. The Sun now appears in Aries from late April through mid May, though the constellation is still associated with the beginning of spring. Sony VAIO VPCF13M8E/B battery

Medieval Muslim astronomers depicted Aries in various ways. Astronomers like al-Sufi saw the constellation as a ram, modeled on the precedent of Ptolemy. However, some Islamic celestial globes depicted Aries as a nondescript four-legged animal with what may be antlers instead of horns. Sony VAIO VPCF13Z0E/B battery

Some early Bedouinobservers saw a ram elsewhere in the sky; this constellation featured the Pleiades as the ram's tail.^[19] The generally accepted Arabic formation of Aries consisted of thirteen stars in a figure along with five "unformed" stars, four of which were over the animal's hindquarters and one of which was the disputed star over Aries's head. Sony VAIO VPCM13M1E/L battery

Al-Sufi's depiction differed from both other Arab astronomers' and Flamsteed's, in that his Aries was running and looking behind itself.The obsolete constellations introduced in Aries (Musca Borealis, Vespa, and Apis) have all been composed of the northern stars. Musca Borealis was created from the stars 33 Arietis, 35 Arietis, 39 Arietis, and 41 Arietis. Sony VAIO VPCM13M1E/W battery

In 1612, Petrus Plancius introduced Apis, a constellation representing a bee. In 1624, the same stars were used by Jakob Bartsch to create a constellation called Vespa, representing a wasp. Neither constellation became widely accepted. Johann Heveliusrenamed the constellation "Musca" in 1690 in his Firmamentum Sobiescianum. Sony VAIO VPCF22M1E battery

To differentiate it from Musca, the southern fly, it was later renamed Musca Borealis but it did not gain acceptance and its stars were ultimately officially reabsorbed into Aries.^[22]

In 1922, the International Astronomical Union defined its recommended three-letter abbreviation, "Ari".Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H battery

The official boundaries of Aries were defined in 1930 by Eugène Delporte as a polygon of 12 segments. Its right ascension is between 1^h 46.4^m and 3^h 29.4^m and its declination is between 10.36° and 31.22° in theequatorial coordinate system.

In traditional Chinese astronomy, stars from Aries were used in several constellations. Sony VAIO VPCF13M0E/B battery

The brightest stars—Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Arietis—formed a constellation called Lou, variously translated as "bond", "lasso", and "sickle", which was associated with the ritual sacrifice of cattle. This name was shared by the 16th lunar mansion, the location of the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. Sony VAIO VPCYB2M1E battery

The lunar mansion represented the area where animals were gathered before sacrifice around that time.^[13] This constellation has also been associated with harvest-time as it could represent a woman carrying a basket of food on her head.35, 39, and 41 Arietis were part of a constellation called Wei, Sony VAIO VPCYB3V1E battery

which represented a fat abdomen and was the namesake of the 17th lunar mansion, which represented granaries. Delta and Zeta Arietis were a part of the constellation Tianyin, thought to represent the Emperor's hunting partner. Zuogeng (Tso-kang), a constellation depicting a marsh and pond inspector, was composed of Mu, Nu, Omicron, Pi, and Sigma Arietis. Sony VAIO VPCY11M1E battery

He was accompanied by Yeou-kang, a constellation depicting an official in charge of pasture distribution.^[7]

In a similar system to the Chinese, the first lunar mansion in Hindu astronomy was called "Aswini", after the traditional names for Beta and Gamma Arietis, theAswins. Sony VAIO VPCS12L9E/B battery

Because the Hindu new year began with the vernal equinox, the Rig Veda contains over 50 new-year's related hymns to the twins, making them some of the most prominent characters in the work. Aries itself was known as "Aja" and "Mesha".^[16] In Hebrew astronomy Aries was named "Teli";Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B battery

it signified either Simeon orGad, and generally symbolizes the "Lamb of the World". The neighboring Syrians named the constellation "Amru", and the bordering Turks named it "Kuzi".^[16] Half a world away, in the Marshall Islands, several stars from Aries were incorporated into a constellation depicting a porpoise, Sony VAIO VPCYB3V1E/R Battery

along with stars from Cassiopeia,Andromeda, and Triangulum. Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Arietis formed the head of the porpoise, while stars from Andromeda formed the body and the bright stars of Cassiopeia formed the tail.^[24] Other Polynesian peoples recognized Aries as a constellation. Sony VAIO VPCF23P1E Battery