Modern Constellations

Tracing modern constellations

Ian Ridpath: Star Tales

(originally published in 1988,
revised editions since then,
Ian’s website)

The tales of the modern constellations:
who invented them in the Early Modern Age and what legends did Ovid and the ancients tell?

In alphabetical order each of the constellations is described in an own chapter.

Hoffmann: Wie der Löwe an den Himmel kam

(published 2021 in German only but the images speak their own language.)

The book explains the history of all 88 constellations, constellation by constellation, dedicating 2 to 4 pages for each of them. It is grouping them by the seasons of visibility and demonstrating that many of the constellations are not understandable individually but only with regard to their neighbours.

As an extension of Ridpath’s book, this book also compares the Babylonian constellations at the given area of the sky demonstrating that there are many deviations.

Today, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has defined these 88 constellations (and 89 constellation names).

	IAU-Name	Abbr.	English				Original Name	source	Babylonian	German translation	page in Hoffmann’s Book
1	Andromeda	And	Princess				Andromeda (Ancient Syria)	antiquity	Anunitu	Prinzessin Andromeda	114
2	Antlia	Ant	Air Pump				la Machina Pneumatique	Lacaille (French)	–	Luftpumpe	190
3	Apus	Aps	Bird of Paradise				de Paradijs Voghel	Dutch	–	Paradiesvogel	76
4	Aquarius	Aqr	Water Pourer				–	Babylonian	The Great One = God Ea/ Enki	Wassermann	93
5	Aquila	Aql	Eagle				–	Babylonian	Eagle and Corpse	Adler	86
6	Ara	Ara	Altar					Greek		Altar	62
				Carina	Car	Ship’s Keel	le Corps	Lacaille		Schiffskiel	172
7	Argo	Arg	Ship	Puppis	Pup	Ship’s Stern	Pouppe	Lacaille		Achterschiff
				Pyxis	Pyx	Mariner’s Compass	le Boussole	Lacaille		Kompass
				Vela	Vel	Ship’s Sail	la Voilure	Lacaille		Segel
8	Aries	Ari	Ram					Babylonian	Hired Man	Widder	130
9	Auriga	Aur	Charioteer					Greek (Athens)	The Crook (a weapon)	Fuhrmann	168
10	Boötes	Boo	Herdsman				Ploughman	Greco-Babylonian transformation	Shupa/ God Enlil	Schäfer, Wächter, Ochsentreiber	44
11	Caelum	Cae	Engraving Tool				les Burins	Lacaille (French)		Grabstichel	193
12	Camelopardalis	Cam	Giraffe					Plancius		Giraffe	141
13	Cancer	Cnc	Crab					Babylonian	Crab, Seat of God Anu	Krebs	178
14	Canes Venatici	CVn	Hunting Dogs					Hevelius		Jagdhunde	38
15	Canis Major	CMa	Great Dog					Greek	Arrow	Großer Hund	160
16	Canis Minor	CMi	Little Dog				Prokyon	Greek		Kleiner Hund	163
17	Capricornus	Cap	Sea Goat					Babylonian	Goat-Fish	Steinbock / Ziegenfisch	96
18	Cassiopeia	Cas	Queen				Kassiepeia	Greek	Plough	Königin Cassiopeia	118
19, 20	Centaurus + Lupus	Cen Lup	Centaur, Wolf					Greek Babylonian	– – ? – – Rabid Dog	Kentaur Wolf	68
21	Cepheus	Cep	King				Kepheus	Greek		König Kepheus	120
22	Cetus	Cet	Sea Monster					Greek	Giant Swallow	Seeungeheuer Ketos	125
23	Chamaeleon	Cha	Chameleon				het Chameljoen	Dutch		Chamäleon	78
24	Circinus	Cir	Drawing Compass				le Compass	Lacaille (French)		Zirkel	73
25	Columba	Col	Dove					Plancius		Taube	176
26	Coma Berenikes	Com	Berenice’s Hair					Greco-Egyptian (Konon)	Spadix of Date Palm	Haar der Berenike	186
27	Corona Australis	CrA	Southern Crown					Roman (1st c. CE)		Südliche Krone	100
28	Corona Borealis	CrB	Northern Crown					antiquity	Asterism of Dignity	Nördliche Krone	46
29	Crater	Crt	Cup (a crater)				Krater	Greco-Akkadian		Krater	56
30	Crux	Cru	(Southern) Cross				[to Cen]	Christian-Italian, 14th to 16th Jh.		Kreuz	71
31	Cygnus	Cyg	Swan				Bird	Greek	a demon with a gaping mouth	Schwan	84
32	Delphinus	Del	Dolphin					Greek		Delphin	91
33	Dorado	Dor	Dorado or Dolphinfish				den Dorado	Dutch		Goldmakrele (Dorade)	196
34	Draco	Dra	Dragon				Snake	Greek		Drache	40
35	Equuleus	Equ	Little Horse					Roman (Ptolemaios)		Fohlen/ Füllen	140
36	Eridanus	Eri	River				River	Greek		Fluss Eridanus	170
37	Fornax	For	Furnace				le Fourneau	Lacaille (French)		Chemischer Ofen	146
38	Gemini	Gem	Twins				Lugalirra and Meslamtaea	Babylonian	Great Twins	Zwillinge	166
39	Grus	Gru	Crane				den Reygher	Dutch		Kranich	105
40	Hercules	Her	Hercules				the Kneeler	Greek		Herkules	42
41	Horologium	Hor	Pendulum Clock				l’Horloge	Lacaille (French)		Pendeluhr	144
42, 43	Corvus, Hydra	Crv Hya	Crow, Water Snake				–	Babylonian		Rabe, Wasserschlange	52
44	Hydrus	Hyi	Small Water Snake				de Waterslang	Dutch		Kleine Wasser- schlange	148
45	Indus	Ind	Indian				de Indiaen	Dutch		Eingeborener	106
46	Lacerta	Lac	Lizard					Hevelius (Polish)		Eidechse	143
47	Leo	Leo	Lion					Babylonian	a demon (griffin?, winged? lion)	Löwe	182
48	Leo Minor	LMi	Lesser Lion					Hevelius (Polish)		Kleiner Löwe	185
49	Lepus	Lep	Hare					Greek	Rooster	Hase	164
50	Libra	Lib	Scales					Babylonian		Waage	60
51	Lynx	Lyn	Lynx					Hevelius (Polish)		Luchs	189
52	Lyra	Lyr	Lyre					Greek	Goddess Gula	Lyra/ Leier	82
53	Mensa	Men	Table Mountain				la Montagne de la Table	Lacaille (French)		Tafelgebirge	192
54	Microscopium	Mic	Microscope					Lacaille (French)		Mikroskop	109
55	Monoceros	Mon	Unicorn					Plancius		Einhorn	177
56	Musca	Mus	Fly				de Vlieghe	Dutch		Fliege	72
57	Norma	Nor	Set Square				l’Equerre et la Règle	Lacaille (French)		Maß	74
58	Octans	Oct	Octant				l’Octans de Réflecion	Lacaille (French)		Oktant	111
59, 60	Ophiuchus, Serpens	Oph Ser	Serpent Bearer, Serpent					antiquity Greek	God Zababa	Schlangenträger Schlange	64
61	Orion	Ori	Hunter					antiquity	Heavenly Shepherd	Orion	156
62	Pavo	Pav	Peacock					Dutch	de Pauw	Pfau	107
63	Pegasus	Peg	Winged Horse				Horse (Greek)	antiquity	field measure “one Iku”, Seat of God Ea	Pegasus	138
64	Perseus	Per	Hero					antiquity	Old Man	Perseus	122
65	Phoenix	Phe	Phoenix				de Voghel Fenicx	Dutch		Phönix	150
66	Pictor	Pic	Painter’s Easel				le Chévalet et la Palette	Lacaille (French)		Malerstaffelei	152
67	Pisces	Psc	Fishes					antiquity	Tails of the Giant Swallow	Fische	127
68	Piscis Austrinus	PsA	Southern Fish					Babylonian		Südlicher Fisch	98
69	Reticulum	Ret	Net (an instrument)				Réticule Rhomboïde	Lacaille (French)		Netz	195
70	Sagitta	Sge	Arrow					Greek		Pfeil	89
71	Sagittarius	Sgr	Archer					Babylonian	God Pabilsang	Schütze	102
72	Scorpius	Sco	Scorpion					Babylonian		Skorpion	58
73	Sculptor	Scl	Sculptor				l’Atelier du Sculpteur	Lacaille (French)		Bildhauer	153
74	Scutum	Sct	Shield				Scutum Sobiescianum	Hevelius (Polish)		Schild	104
75	Sextans	Sex	Sextant					Hevelius		Sextant	188
76	Taurus	Tau	Bull					Babylonian	Heavenly Bull	Stier	134
77	Telescopium	Tel	Telescope				le Télescope	Lacaille (French)		Teleskop	110
78	Triangulum	Tri	Triangle				Delta	Greek		Dreieck	133
79	Triangulum Australe	TrA	Southern Triangle				den Zuyder Trianghel	Dutch		Südliches Dreieck	75
80	Tucana	Tuc	Toucan				den Indiaenschen Exster, op Indies Lang ghenaemt	Dutch		Tukan	108
81	Ursa Major	UMa	Great Bear					Greek	Chariot or Wagon (for goods, not war)	Große Bärin	34
82	Ursa Minor	UMi	Little Bear					Greek	Chariot or Wagon (for Goods)	Kleine Bärin	36
83	Virgo	Vir	Maiden					Babylonian	Furrow + Ear of Grain	Jungfrau/ Mädchen	48
84	Volans	Vol	Flying Fish				de Vliegende Visch	Dutch		Fliegender Fisch	79
85	Vulpecula	Vul	Fox				Vulpecula et Anser	Hevelius		Füchslein	90

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