Greek Goddess Athena: The Goddess of Wisdom and War

Constellations

The International Astronomical Union recognizes 88 constellations covering the entire northern and southern sky. Here is a selection of the most familiar and easily seen constellations in the northern sky.

How did the constellations get their names?

Most constellation names are Latin in origin, dating from the Roman empire, but their meanings often originated in the distant past of human civilization. Scorpius, for instance, was given its name from the Latin word for scorpion, but ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs from before 3000 B.C. refer to the star group as "Ip," the scorpion king. Orion, the hunter, bears a Greek name, but had been seen as a hunter-hero figure since the times of ancient Babylon.

Space Mythology

Cassiopeia was the wife of King Cepheus. She was very pretty, and would often brag that she and her daughter were more beautiful than the sea nymphs, the Nereids. They complained to Poseidon, who sent a monster to Cepheus' land. In order to save their country, the king and queen sacrificed their daughter, Andromeda. Just before the monster, named Cetus, ate the princess, Perseus saved her. All five figures are represented in the sky as constellations.

Cassiopeia has a very distinct shape. She looks like a "W" or "M" in the sky, depending on where she is. Some legends say that Cassiopeia was chained into the sky and sometimes hangs upside-down to remind others not to be so boastful.

Draco the dragon is a circumpolar (околополярное) constellation, which means it revolves around the North pole. It can be seen all year round. Draco is only present in the Northern Hemisphere, so those living in the Southern Hemisphere will never see this long constellation.

The easiest way to spot Draco is by finding his head. It consists of four stars in a trapezoid, burning brightly just north of Hercules. From there, the tail slithers through the sky, ending between the Big and Little Dippers. The end of the constellation is held by Thuban, which was the pole star over 4,000 years ago.

Several galaxies and even one nebula (туманность) is found within the constellation. The Cat's Eye Nebula is a favorite among astronomers.

Many myths revolve around this chaotic dragon. It is said in Greek myth that a serpent named Ladon guarded the golden apple tree. One of the Twelve Labors of Heracles was to steal apples from this well-guarded tree.

Ursa Major is probably the most famous constellation, with the exception of Orion. Also known as the Great Bear, it has a companion called Ursa Minor, or Little Bear. The body and tail of the bear make up what is known as the Big Dipper. Also called names such as the Plough, the Wain and even the Wagon, this constellation has a lot of history behind it.

Several different cultures saw a big bear in the sky. The ancient Greeks had a few different stories to explain how the animal ended up there. In one story, Hera discovered Zeus was having an affair with Callisto and turned her into a bear. Zeus put her in the sky along with her son, Arcas, who became the Little Bear.

Ursa Major is full of unique celestial objects. Two of the stars, Dubhe and Merak, are pointer stars (путеводные звезды). If you are looking at the Big Dipper, the outer edge stars that make up the "bowl" of the dipper are the two stars, with Merak being the one on top. Connect a line between the two, and extend it north a distance about five times the distance between them. It will connect with the North Star, Polaris.

Ursa Minor, also called the Little Dipper, is a circumpolar constellation. This means it never sets in the northern sky. The true figure represented by the stars is the Little Bear. Its counterpart is Ursa Major, or the Great Bear.

There are several mythological stories behind these famous constellations. In Greek myth, Zeus was having an affair with the lovely Callisto. When his wife, Hera, found out she changed Callisto into a bear. Zeus put the bear in the sky along with the Little Bear, which is Callisto's son, Arcas. In other myths, the constellation is not a bear at all, but is in fact a dog.

Unfortunately, there aren't as many interesting objects in Ursa Minor as there are in Ursa Major. Probably the most important of all is the last star in the tail. This spot is held by the North Star, Polaris. Many think it is called the North Star because it is very bright. But actually, it is quite dim. Instead, the name comes from the fact that it doesn't move from its spot in the night sky.

There aren't any nebulae or star clusters present in Ursa Minor. There is a unique circle of stars called the "engagement ring" slightly below Polaris. They can be viewed with binoculars or a telescope. An easy way to find Polaris is by using the pointer stars. Dubhe and Merak make up the right edge of the "bowl" in the Big Dipper. Connect them with a straight line and continue north. You will run right into the North Star.

Bootes, the herdsman, rides through the sky during the late Spring and early Summer. While he may have appeared as a shepherd to the ancients, modern star-gazers like us can easily recognize the shape of a kite, with the bright star Arcturus at the point of the kite where the tail is attached.

Arcturus is a bright red supergiant star with a diameter nearly 20 times that of the Sun and a brightness more than 100 times that of our Sun. Since it is only 36 light-years away (close for a star!), it appears as the brightest star in Bootes, and, in fact, the fourth brightest star in the sky.

Bootes was identified with a farmer who plows the land during spring. The Romans called Bootes the Herdsman of the Septemtriones, that is, of the seven oxen represented by the seven stars of the Big Dipper, which was seen as the cart or the plow.

Cancer, the Crab, is a member of the Zodiac, a group of constellations that the Sun travels through each year. Cancer is best seen during the month of March, but is visible from December through June. Although the Crab is one of the more famous constellations, it is mostly made of dim stars.

Fortunately, Cancer is surrounded by much brighter figures, like Gemini and Leo. If you use your imagination, a figure that looks like a crab appears. Looking at the picture, one can see a body with two "claws" coming out of it.

The constellation itself came from Greek myth. In the story of Heracles and the Twelve Labors, the warrior had a great battle with the monster Hydra. The giant crab tried to help Hydra, but Heracles smashed it with his foot. Hera put the crab in the sky because it was so brave.

Hydra is the longest constellation in the sky and is also the largest in terms of area. It is so long that it takes more than six hours to rise completely. Along its northern side, we can observe the zodiacal signs of Cancer, Leo, Virgo and Libra.

The stars in the serpent's head appear to be at the same distance but they are really very far away from each other. The northernmost of the six stars in the head of the serpent, Epsilon Hydrae, is a quintuple star - a system of five stars. Alphard (Arabic for "the solitary one") is Hydra's brightest star.

In Greek mythology, Heracles slew Hydra, a horrible serpent with many heads that grew back as soon as they were cut off. Killing the Hydra was one of Heracles’ twelve labors, during which he also defeated Leo, the lion, and Draco, the dragon.

The constellation Leo is known as the Lion. Leo's head and mane make up an upside-down question mark called the Sickle. One of the brightest spring stars, Regulus (Latin for "little king"), is at the base of the question mark. The rest of Leo's body, legs, and tail extend to the east.

During the dry season in ancient Egypt, the lions of the desert came close to the valley of the Nile when the river flooded, which used to happen when the Sun was in Leo. Some have interpreted this as the origin of the name of the constellation. The ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, Persians, Syrians, Greeks, and Romans, all recognized this constellation as a lion.

The constellation Virgo is known as The Maiden. The constellation represents almost every famous and powerful female in mythology, including Athena, Artemis, Persephone and Demeter. She is usually carrying a grain of wheat and a staff.

The brightest star in the constellation is Spica (звезда Колос), which happens to be the grain of wheat. Its name is Latin for "ear of wheat".

Aquila , the celestial eagle, is one of the three constellations which have bright stars forming the Summer Triangle. A nearly perfectly straight line of three stars symbolizes part of the wings. The center and brightest of these three stars is Altair. The tips of the wings extend further to the southeast and northwest. The head of the eagle stretches off to the southwest.

To the ancient Greeks, Aquila was the servant of Zeus who held the god's thunderbolts and performed errands for him. He may also be the great eagle who devours Prometheus' liver as punishment for giving fire to humans. The line of three stars which includes Altair is revered by Indians as the footprints of the god Vishnu. Some Asian traditions see the bright star Vega as the Weaving-Princess star who marries a shephard, the star Altair.