The Rambling Astronomer

The four star Keystone asterism marks the lower abdominal and pelvic regions of ancient Greece’s greatest hero in his starry abode. The asterism’s name derives from its resemblance to the critical, wedge-shaped, architectural feature known as a keystone.

This is part of the small constellation of Delphinus the Dolphin, which has the rather strange name of Job’s Coffin. No one seems to now where this name has come from. I would like to put forward a possible suggestion.

The last of the three headers. Hydra is the largest constellation in the sky but is by no means easy to find on account of its faintness. Hydra winds its way from the head in the northern hemisphere on the borders of Cancer to the tip of its tail south of the celestial equator near Libra and Centaurus.

The group of stars that mark the head of the Dragon.

The head of Cetus is the first of a series of three asterism indicating the heads of creatures depicted in constellations .

A naked eye star now known as a variable star in Ursa Major which was not labelled by John Flamsteed when he produced his star chart in the 1670s.

My trip to the Arctic Circle in February 2022 to present astronomy talks and look for the Northern Lights on a cruise ship.

I will be away during the second half of February 2022, the Pod Pause explains what is going on.

Ursa Minor contains the present North Star or Polaris which is within one degree of the the north point. Ursa Minor is also termed the Little Dipper because its seven brightest stars form a shape like a smaller version of the Plough in Ursa Major. However it is the stars Beta and Gamma in the blade of the small plough are referred to as the Guardians of the pole. This is our asterism for today. Th...

The false cross it sounds like the title of some sort of novel, but its not, the false cross is an asterism of 4 stars in Carina and Vela and is often confused with the constellation of Crux the southern cross. Although the southern cross is smaller it is much brighter.

An ancient constellation representing a pair of fishes tied by their tails, the knot being marked by the star alpha. The two fishes are often referred to as the northern and western fishes. It is however the western fish which astronomers call the circlet in Pisces.

Not to be confused with the cats eye nebula NGC 6543 planetary nebula in Draco ,or the cats eyes in the road!! But it is the two stars lambda and Upsilon Scorpio that I want to look at here.

The three stars of Orion's Belt are part of what is the brightest and grandest of th 88 constellations in the night sky.

Probably the one group of stars that most people can recognise is the plough. Most people will also call it the Great Bear or Ursa Major. This is incorrect because the Plough is an asterism a pattern of stars within the constellation of Ursa Major.

The post of Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford University was stared by Sir Henry Savile, a Yorkshireman.

A faint constellation at the head of Cygnus the Swan. It originated with the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius who called it Vulpecula cum Anser, the Fox and Goose. Alas the Goose is now more, did the Fox get him?

Volans is on the borders or Carina the Keel part of Argo Navis. Volans is not associated with any myths. It was one of the constellations created by the Dutch astronomer and cartographer Petrus Plancius in the late 16th century that first appeared depicted in a star atlas in 1603, in Johann Bayer’s Uranometria. The constellation was originally named Piscis Volans, the flying fish, by Plancius, but...

The 2nd largest constellation in the sky. Many myths are associated with this constellation which has usually been seen as a beautiful and virtuous maiden. But other legends have associated Virgo with successful harvests, and so she is pictured holding an ear of corn (Spica) in her left hand and a palm leaf in her right hand. In these legends she is identified with the Greek harvest goddess Demete...

Formerly part of the ancient constellation of Argo Navis, which represents the ship that Jason and the Argonauts sailed on looking for the golden fleece. It was broken up by the French astronomer Nicolas De Lacaille in the 1750s, into four parts Carina the Keel, Puppis the Poop Pyxis the Compass and Vela the Sails.

Ursa Minor is also termed the Little Dipper because its seven brightest stars form a shape like a smaller version of the Plough in Ursa Major. The stars Beta and Gamma in the blade of the small plough are referred to as the Guardians of the pole.

The 3rd largest constellation in the sky. Its central feature is the seven stars that make up the shape variously called the Plough or Big Dipper, undoubtedly the best known of all star patterns, references of it are found in writings dating back to the dawn of civilisation.

A small constellation near the south pole of the sky introduced by Petrus Plancius based on observations by Pieter Keyser and Frederick de Houtman It represents the Toucan a bird found in central and south America. The bird has a large beak.

An ancient constellation representing a pair of fishes tied by their tails, the knot being marked by the star alpha. One legend identifies the constellations with Venus and her son Cupid, who turned themselves into fishes and swam away from the attack of the monster Typhon.

John Field 1527-1587 was born in Ardsley to the SW of Leeds) in the West Riding, an astronomer who seems to be missed of many people’s radar. His describes himself as being a farmer, and sometimes student in the mathematic sciences. Yet this farmer would become a trail blazer and was the first person to publish an ephemeris or movements of the stars and planets in England that was based on the Cop...

A small but readily distinguishable constellation near alpha Centauri. It was introduced by the German astronomer Johann Bayer in 1603. It is the southern hemisphere equivalent of the long established northern Triangle, Triangulum.