The Rambling Astronomer

A very dull and bland constellation, Chamaeleon is a small constellation which can be found close to the South Pole and therefore invisible from Britain. It was created by Dutch astroonmer Petrus Plancius in 1598 from the observations of the Dutch explores Pieter Keyser and Frederick de Houtman. Unlike many other animals named for the southern skies such as the Thrush, Cat and Reindeer, the Chamel...

In mythology Cetus was the kraken, the monster sent by Neptune to eat the princess Andromeda, the monster today has turned into a more harmless Whale.

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country....

It has often been said that “The female of the species is more deadly than the male”. In the case of this constellations and with the story of the Cassiopeia legend, the female of the species is certainly the more conspicuous than the male, since King Cepheus cannot be compared with his wife Cassiopeia.

A large rich and splendid constellation representing a Centaur who in Greek mythology represented the scholarly centaur Chiron who was then tutor to many of the Greek heroes. He was placed in the sky after accidentality being struck by a poisoned arrow shot by Hercules.

One of the most prominent constellations in the northern sky, the main stars forms a distinctive letter W or M in the sky, this depends on which way we view the constellation. It is circumpolar from Britain which means we can see it all year round. In mythology it represents a queen from a land a long time ago who upset Neptune god of the sea.

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country....

One of the most intriguing of the ancient legends tells how a band of heroes headed by Jason sailed off in search of the Golden Fleece. Among the heroes concerned in this expedition were Hercules and the heavenly twins Castor and Pollux. The ship they travelled in was called the Argo and fittingly enough Argo Navis used to be the largest in the sky. I say used to, because it was such an unwieldy c...

Low down on early autumn evenings is one of the constellations of the zodiac, Capricornus is depicted as a goat with the tail of a fish. Although a very faint group it has one of the oldest mythological associations. Capricornus is also sometimes identified as Pan, the god with a goat's head, who saved himself from the monster Typhon by giving himself a fish's tail and diving into a river.

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country....

In mythology it is the smaller of the dogs that follows Orion the Hunter. Procyon forms a very prominent and large triangle with Sirius in Canis Major and Betelgeuse in Orion.

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country....

Canis Major is a stunning constellation with many bright stars and clusters, unfortunately for observers in Britain it is always low in the sky so we never see it at its best. It represents one of the two dogs the other being Canis Minor that follows at the heels of Orion the Hunter. The brightest star in Canis Major, Sirius is also the brightest star in the sky. This is the dog star and sometimes...

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country....

This constellation was added to the sky by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius who was not only an astronomer but the major of Danzig. Hevelius invented 10 new constellation in the northern sky, astronomers today still use seven of them. It was in 1687, that Canes Venatici or the hunting dogs were created. According to myth the hunting dogs were being held by the Herdsman Bootes and it is sugg...

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country....

Cancer is one of the oldest constellations dating back over 4,000 years, it represents a crab which Juno queen of Olympus sent to rescue the multi headed monster the Hydra which was doing battle with Hercules. Hercules just trod on the crab and squashed it. However as a reward for its efforts Juno placed it in the sky. In form Cancer resembles a very dim and ghostly looking Orion.

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country....

Camelopardalis the Giraffe is without doubt one of the dullest of the northern constellations. It was first created by the Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius around 1613. Although the 18th largest constellation in the sky it has only one star that you might glimpse with the naked eye.

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country....

This is one of the 14 obscure constellations created by Nicolas Louis de La Caille. It was first seen in his catalogue of 1763. There are no stars brighter than magnitude 4.0 and the four faint stars that do form Caelum could easily have been incorporated into the constellation of Eridanus the River.

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country....

The constellation of Bootes is usually described as the Herdsman who was placed in the sky for inventing the plough drawn by two oxen. The way to pronounce Bootes is to think of the word co-ordinate. Bootes is very prominent in the spring and early summer skies. It is always a little bit difficult to work out the best shape to describe Bootes because it is a large constellation and it is in a fair...

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country....

A striking constellation in the northern skies, Auriga lies above the horns of Taurus the Bull and forms the shape of a kite. Auriga is named after the son of Vulcan who invented the four horse chariot. Its brightest star Capella is the 6th brightest star in the sky.