The Rambling Astronomer

Equuleus constellation lies in the northern sky. Its name means “little horse” or “foal” in Latin. In Greek mythology Equuleus is associated with the foal Celeris (meaning "swiftness" or "speed"), who was the offspring or brother of the winged horse Pegasus.

Draco the Dragon Circumpolar Northern Hemisphere Dragons feature in many ancient legends, the body of Draco lies coiled around the celestial pole, although a large constellation it is quite faint being formed of a long line of curved stars ending in 4 stars that form a quadrilateral shape that represents the head of the dragon. And yes if you think you recognise the name Draco its because Harry Po...

The name Dorado is Spanish for mahi-mahi, or the dolphin-fish. The mahi-mahi has an opalescent skin that turns blue and gold as the fish dies. This may very well be the reason Dorado is sometimes called the goldfish. Dorado is in the southern sky and was unknown to the Greeks it was the constellation of Dorado was one of twelve created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Dutch navigators P...

A small constellation that dates back to the time of ancient Greece. The dolphin rescued the musician Arion from drowning after he was robbed and thrown off a ship, as a reward the dolphin was placed in the sky for ever. In legend dolphins were the messengers of the sea god Neptune. Delphinus is close to Altair, in summer triangle. Its brightest stars are only just above mag 4 but it is a small co...

The celestial swan is sometimes called the northern cross since its cross shape is very striking. Its brightest star Deneb at magnitude 1.3 and is one of the members of the summer triangle. Although the faintest of the triangle it is actually is the brightest only appearing fainter because it is the most distant. In mythology Cygnus represents a swan flying down the milky way, swans feature in man...

The smallest constellation in the sky, but one of the most celebrated and distinctive. It was formed from some of the stars of the constellation Centaurus by various seamen and astronomers in the 16th century. Crux means cross in Latin. Johan Bayer incorporated these stars into his Uranometria star atlas in 1603 thus making it an officially recognised constellation. It was known at the time of anc...

The second of the small constellations adjoining Hydra the other being Corvus. Crater although very faint it is one of the original 48 groups even though it contains no bright stars. Crater represents the cup of Apollo and is associated with the neighbouring constellation of Corvus.

A small but quite prominent constellation which is at its highest in the late spring evenings, the crow is low in the sky depicted sitting on the back of the water snake. According to legend Apollo sent the crow to bring the water of life, but was unable to resist the unripe fruit of the fig tree, he let the cup of water (the constellation of Crater) fall to the ground. Realising that he was takin...

They are located near the village of Thornborough which is in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire near to Bedale. The henges consist of a series of three circular mounds with ditches and banks that were probably in use for over a thousand years. This site is often referred to as the ‘Stonehenge of the North’.

Corona Borealis the Northern Crown which was given as a wedding present by Bacchus to Ariadne and was then cast by him into the sky when she died. It consists of an arc of seven fairly faint stars with the exception of alpha.

Corona Australis is the southern counterpart to Corona Borealis the northern crown. It is much fainter than the northern crown and is also much fainter. It cannot be seen from Britain.

Yet another faint constellation with no really bright stars, although it has an ancient legend it was only formed by Tycho Brahe in 1601. According to legend Queen Berenice of Egypt vowed to cut off her beautiful hair and place it in the temple of Venus, provided that her husband returned safely from a war against the Assyrians. When the king returned Bernices kept her promise and so impressed the...

Columba the Dove which represents the dove that followed Noah’s Ark, or some legends say it was the dove that the Argonauts sent ahead to help them pass safely through the clashing rocks at the entrance to the Black Sea.

If you thought you knew what a comet was then you may have to think again, astronomers are trying to work out exactly what a comet is!

Another of the small and obscure constellations added to the southern sky by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille. Circinus is a compass placed appropriately next to the constellation of Norma the Level, which is also equally obscure.

A faint constellation in the southern sky near the south pole. It was created by Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius in 1598 from the observations of the Dutch explores Pieter Keyser and Frederick de Houtman. It would appear the star atlas Uranometria prepared by Johann Bayer in 1603.

A biblical story with an astronomical ending. These cities were destroyed by a meteor strike.

Cetus was formerly the Kraken from Greek mythology, a large constellation it contains the first variable star to be identified, omicron ceti or Mira the Wonderful.

Although not as bright as his queen Cassiopeia, Cepheus does contain the star delta Cephei that was discovered to be variable in 1784 by the deaf astronomer John Goodricke in York. Today Cepheid variables are used by astronomers to work out how far away clusters and galaxies are.

The scholarly centaur who taught many of the Greek heroes, he was placed in the sky when accidently struck by a poison arrow fired by Hercules. The constellation contains the closest star to Earth apart from the Sun

The bossy queen who started all the trouble for Perseus, Pegasus and the other character from the Greek mythology that figure in the film the Clash of the Titans,

Once part of what was the largest constellation in the sky Argo Navis, Carina the Keel is the brightest of the three parts of the Argo and contains the second brightest star in the sky, Canopus.

A crater discovered under the North Sea which could help astronomers explain certain features on some of the the moons of Jupiter,

A constellation seen low in the sky during autumn evenings, it is a faint group although it does have one of the oldest mythological associations.

The second of the hunting dogs which accompany Orion across the sky. The brightest star Procyon together with Sirius and Betelgeuse form the winter triangle.