Origin and history of constellations

On the night sky in clear weather, thousands of stars of different brightness and colors can be observed flashing in the darkness. In ancient times, our ancestors would link the stars with various legends and myths, which eventually lead to establishing constellation in many civilizations such as Greek, Roman, Egypt, more and more.

History of constellations

As defined by the The International Astronomical Union：IAU in 1930, there are totally 88 constellations now as a common understandings in the world. Before that time, people of different civilizations have their own traditions of which stars will form which constellations and the understands vary among different people.
The concept of constellation was believed to be established in ancient Babylonian times, descriptions of constellations and stars were found in written records of different ancient ruins, and ancient people already believed stars and constellations to be related to certain legends.
Ancient Egypt along River Nile was another ancient civilization which was known to study a lot about stars. Due to practical reasons (an accurate calendar was needed for farming), Egyptian had paid lot of time in studying stars and their relation to weather and calendar. Egyptians also had legends of stars and constellations, and stars paid an important role to their kingdom. A good evidence is carvings of Sirius and several constellations had been found in tombs of Pharaohs.

Connection with myths

Ancient Greeks inherited knowledge of constellations from Babylonians, via Phoenicians who had engaged in tradings among Mediterranean Sea, which eventually lead to the myths of stars and constellations which we know today.
We could not find absolute proof of when ancient Greek mythology began. As many scholars agreed, it was probably initiated by epic poet Homer. Afterwards, Greek bards distributed many myths and legends about constellations allover Greece, and in nearby countries, including all the coming civilizations in Europe. With the increasing connection between myths and constellations, more constellations were organized under the Greek Mythology.

Ptolemy's 48 Constellations

The people actually put together these ancient knowledge of constellations was Ptolemy (AD90 - 168), a Greek scholar in astronomy. He had set up a system of 48 constellations - 12 from Zodiac belt, 21 from northern sky and 15 from southern sky.
His system of 48 constellations had been used for nearly 1,500 years, until the Age of Exploration when more and more constellations and stars were found when European voyagers travelled around the world.

More constellations from Age of Exploration

Fifteenth century was the beginning of the so called Age of Exploration, when European pioneer voyagers begin long journey to undiscovered waters, such as Africa and America, beginning trading with people in distant unknown lands. They also discovered many stars not previously discovered by either Greeks, Egyptians or even Chinese (European cultures also get information via the silk road). The newly found stars was unable to be seen in northern hemisphere. It was the time for adding supplementary information to Ptolemy's 48 constellations, which only consists of those visible in northern hemisphere.
There were many scholars putting together the newly discovered stars and constellations, such as Dutch explorers Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman in late 16th century, Johann Bayer in his star atlas Uranometria in 1603, and Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in his star catalogue in 1756.

Modern constellations

Many people would be confused when some constellations had several different names and belonging to different groups of constellations in different countries. Solving this confusion was one of the major reason of the establishment of unifying different understandings to be 88 constellations in 1930 by IAU.

Goddesses of the Moon in Greek Myths

Euryunome

In ancient Greek mythology, an astonishing beam of light emerged from chaos, and it was the Goddess of the Moon (probably the most ancient one in history), Euryunome (also mean traveler to far beyond). Her dancing footsteps separate the sky from the sea, then she was surrounded by wind from all direction, which was captured by Ophion (serpent of the moon, or egg of the universe) She transformed into a white bird, creating a nest in the sky. In the nest, she laid silver eggs, which became the sun, moon and stars.
Above legend can be founded in some versions of Greek Legend, where Euryunome and the serpent Ophion had been ruler of the world.
In Greek Mythology, Euryunome was the daughter of Oceanus (God of Ocean, Titans, son of Uranus and Gaia) and Tethys (Titaness, aquatic sea goddess). She ruled Mount Olympus together with Ophion.
After Kronos's domination of Mount Olympus
Afterwards, Rhea and Cronus defeated Euryunome and Ophion, who fell into the deepest of the underworld. There had been legends they had fled to other mountains, to the sea, or being killed, and there was no unified opinion yet.

Theia

Theia is the mother of Helios, the God of the Sun. Theia has the meaning of Daughter of God, and God of the moon. Childern of Theia and Hyperion (another major God in older Greek myths) cosnsits of Helios (represent the sun), Selene (represent the moon) and Eos (Goddess of Dawn), which become important in later legends about origin of ancestors of Greeks.

Hecate

Hecate is another goddess in Greek myths associated with the moon. She is the daughter of Asteria and Persēs. Asteria later become the island where Apollōn and Artemis are born. Persēs is sister of Europa and previously mentioned Euryunome (Some clever ones may realised that both parents of Hecate are female, we don't know whether it was a mistake of the ancient writers or anything else, anyway, there is no way to find evidance)
In fact, Hecate is Goddess of full moon and the night, and usually the ancient authors or poets would confuse it with another two famous Lunar Goddess Selsne and Artemis. Hecate is also the Guardian god of crossroads and Three-forked roads. According to the myths, she had three different bodies, as a female Hound, as a female horse, and as a female wolf, while she can transfer to any one of them. In ancient Greece, there had been some ceremonies worshiping Hecate during the night of full moon.
Hecate is also be regarded to be Goddess of vengeance and related to revenge. It is said to be widely worshiped by witches during middle ages of Europe.
By the way, she is also said to be the origin samba God Hekato of ancient Egypt.

Selene

Before Artemis is widely worshiped as Lunar Goddess, Selene has already been describled in many stories and legends. Selene is related to the God of light - Sera, and it appeared to be its alternative appearance, with the female image of Lunar or the Moon. Selene is widely regarded as Goddess of Moon around Asia Minor.

Artemis

Symbolising crescent moon, Artemis is one of the most widely worshiped Goddess of Moon in many ancient cultures. Artemis is not from Greek legends, she is probably from religious beliefs in Asia Minor, though there is no obvious evidence of where she is from. Artemus is also said to be younger sister of Apollōn.

Europa (Europe)

Europa is the goddess of the moon that are relevant to the bull. Son of Zeus and Europa is Minos, who later become King of Crete. According to Greek legend, kings of Minos dynasty would marry with Goddess of Moon, Minotaus - the Guardian in the labyrinth, will reincarnate whenever a new king is founded.

Lost constellation - Argo Navis (Nowadays Carina, Vela, Pupplis and Pyxis) and the legend of Jason and Golden Fleece

Introduction

Argo Navis is an ancient constellation mentioned in Greek myths, described to be the ship used by Jason and the Argonauts. It is one of the 48 ancient constellations once listed by astronomer Ptolemy nearly 2,000 years ago, being one of the largest constellations in the sky. In 18th century, Argo Navis was thought to be too big as a single one, and was approved to be split into four smaller constellatoins: Carina (ship's hull), Vela (the sails), Pupplis (the deck), and Pyxis (the compass).
Argo Navis appeared in Greek legends as the ship of the Argonautes - team of explorers searching for the legendary golden fleece. The ship was regarded to be the first huge vessel created by human in navigation to the unknown oceans.

Legend of Golden Fleece

The ship is related to one of the most well-known Greek Myths - Jason and the Argonauts. The story begin in the kingdom of Iolcus, while Jason's grandfather, Cretheus is the king and founder. When he pass away, the kingdom ois seized by his brother Pelias from Cretheus's son Aeson. Whole family of Aeson is under strict monitor by the army controlled by Pelias. To avoid the threat from Pelias over his family, Pelias secretly send his son Jason to Chiron, the hermit of Centaurs.

Jason and the Argonauts

A few years later, when Pelias ask for advice from the gods, he is told to pay attention to a man with sandel on one side. In a ceremony to worship Poseidon, Pelias come across the grown up Jason, who is exactly the same as in the prediction he had got from the gods. Jason demands to return of his rightful throne. Pelias understood Jason was a real threat to him but he could not get rid of him in public. So he replied to Jason that he should first accomplish a difficult task to prove he has the ability to be the king.. The task is to retrieve the Golden Fleece, kept beyond the edge of the known world in a land called Colchis (modern-day Georgia in Southwest Asia). If he succeed, he will be powerful enough to be the king of Iolcus. In order to reclaim his throne, Jason agrees to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Jason gathers a group of 50 heroes as his crews (so called Argonauts) and set off for the challenge.

Begin of the voyage

Their first stop is the Island of Lemnos, inhabitated only by women. Jason and the Argonauts do not realize in the beginning that the women have murdered their husbands, and they will seduce every new comers to the island, just for the purpose of repopulate the island.
The Argonaunts have many more adventures in other islands, before they finally arrived Constantinople, towards the Straits of Bosphorus, a passageway between the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea and their destination - the Black Sea. To the ancient Greeks, this was the edge of the known world. The Straits are extremely dangerous due to the currents created by the flow of water from the Black Sea.
Triumph of Jason
When Jason finally arrives in Colchis he asks King Aietes to return the golden fleece to him as it belonged to his ancestor. Aietes is reluctantly to do so, so he require Jason to finish series of tasks first, which he is confident that these tasks are impossible to be accomplished. But surprisingly, his daughter Medea fall in love with Jason, she offers to assist Jason if he will marry her. He agrees. Medea is a powerful sorceress and Jason finally success in retrieving the Golden Fleece.

Death of Jason

They return to Greece where Jason claims his father's throne, but it is also end of their success. Local people of Iolcus cannot accept the magic power of Medea, they drive Medea and Jason out of Iolcus. They are exiled to Corinth where the King there ask Jason to marry his daughter. Jason agree and violate his vow to the gods that he will be true only to Medea. Medea is extremely furious, she kills the woman, her children with Jason, and flee into the nearby Mt. Olympus where he eventually marries Achilles. Jason return to Iolcus alone in his ship the Arg, and is accidentally killed when the decaying beam of the ship falls off and hits his head.

Two easily neglected constellations of animals

Constellation of rabbit: Lepus

Being one of the 48 ancient constellations listed by Ptelemy, the constellation of Lepus is situated under the feet of Orion.
Lepus is not an eye-catching constellations and most people would tend to forget it comparing with other major ones. Lepus is believed to be the prey that the two hounds (Canis Major and Canis Minor) are chasing for, but no obvious legends or tales about its origin can be found, its origin was a mystery.
Different cultures have different description to Lepus. It was a wild rabbit to ancient Greece, a ship for one of the major gods Osiris to ancient Egypt, and the waist belt of the Giant (meaning the constellation of Orion) to ancient Arabia.

Constellation of piegon: Columba

It is situated under Lepus, consisting of stars in zig-zag line. It was part of the Canis Major until 17th century, when it became independent and separated in Germany.
As a new constellation for less then four centuries, there was no specific legends or myths in the past. Generally, some people linked it to the description about pigeon on Noah's Ark in Old testament bible:
Long, long time ago, when the God could not bear the ridiculous, bad man infested world, the God decided to destroy everything with huge flood, exceptfor Noah, the only good man left and chosen pairs of animals. Noah and the animals survived through the continuous storms and floods inside the Ark prepared. After the storm stopped, most of the world is already under water, Noah didn't know where the land was, and he let the pigeon fly and seek for the land. When the pigeon returned with a sprig of olive, meaning that the land was there.
Columbia is now said to be the "dove symbol of peace".

Canis Major – and the ancient Greek legend between Procris and Cephalus

Canis Major - hound in the night sky

Constellation of Canis Major, one of the 88 modern constellations but also included in the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy's 48 constellations, can be seen from south-east of Orion. The most prominent star shinning in pale blue is the alpha star of Canis Major - the famous Sirius.
Canis Major and the nearby constellation of Canis Minor were said to be hounds of the Orion.

Myth of origin

Let's talk about the myth behind this hound. Here is the brief of this legend.
Long time ago, a woman Procris owned two treasures from the king of Crete: the hound Laelaps capable of capturing every prey aiming at, and the spear capable of killing everything facing. She gave both treasures to her husbands, Cephalus.
One day, Cephalus went to hunt for the fox attacking the village with the hound and the spear. When they found the fox, Laelaps immediately chased it while Cephalus threw the spear towards the fox. However, here come a contraction. The fox would be either killed by Laelaps or the spear. If it was killed by Laelaps, the spear can no longer killed the fox. If the spear killed it, the Laelaps could not capture the fox.
To solve this contraction, Zeus decided to make both the hound and spear to become constellations. The hound Laelaps - had become Canis Major.
From here, let’s talk about a more detailed version of the legend, the tale behind it.
The daughter of the Athenian king Erechtheus, Procris became the wife of Cephalus. One day, Eos, goddess of dawn seized Cephalus while he was hunting. Cephalus was reluctant to betray Procris, and Eos returned him to Procris.
However, Eos tried to show Cephalus how easily Procris could be seduced by someone else, and convinced Cephalus to return home in disguise of a completely different guy and gave a test for his wife, he seduced Procris with a huge amount of money. He disclosed his real identity as Cephalus when Procris agreed to sleep with a stranger for money.
Afterwards, Procris escaped to the place of King Minos. King Minos wanted sleeping with her but there is a problem.Wife of King of Minos, Pāsiphaë has cast a magic to her husband, causing all the women slept with him to give birth to snakes and scopions instead which will kill the women.
Procris obtained a miracle herb from the witch Circe, and the magic lost its effect. Procris slept with King Minos and in return, King Minos gave the miracle hound Laelaps and spear to her as gift. She returned to Cephalus, giving him both treasure items, and they reunited again. The part about how the hound became a constellation was same as in the brief version.

Another version of the legend

Here is an alternative version of the legend. The change was only related to the story between Procris and Cephalus. If you were looking for tale about the hound, you can skip it. In this version, Procris was more likely to be a victim.
Cephalus had been married with Eos, goddess of dawn, but finally he decided to left her and returning to his motherland. Then, he married with Procris, daughter of the Athenian king Erechtheus. The later part of the story was more or less same as the original myth, except for the epilogue. After Procris left due to anger to Cephalus’s test, Cephalus was regretted for what he had done and went finding Procris who had escaped into the forests. He brought with him the mighty spear, and he mistaken his wife to be a beast in the forest. He threw out the spear and killed Procris by mistake.

Trio of suns: Riger Kenttaurus

Riger Kenttaurus (or called Alpha Centuri) is the brightest star in the constellation of Centuri viewed from the solar system. and the third brightest star in the night from Earth. For a long period of time, it was misunderstood to be one star or dazzling double star. But with the improvement in instruments for astronomy, it was finally revealed that Riger Kenttaurus was made up of three stars, which is quite rare among the stars discovered in the universe. In most case, larger object(s) will engulf smaller ones in the early age, and it is a rare case that three stars of different masses can continue to exist and maintain a balance among them.
In comparing the absolute brightness of stars, Riger Kenttaurus is not ranked very high. The main reason of why it is the third brightest in the night sky is that it is the star closest to our solar system (around 4.2 lightyear).
Being the closest star (sun) to us away from the solar system, Riger Kenttaurus is widely used in SF stories, novels and movies around the world.

Monoseus: Constellation of the legendary unicorn

Monoseus - another legend of unicorn

Constellation of Monoseus is situated between two hounds in the night sky: Canis Major and Canis Minor. Its existence was defined by the astronomer Petrus Plancius in 16the century.
Comparing to its shinning and obvious neighbors, Monoseus mainly consisted of stars which are less obvious and hard to find. The presence of a rose nebula makes it even less prominent.

Legends of Monoseus from different sources

Monoseus is a Greek word. In English, this legend creature is generally known as Unicorn.
Unicorn is a legendary creature beginning from Greek legends with an outlook similar to a horse but with a horn in the center of its forehead. It has a ferocious nature and can only be calm by the hug of a virgin. Besides the horn, unicorn also has several characteristics like a tail of a lion, beard of a male goat, and eyes in ocean blue color. Its horn is said to have magical power, and can purify all toxic and polluted waters to be clear and harmless again, showing its symbolic deep relationship with power of water.
Unicorn has existed in Old testament bible and part of it has been inherited by the bulls nowadays.
There were also some more detailed descriptions about unicorn as real organism, the most famous one was from Ctesias, a doctor and historian in Greece in around 400 B.C., when he was working as a doctor for King Artaxerxes II of Persia. He said he had come across unicorn in his trip to India. However, no description or proof can be found that he had actually been there and it was still a mystery whether his foundings is true or not.
Unicorn was also worshipped by ancient Celt before the spread of Christianity in Northern Africa. Some historians claimed the different tales and myths of Unicorn in various cultures are indeed combination and mixing of various legends, a by product of development of cultures.