Constellations

An ancient constellation, representing one of the two dogs (the other being Canis Minor) following at the heels of Orion the Hunter

A constellation introduced by the Polish astronomer Hevelius in the 1680s, consisiting of some faint stars below the tail of Ursa Major the Great Bear

Cancer represents the crab which attacked Hercules when he was fighting with the Hydra; the luckless crab was crushed underfoot by the mighty Hercules, but was subsequently placed in the heavens.

Camelopardalis is without doubt one of the dullest of the northern constellations. It was drawn on a map in 1624 by the German astronomer Jakob Bartsch. It has been said that if you come across an area of the sky with nothing in it, you will have located the Giraffe!

An obscure, almost irrelevant constellation at the foot of Eridanus, introduced in the 1750s by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille during his mapping of the southern sky.

An ancient constellation, representing a herdsman driving a bear(Ursa Major) around the sky; he is often depicted holding the leash of the Hunting dogs Canes Venatici.

A large and prominent constellation, known since ancient Babylonian and Greek times as a charioteer.

A constellation whose origin dates back to ancient times, lying between Taurus and Andromeda. In legend, Aries represented the Ram whose golden fleece was sought by Jason and the Argonauts.

This constellation, although relatively faint and little known, orginated in Greek and Roman times,when it was visualised as the altar on which Centaurus the Centaur, was about to sacrifice Lupus the Wolf.

A constellation dating from ancient times, representing the bird that in mythology was the companion of Jupiter, and often carried his thunderbolts.

Aquarius is one of the most ancient constellations. The Babylonians saw in this area of the sky the figure of a man pouring water from a jar, and it is still represented this way today.

A faint constellation near the south pole, that was introduced by the German astronomer Johann Bayer in 1603 on his Uranometria star chart. THis was the first star map to cover the entire sky.

An obscure southern hemisphere constellation introduced in 1763by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille to commemorate the air pump invented by the English physicis Robert Boyle.

Andromeda represents the daughter of Queen Cassiopeia who was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to the sea monster Cetus until saved by Perseus, whom she subsequently married.

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