The Shape Of Our Night Sky

One legend says the Bootes, whose name comes from the Greek word for "ox-driver" or "herdsman", was the son of Demeter (Roman: Ceres), the goddess of agriculture. The constellation of Bootes was once also know as Arcturus. Bootes is credited with inventing the plow and was placed in the sky to honor his invention, of such immense importance to civilization. In another myth, Bootes was the son of Zeus and Callisto. Callisto, transformed into a bear by Zeus's jealous wife, Hera, was in danger if being killed by her son Bootes, who was out hunting, until she was rescued by Zeus, who took her into the heavens. There Callisto became the constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear.

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Caelum was named by the 18th century French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille.

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Camelopardalis was named by German astronomer Jakob Bartsch in 1624.

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Capricornus is one of the oldest constellations in the sky. Depiction’s of a goat, or of a goat-fish, have been found on Babylonian tablets around 3,000 years old. According to some ancient myths, Capricornus was the gate of the Gods, the portal in the sky through which the souls of mortals passed after they died. Capricornus is also identified with the lusty god Pan, who was known to be flighty. The story goes that Pan and some other gods were picnicking along the banks of the Nile. During their feast the monster Typhon came upon them. To escape Typhon the gods turned themselves into animals and fled. Pan panicked and was unable to decide what to become. Finally, he leapt feet first into the river. Just as half of him disappeared into the water, that half became a fish. The half that was above the water became a goat.

Messier Objects in Capricornus:    M-30

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Carina was once part of the group of stars known as Argo Navis, the ship that carried Jason and the Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece.

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Cassiopeia was the beautiful Aethiopian queen of the city of Joppa in Phoenicia. Cepheus was her king husband. Cassiopeia was boastful about her natural beauty and especially the beauty of their daughter Andromeda. One day after boasting that she and Andromeda were more beautiful than the sea nymphs, Poseidon, god of the sea, decided to punish the queen for her vanity. He sent a terrible sea monster, Cetus, to destroy Phoenicia. King Cepheus quickly consulted the Oracle at Ammon, where he was advised that Poseidon could only be appeased if the sacrificed their daughter Andromeda to Cetus. So, the chained Andromeda to a rock on a tiny island offshore to await her death. The hero Perseus, returning from killing the Gorgon Medusa saw Andromeda's plight, slew Cetus and rescued Andromeda. The constellations of Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Andromeda, Perseus, Pegasus and Cetus, represent characters that appear in the story of Perseus.

Messier Objects in Cassiopeia:    M-52   M-103

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Centaurus is one of two centaurs in the sky, the other being Sagittarius. Centaurus is said to be Chiron, the smartest and the wisest of his race, wiser even than the gods. He was skilled in the arts, hunting, and medicine. He was the tutor of such illustrious humans as Jason, Achilles, Hercules, and Asclepius. According to early Greek myths, it was Chiron who first fashioned the constellations and showed mankind how to read the sky. He placed a picture of himself in the sky to guide the Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece. Chiron, created immortal, was accidentally wounded by Hercules with an arrow tipped in the venomous blood of the many headed serpent Hydra. Although he could not die, he was in excruciating pain. He pleaded with the gods to release him from the torture of immortality and offered a bargain: his own life for the release of Prometheus, the Titan who had stolen fire from the gods and given it to mankind. Finally, Zeus agreed and let Chiron die. Zeus wanted to place Chiron in the heavens to commemorate him, but by this time the whole northern sky was filled, so Chiron became Centaurus, far to the south and rarely seen in the northern sky.

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Cepheus was the king of an ancient land called Aethiopia. See the story of Andromeda.

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The ancient Mesopotamian civilizations identified these stars with Tiamat, the cosmic dragon slain by the hero Marduk. In classical mythology Cetus is the sea monster that threatened Andromeda. In modern times Cetus is portrayed as a whale.

Messier Objects in Cetus:    M-77

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Chamaeleon was originally sketched out in 1603 by Johann Bayer.

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Circinus was designated by the 18th century French astronomy Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille.

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One of the hunter Orion's hunting dogs. (Canis Minor being the other.)

Messier Objects in Canis Major:    M-41

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Canis Minor, the little dog, is the companion of Canis Major and is the other hound of Orion. Some say that Canis Minor is not a hunting dog but merely a pet faithfully following Orion around the sky.

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In Greco-Roman mythology Cancer was a crab sent by Hera to distract Hercules while he was fighting Hydra. Cancer nipped Hercules, who then stepped on Cancer and killed it. Hera placed the crab in the sky, but because it had failed in its task, Hera neglected to give Cancer any bright stars to mark the constellation.

Messier Objects in Cancer:    M-44   M-67

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Columba is a modern constellation that began appearing in publications in 1679.

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About 243 B.C. Ptolemy Euergetes set out on a military expedition against the Assyrians, who had murdered his sister. Berenice, who was proud if her beautiful long golden hair, vowed to sacrifice her "amber tresses" if he returned victorious. When he did, Berenice, cut off her hair, and placed it in the temple of Aphrodite, goddess of beauty. That night the hair disappeared, enraging the king and the queen. To save the situation, and the lives of the temple priests, Conon the court astronomer, announced that Berenice's gift had received such favor that Aphrodite had taken the hair and placed it in the sky for all to admire.

Messier Objects in Coma Berenices:    M-53   M-64   M-85   M-88   M-91   M-98   M-99   M-100

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Corona Australis was one of the original 48 constellations named by 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy. It is said to be the crown worn by the centaur Chiron.

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In classical mythology, this constellation is known to be the crown of Ariadne. Ariadne was the daughter of Minos, king of Crete. Every year Minos levied a tribute on Athens, requiring that the city-state send home seven each of its most beautiful maidens and youths to sacrifice to the Minotaur, a creature that was half man and half bull. The Minotaur lived beneath the palace of Knossos in the infamous Labyrinth, a maze from which no one could escape. One year Theseus, son of the King of Athens, was among the youths. When Ariadne saw him she fell in love and secretly gave him a sword and a ball of string. Theseus unwound the string as he went into the Labyrinth, slew the Minotaur with the sword, and found his way out following the sting again. Theseus fled Crete with Ariadne, and on their way to Athens the couple stopped at the island of Naxos. Mysteriously, Theseus then abandoned Ariadne, who wept for her lost love. The god Dionysus in human form but wearing a crown, found her and fell in love with her. She refused to marry him, saying she was fed up with mortal men. Dionysus told her he was a god, but she did not believe him, whereupon he took off his crown and flung it into the sky. There its jewels began to sparkle as stars, forming Corona Borealis, a tribute to Ariadne. To the Shawnee Indians, Corona Borealis was a circle of star-maidens dancing in the sky. The circle is not complete because one of the maidens left to go to Earth to live with a mortal warrior, Algon. She later grew homesick and returned to the sky, taking along her son. Later still the sky gods agreed to bring Algon into the sky, In some legends he is thought to be the nearby star Arcturus. To the Arabs, these stars formed a cracked bowl or platter. To Australian aboriginals, this constellation was a boomerang.

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Crater is the cup carried by Corvus the crow, to Apollo.

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Crux is a modern constellation, and is the smallest constellation in the sky.

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According to myth, one day the god Apollo sent the raven Corvus for a cup of spring water. Near the spring Corvus spied a green fig, so he sat down and waited until it ripened. To explain his tardiness Corvus returned to Apollo with the cup (Crater) of spring water, and a water serpent, Hydra, in his claws, claiming he had been attacked by the serpent and thus delayed. Apollo, seeing all, knew the truth and so banished all three to the sky. Corvus now sits within sight of the cup of water, but he can never drink, because it is guarded by the serpent. According to another myth Apollo had an affair with Coronis, the daughter of a king. They had a son, Asclepius, the founder of medical science, who was immortalized in the sky as the constellation Ophiuchus. Apollo became suspicious that Coronis was unfaithful to him and sent his spy, Corvus, then of silver plumage, to observe. Indeed, Corvus reported back, Coronis was having an affair. In a rage, Apollo slew Coronis, and consigned Corvus to Hades and turned his feathers black. To the Arabs these stars were a tent. Mariners sometimes call them "the sail", for they resemble a gaff-rigged sail.

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Often shown as a pair of greyhounds, these are the hunting dogs of Bootes. They are in leashed of pursuit of the bears Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

Messier Objects in Canes Venatici:    M-3   M-51   M-63   M-94   M-106

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Cygnus the swan, was not always a swan. Greek legend tells a tragic story of Apollo's son, Phaeton, who tried to drive Apollo's chariot across the sky. Apollo warned him not to drive to close to the Earth lest he set it on fire. Phaeton lost control of the wild horses, and to spare the Earth a fiery destruction, Zeus threw a lightning bolt at the young boy, killing him instantly. The horses climbed higher into the sky, scorching a path that became the Milky Way. Phaeton fell into the river Eridanus. Cygnus dove repeatedly into the river to try to retrieve the body of his friend but failed. Zeus was so impressed with Cygnus' devotion to his Phaeton that he turned him into a swan, enabling him to dive more easily. Cygnus was eventually rewarded for his gallantry by a prominent place in the summer skies within the cloudy path of the Milky Way.

Messier Objects in Cygnus:    M-29   M-39

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One story has it that when Poseidon (Neptune) was courting the mermaid Amphitrite, he rode on the back of a dolphin. When she agreed to become his wife, Poseidon placed the dolphin in the sky in gratitude for his help.
Herodotus relates another story, about the Greek poet Arion, who was exceedingly skilled at playing the harp like kithara. Periander, king of Corinth, sent Arion to Italy to play in a contest. Arion won the contest, and was richly rewarded, whereupon he chartered a ship to take him home. The crew, however, hoping to rob Arion of his treasure, attempted to throw him overboard. Arion asked to be allowed to play one last tune. He played so beautifully that he attracted a pod of dolphins to the ship, where upon Arion leapt overboard and landed on the back of one of them, who carried him home to Corinth. The seamen, thinking him lost, continued on to Corinth. Arion had arrived first and told Periander of their crime. When the ship arrived, Periander had the entire crew killed, and Arion’s prize money was returned. The gods placed a figure of a dolphin in the sky to commemorate the event.

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Dorado is a modern constellation first appearing in Johann Bayer's 1603 star atlas. Dorado contains the south ecliptic pole.

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Draco has stood for all the dragons of mythology, from Tiamat of the Sumerians to the monster slain by Saint George. In all myths the dragon symbolized anarchy and chaos. Draco’s origins probably rest with the ancient story of the Babylonian goddess Tiamat, who found herself challenged by the new gods. She created fearsome monsters to help her and in fact turned herself into a dragon. The hero Marduk defeated her by commanding strong winds to blow into the dragon’s mouth splitting her body. One half of Tiamat then became the sky, the other half became the earth. From that story the Greeks derived their myth of the battle of the ancient Titans with the newer gods of Olympus. In the conflict a dragon attacked Athena. She grabbed the creature and flung it up into the sky, where its body wound around the axis of the world, the celestial north pole. In another Greek story, Draco was the dragon that watched over the Golden Apples of the Hesperides, the procurement of which was one of the Twelve Labors of Hercules. To the ancient Indians Draco was a crocodile. To the ancient Egyptians it was a crocodile or a hippopotamus. The constellation has even been identified with a dragon from the German epic the Nibelungenlied.

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This constellation is said to have been named by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus. It is the second smallest constellation.

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These faint stars have ben known as a river since ancient times, and have represented famous rivers such as the Nile and the Euphrates.

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This constellation was mapped out by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille circa 1750.

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In classical mythology, these stars represent the twins Castor and Pollux, who were hatched from an egg borne by Leda after she was seduced by Zeus in the guise of a swan. Their sister was Helen of Troy. In ancient Rome Castor and Pollux were sometimes confused with Romulus and Remus, legendary founders of Rome.
The twins were raised by the wise centaur Chiron, represented by the constellation Centaurus, and later joined Jason, also brought up by Chiron, when he set out on the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece. In commemoration of their helping to calm a terrible storm during the voyage, Castor and Pollux are sometimes considered the patrons of mariners. In China the two stars we call Castor and Pollux are associated with yin and yang, the dual forces of nature.

Messier Objects in Gemini:    M-35

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This is a modern constellation mapped out by Johann Bayer in 1603.

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In Greco-Roman mythology, Hercules is the half mortal son of Jupiter (Zeus) and the princess Alcmene. Jupiter’s ever jealous wife Juno (Hera) sent serpents to kill the baby Hercules in his crib. The child, with astonishing strength, managed to strangle them, and grew up to become the strongest of men. Thanks to the scheming of his hateful stepmother, Juno, Hercules became indentured to King Eurystheus. To gain his freedom he had to perform the famous Twelve Labors, the first of which was to kill the Nemean Lion, a fierce creature of impenetrable hide who had fallen from the Moon and was laying waste to the valley of Nemea. Hercules succeeded in strangling the beast, whereupon Jupiter place the lion in the sky as the constellation Leo. Hercules’ next task was to kill the many headed monster, the Hydra, which also became a constellation. Among his other challenges was subduing the Cretan Minotaur, who some say is the origin of the constellation Taurus. After his release from servitude the tireless Hercules accomplished many other noble deeds. One myth credits him with killing the eagle that devoured the liver of the Titan Prometheus who had stolen fire from the gods and given it to humankind. Later Hercules later won the hand of the beautiful maiden Deianeira. One day she was kidnapped by the centaur Nessus, but Hercules, hearing her cries, shot the centaur with an arrow. Dying, Nessus gave Deianeira a drop of his blood, telling her, untruthfully, that a touch of it would restore Hercules’ love if his affections ever strayed. Later, thinking her husband was losing interest in her, Deianeira put the drop on his tunic. When Hercules donned the garment, the blood burned into his skin, causing him terrible torment. Seeing what she had done, Deianeira hanged herself, and Hercules, in anguish, incinerated himself. His father, Jupiter, then placed him in the sky.

Messier Objects in Hercules:    M-13   M-92

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Horologium is a southern constellation mapped out by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille circa 1750.

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Hydra was a many headed monster slain by Hercules as one of the Herculean tasks. This was not an easy task since each time Hercules cut off a head of the Hydra, two more heads grew in the severed head's place. As a solution to this problem, Hercules used a torch to cauterize each stump after he cut off that head. One head was immortal, so when Hercules cut that one off, he placed it under a huge stone where it could do no harm. After the battle, Jupiter (Zeus) placed the Hydra in the sky. Hydra is the largest constellation in the sky.

Messier Objects in Hydra:    M-48   M-68   M-83

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Hydrus is a modern constellation created by Johann Bayer and published in his 1603 atlas.

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Indus is a modern constellation created by Johann Bayer and published in his 1603 atlas.

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Lacerta is a modern constellation created by Johannes Hevelius circa 1687.

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The Greeks claimed that the figure was the mythological Nemean Lion, which fell from the moon in the form of a meteor. The lion ravaged the countryside around Corinth until it was slain by Hercules .

Messier Objects in Leo:    M-65   M-66   M-95   M-96   M-105

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Lepus, the hare, is hiding in the grass at the feet of the great hunter Orion, as he pursues Taurus across the sky.

Messier Objects in Lepus:    M-79

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Originally part of the constellation of Scorpius, this constellation was recognized as the scales by the Romans. The two brightest stars in this constellation have names that reflect this constellations as part of Scorpius : Alpha Libra is Zubenelgenubi, is Arabic for Southern Claw; and Beta Libra is Zubeneschamali, which is Arabic for Norther Claw.

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Leo Minor was named by Johannes Hevelius about the year 1687. It is thought that these stars represented a gazelle to the ancient Arabs. In Chinese lore they were somtimes combined with the stars of Leo to make a huge celestial dragon and, in another depiction, a chariot.

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Lupus is a constellation that, though known to the ancients, is faint and has no named stars. For centuries it was known as Therion, a wild animal of know specific kind. Some thought it was a wineskin held by Centaurus, which it adjoins.

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This consellation was created by Johannes Hevelius around 1687.

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Very long ago, the first civilizations of the Middle East and India saw these stars as a vulture. Vega, the brightest star in Lyra was know as the Vulture Star. Even though the Greeks saw a harp here, depictions of Lyra even centuries later often showed the harp held in the claws of a vulture.

Messier Objects in Lyra:    M-56   M-57

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This small constellation was formed by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille.

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This constellation was formed by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille around 1750.

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The constellation is a modern constellation formed by Jakob Bartsch around 1624.

Messier Objects in Monoceros:    M-50

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This constellation was orginally named Apis, the Bee, by Johann Bayer in his 1603 atlas of stars. Later Edmond Halley called it Musca Apis, the Fly Bee, and still later Nicolas-Louis dl Lacaille named it Musca Australis, the Southern Fly. This last name was to distinguish it from the northern fly, depicted on the back of Aries, the Ram. Since the norther fly is no longer recognized as a constellation, the southern fly in now known as Musca, the fly.

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This constellation was created by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille.

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This constellation was created by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille around 1752.

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Ophiuchus is usually identified as Asclepius, a legendary physician known as the god of medicine. Asclepius was the son of Apollo and Coronis and was educated by Chiron (Centaurus). It is said that Hippocrates, the famous Greek physician and the father of medicine was his 15th grandson. According to legend, of day Asclepius killed a snake, but to his surprise another snake arrived and revived its companion with herbs. As his medical skills grew, Asclepius even learned how to revive the dead. This knowledge worried Hades, god of the underworld, who feared that his domain would not receive any new souls. Hades persuaded his brother Zeus to kill Asclepius with a thunderbolt and to decree that all mortals must one day die. Zeus did strike Asclepius dead, but to honor his skills as a healer Zeus placed Asclepius in the sky with his serpents.

Messier Objects in Ophiuchus:    M-9   M-10   M-12   M-14   M-19   M-62   M-107

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In Greco-Roman mythology, the character Orion was a famed hunter, but he was boastful and went so far as to claim that no beast could kill him. To teach Orion a lesson, the goddess Hera sent a tiny scorpion to sting him. Orion smashed the scorpion with his club but not before it had stung him fatally. Orion and the scorpion were placed in the heavens on opposite sides of the sky. When Scorpius rises, Orion sets, and vice versa; these enemies are never seen together in the sky. In another legend Orion, the son of Poseidon, was said to have been a great hunter. Artemis, goddess of the Moon and the hunt, fell in love with him and neglected her duties of lighting the night sky. Her fellow gods and goddesses pleaded with her to no avail. One day her twin brother, Apollo, the sun god, saw Orion bathing in the seas far out from shore. Apollo shined the light of the sun so brightly that Orion became just a dark blur among the brilliantly sparkling waves. Apollo then called his sister and challenged her to hit the black shape so far from shore with here arrow. In pride and anger Artemis shot her arrow, striking the object directly. When Orion's body later washed ashore, Artemis realized what she had done. In grief she took his body and placed it in the sky, together with his hunting dogs, and marked it with bright stars. Having slain her lover, she was inconsolable and lost all interest in life; and that is why, ever since, the Moon has been cold and lifeless. Orion, however, quite quickly recovered and to this day he chases the Pleiades - seven lovely nymphs found in the constellation Taurus - around the sky, just as he had chased them on Earth.

Messier Objects in Orion:    M-42   M-43   M-78

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This is one of the constellations published in Johann Bayer's 1603 atlas.

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When Perseus pursued and slew the Medusa, Pegasus was created by the blood of Medusa's severed head mixed with the foam and sand of the sea.

Messier Objects in Pegasus:    M-15

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In Greek myth, Perseus was the son of Zeus and the mortal Danae. Danae's father, having been told by an oracle that his grandson would on day kill him, set Danae and Perseus adrift in a trunk. They were rescued by a fisherman and went to live on his island. The king of that island, Polydectes, wished to court Danae, and to get Perseus out of the way he sent the youth to slay the Gorgons, three sisters so ugly that any mortal who beheld them turned to stone. The night before his departure, Minerva appeared to Perseus in a dream and gave him a shiny magic shield upon which he could look at Medusa's reflection without being harmed. She also gave him a magic sword with which to sever the neck of Medusa. A man made sword would not do the job. Then Mercury appeared and gave Perseus winged sandals so that he could fly across the ocean to the island where the Gorgon lived in a cave. During his quest, Perseus found the three nymphs of the North, who gave him a magic helmet that would make him invisible and a magic pouch into which to place the severed head. Armed with the magic of the gods, Perseus found the island of the Gorgon Medusa. Her cave was guarded by two sisters who never slept. Perseus donned his helmet and crept quickly past them. Medusa lay asleep on the floor of the cave. Perseus raised his shield high and, watching her reflection in the dim light, he backed up to her. Then, with on mighty blow of the sword, he severed the head of Medusa. He picked up the head and placed it in the pouch. As he left the cave and walked down to the shore, a trail of blood was left behind. From Medusa's spilled blood, Pegasus was born. Perseus mounted the winged horse and headed back to Greece. Fleeing the other Gorgons, Perseus came upon King Atlas, who refused him aid. Glancing at the head of Medusa, Atlas turned into a mountain of stone and thereafter had to bear the weight of the heavens on his shoulders. Continuing his flight, Perseus came upon the princess Andromeda, the chained maiden, and rescued her from Cetus, the sea monster. Later in his life, Perseus, throwing the discus in an athletic contest, struck and killed a spectator. That unfortunate being turned out to be his grandfather, and the prophecy that he would be killed by his grandson was fulfilled, in spite of all the old man's efforts.

Messier Objects in Perseus:    M-34   M-76

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Phoenix first appeared in the 1603 star atlas of Johann Bayer. The Arabs had called this region along the river Eridanus Al Zaurak, the Boat, and also Al Rial, the Young Ostriches.

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This constellation was formed in the 1750s by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille.

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The constellation Piscis Austrinis has been known since classical Greek and Roman times but probably goes back even further, to an ancient Syrian constellation representing the god Dagon. It has occasionally been shown as two fish, but it is more commonly seen as a single fish, sometimes drinking from a stream of water poured from the jar held by Aquarius.

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The Greeks and Romans recognized two fish in these stars. They were said to be Aphrodite and her son Eros, who, fleeing from the giant Typhon, jumped into a stream, turned into fish, and swam away to safety. They tied their tails together so they wouldn't be separated.

Messier Objects in Pisces:    M-74

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These stars form the stern of poop deck of the great celestial ship Argo. South of Puppis is Carina, the Keel, and just to the east are Pyxis, the Compass, and Vela, the Sail.

Messier Objects in Puppis:    M-46   M-47   M-93

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Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille formed this small constellation from stars that had been part of the ship Argo.

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This constellation was formed by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille about 1752.

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This modern constellation was formed by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille.

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This constellation is supposed to be the tiny scorpion that killed Orion with its sting and was placed in the sky to memorialize the event.

Messier Objects in Scorpius:    M-4   M-6   M-7   M-80

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This modern constellation was created by Johannes Hevelius in 1690, in honor of King John III Sobieski of Poland, and was supposed to represent his coat of arms.

Messier Objects in Scutum:    M-11   M-26

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Serpens is the only constellation that is in two separate parts. Serpens Caput (Head of the Snake) is 429 square degrees. Serpens Cauda (Tail of the Snake) is 208 square degrees. The two parts of this constellation are separated by Ophiuchus.

Messier Objects in Serpens:    M-5   M-16

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This constellation does not represent a mariner's sextant, but the larger astronomical sextant used by Johannes Hevelius to compile one of the first accurate star maps.

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Sagitta has been identified with just about every famous arrow in mythology. It has been said to be the arrow that killed the eagle of Zeus, the arrow shot by Hercules at the Stymphalian Birds, and the one with which Apollo slew the Cyclops. It has also been said to represent Cupid's arrow. Sagitta is the third smallest constellation.

Messier Objects in Sagitta:    M-71

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This is a large constellation that was probably first associated with Nergal, the arrow shooting god of war, by Sumerian peoples of the Euphrates Valley. It was known by the Greeks as the archer, and later came to be identified as a satyr, or centaur.

Messier Objects in Sagittarius:    M-8   M-17   M-18   M-20   M-21   M-22   M-23   M-24   M-25   M-28   M-54   M-55   M-69   M-70   M-75

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Greek legend has it that this group of stars is Zeus in the disguise of a white bull with golden horns; in this form he seduced and abducted the beautiful Europa. When Europa seated herself on the bull's back, he swam away with her to Crete, which is why we see only the animal's forequarters in the constellation.
Taurus is also thought to be charging Orion the hunter, who lies to the east.

Messier Objects in Taurus:    M-1   M-45

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A modern constellation formed by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille.

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A modern constellation formed by Johann Bayer in his 1603 star atlas.

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This group of stars has been recognized since classical times. The Romans know this constellation as Deltotum. It was in this consetellation that Giuseppe Piazzi, on January 1, 1801, discovered the first asteroid.

Messier Objects in Triangulum:    M-33

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A modern constellation formed by Johann Bayer in his 1603 star atlas.

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Our best known legend about Ursa Major comes from Greek mythology. According to this legend, the king of the gods, Zeus, fell in love with a beautiful woman named Callisto. When Zeus' wife Hera learned of the affair, she changed Callisto into a bear. This bear roamed the forest until one day she happened upon a young and handsome hunter whom she recognized as her own son, Arcas. Callisto raised up on her hind legs to embrace her child, but Arcas saw only a bear and raised his spear. In the nick of time, Zeus intervened, changing Arcas into a bear. Then he grasped Callisto and her son by their tails and flung them into the sky, to become our constellations of the large and small bears. This explains why the celestial bears have such long tails, in contrast to their earthly counterparts. Some North American Indian tribes saw things differently. They also pictured bears in Ursa Major, and the nearby constellation Ursa Minor, as evidenced by the names frequently used to describe them, Okuri and Paukuawa - both meaning "bear". But in Iroquois mythology, all bears once had long tails. The earthly bear lost its tail attempting to show it off, using the tail to fish through a hole in an iced over lake. The bear's tail froze and fell off, and now all Earthbound bears mimic this ancient bear with its stumpy tail. A Blackfoot Indian legend tells of an elder daughter of a large family. The daughter fell in love with a grizzly bear. Her father was furious and ordered her brothers to kill the bear. But this was a magical bear, and before the bear died he gave some of his magic to his bride. She then turned herself into a grizzly bear, and in retaliation she destroyed her entire village, killing her mother and father. She began chasing her eight brothers and sisters, but one brother had magic of his own. He shot an arrow into the sky, and instantly all eight children followed it to become stars. The seven oldest children became the seven stars forming the Big Dipper. The youngest child was frightened, and she can be seen as the dim star Alcor, huddling close to the star Mizar.

Messier Objects in Ursa Major:    M-40   M-81   M-82   M-97   M-101   M-102   M-108   M-109

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Ursa Minor was not recognized as a constellation until about 600 B. C., when it was decribed by the Greek astronomer Thales.

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Vela represents the sail of the ship Argo (Argo Navis), the huge ancient southern constellation that was divided into several smaller constellations by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in the 1750s.

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Virgo is the only female figure amoung the constellations of the zodiac. It is also one of the oldest constellations and has assumed the identity of just about every important female deit since history has been recorded. In particular, Virgo has been identified with goddesses of fertility, of agriculture, and of the earth. Virgo is the second largest constellation in the sky.

Messier Objects in Virgo:    M-49   M-58   M-59   M-60   M-61   M-84   M-86   M-87   M-89   M-90   M-104

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A modern constellation formed by Johann Bayer in his 1603 star atlas.

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Vulpecula is a modern constellation formed in 1690 by Johannes Hevelius.

Messier Objects in Vulpecula:    M-27

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