Most Ancient ReferenceThe Great BearJob(ch. xxxviii. ver. 32) (Seventeenth Century before our era),Homer(Ninth Century).OrionJob(ch. ix. ver. 9),Homer,Hesiod.The Pleiades (the Hyades)Job(ch. xxxviii. ver. 31),Homer,Hesiod.Sirius and the Great DogHesiodmentions it.Homercalls Sirius the Star of Autumn.Aldebaran (Taurus)Homer,Hesiod.Boötes, ArcturusJob(ch. xxxviii. ver. 32),Homer,Hesiod.The Little BearThales(Seventh Century),Eudoxus,Aratus.Draco (the Dragon)Eudoxus(Fourth Century),Aratus(Third Century).The Man on his Knees, or HerculesId.The Branch and Cerberus[12]Id.Corona BorealisId.Ophiuchus or SerpentariusId.The ScorpionId.Virgo and SpicaEudoxus(Fourth Century),Aratus(Third Century)Gemini (the Twins)Id.ProcyonId.Cancer (the Crab)Id.Leo (the Lion)Id.Auriga (the Charioteer)Id.Capella (the Goat, the Kids)Id.CepheusId.CassiopeiaId.AndromedaId.Pegasus (the Horse)Id.Aries (the Ram)Id.The TriangleId.Pisces (the Fishes)Id.PerseusId.LyraId.The Bird, or Cygnus (the Swan)Id.Aquila (the Eagle)Id.AquariusId.CapricornusId.SagittariusId.Sagitta (the Arrow)Id.Delphinus (the Dolphin)Id.Lepus (the Hare)Id.Argo (the Ship)Id.Canobus (afterward written Canopus)Id.EridanusId.Cetus (the Whale)Id.Piscis Australis (the Southern Fish)Id.Corona AustralisId.The AltarId.The CentaurId.The Wolf (Lupus)Id.HydraId.Crater (the Cup)Id.Corvus (the Crow)Id.Libra (the Balance)Manetho(Third CenturyB. C.)Geminus(First Century)B. C.).The Hair of Berenice[13]Callimachus,Eratosthenes(Third Century).Feet of the CentaurHipparchus(First CenturyB. C.).Propus (η of Gemini)Hipparchus.The Manger and DonkeysId.The Little Horse (Equuleus)Id.The Head of MedusaId.Antinous[13]Under the Emperor Adrian (130A. D.).The Peacock (Pavo)John Bayer, 1603.ToucanId.Grus (the Crane)Id.PhœnixId.DoradusId.The Flying FishId.HydrusId.ChamæleonId.The Bee (Musca)Id.The Bird of Paradise (Apus)Id.Triangulum AustralisId.The Indian (Indus)Id.The Giraffe (Camelopardus)Bartschius, 1624.The Fly (Musca)Id.The Unicorn (Monoceros)Id.Noah’s Dove (Columba)Id.The Oak of Charles IIHalley, 1679.The Southern Cross (already seen by the ancients)Augustine Royer, 1677.The Great and Little Cloud (Magellanic Clouds)Hevelius, 1690.The Fleur de LysId.The Greyhounds (Canes Venatici)Id.The Fox and Goose (Vulpecula et Anser)Id.The Lizard (Lacerta)Id.The Sextant of Urania (Sextans)Id.The Little Lion (Leo Minor)Hevelius, 1690.The LynxId.The Shield of SobieskiId.The Little TriangleId.Mount MænalusFlamsteed, 1725.The Heart of Charles II (α Canum Venaticorum)Id.The Sculptor’s Workshop (Sculptor)Lacaille, 1752.The Chemical Furnace (Fornax)Id.The Clock (Horologium)Id.The Rhomboid Reticule (Reticulum)Id.The Engraver’s PenId.The Painter’s Easel (Pictor)Id.The Compass (Circinus)Id.The Air Pump (Antlia)Id.The Octant (Octans)Id.The Compass and SquareId.The Telescope (Telescopium)Id.The Microscope (Microscopium)Id.The Table Mountain (Mensa)Id.The ReindeerLemonnier, 1774.The Solitaire (Indian Bird)Id.Le MessierLalande, 1776.The Bull of PoniatowskiPoczobut, 1877.The Honors of FrederickBode, 1786.The Harp of the GeorgesHell, 1789.The Telescope of HerschelBode, 1787.The Electrical MachineId, 1790.The Printer’s WorkshopId.The Mural QuadrantLalande, 1795.The Air BalloonId., 1798.The CatId., 1799.
Such are the constellations, ancient and modern, venerable or recent, into which the celestial sphere has been divided. The ancient names are respectableand respected, on account of their relations, known or unknown, with the origins of history and religion; the new ones must be ephemeral. It is useful to know them, because several stars celebrated under different titles have for their principal designation their position in these asterisms; but what we should wish would be to see them disappear.[14]
Many other substitutions have, however, been attempted. I have in my library a splendid folio of the year 1661, containing twenty-nine engraved plates, illuminated in gold and silver, among which are two which represent the sky delivered from the pagans and peopled with Christians. Instead of divinities more or less virtuous, in place of animals of forms more or less fantastic, we behold the elect—apostles,saints, popes, martyrs, sacred persons of the Old and New Testament—seated in the celestial vault, clothed in rich costumes of all colors, embroidered with gold, and carefully installed in the place of all the pagan heroes who for so many ages reigned in the sky.
The author of this metamorphosis was named Jules Schiller, and it was in the year 1627 that he introduced it, coupling his name with that of John Bayer. He began his dissertation by showing how the pagan constellations are opposed to Christian opinion and even to common-sense. He quoted the Fathers of the Church who expressly disapprove of them: Isodorus, who treats them as diabolical; Lactantius, who condemns the corruption of the human race; Augustine, who sends their heroes to hell, etc.
These constellations formed by chance, in the course of ages, without a fixed object; their inconvenient size, the uncertainty of their boundaries; the complicated designations, for which it was sometimes necessary to exhaust whole alphabets; the bad taste with which observers have introduced into the southern sky the frigid nomenclature of instruments used in science alongside mythological allegories—all these accumulated defects have often suggested plans of reform for the stellar divisions, and even the banishing of all configuration. But ancient customs are difficult to overcome, and it is very probable that, except the recently named groups, which we may now suppress, the venerable constellations will always reign.
Such are the provinces of the sky. But these provinces are of no intrinsic value; the important point for us is to make acquaintance with the inhabitants.
FOOTNOTES:[6]The French trillion is equivalent to the English billion, or a million times a million (1,000,000,000,000).—J. E. G.[7]The Chinese had designated them all, it is true, at the same epoch, but their groups as well as their denominations are absolutely different from ours, and do not appear to have exercised any influence on the foundations of astronomical history. It was another world, other methods, other inspirations, as if Asia and Europe formed two distinct planets. A distinguished author, M. Schlegel, published in 1875 a Chinese Uranography, which is composed of 670 asterisms, and of which he believes he can trace back the origin to 17,000 years before our era. His argument is not convincing, and it seems to me that the origin of the astronomy of the Celestial Empire can not be very much anterior to the reign of the Emperor Hoang-Ti—that is to say, to the Twenty-seventh Century before our era—and would go back at furthest to the time of Fou-Hi that is to say, to the Twenty-ninth Century. It was about the same epoch—the Twenty-eighth Century before our era—that the Egyptians, observing Sirius, the early rising of which announced the inundation of the Nile, formed their canicular year of 365 days.[8]More correctly, from 2.3 magnitude to 3.5 magnitude.—J. E. G.[9]The author possesses in the Museum of the Observatory at Juvisy a Japanese executioner’s sword, on the guard of which this constellation is engraved. Was it believed that the souls of executed criminals were sent there?[10]SeeAstronomical Myths, based on Flammarion’s History of the Heavens. By J. F. Blake. London, 1876.[11]That is, to the naked eye; it never descends below the tenth magnitude, and always remains visible in a 3-inch telescope.—J. E. G.[12]A constellation wrongly attributed by Arago and others to Hevelius. It is found on the sphere of Eudoxus.[13]Constellations incorrectly attributed to Tycho Brahe. The first is given by Eratosthenes, the second dates from the Emperor Adrian.[14]Especially those which are absolutely superfluous, and occupy places stolen from the ancient constellations, like the Heart of Charles II, the Fox and Goose, the Lizard, the Sextant, the Shield of Sobieski, Mount Mænalus, the Reindeer, the Solitaire, the Messier, the Bull of Poniatowski, the Honors of Frederick, the Harp, the Telescope, the Mural Circle, the Air Balloon, the Electrical Machine, the Printer’s Workshop, and the Cat. I know, however, with reference to this last animal, that Lalande wrote: “I love cats! I adore cats! I may be pardoned for having placed one in the sky after my sixty years of assiduous labors.” But the illustrious astronomer had no necessity for this plea in order that his name should remain inscribed in letters of gold on the tablets of Urania. The Heart of Charles II is but the flattery of a courtier; the Shield of Sobieski, the Bull of Poniatowski, should fall from the sky; the Messier is but a play on words which makes the celestial flocks guarded by a pastor whose name is the same as that of the prolific hunter of comets, Messier. As for the Honors of Frederick, they usurp an unmerited place, for, in order to make room for them, Andromeda has been obligedto draw in her arm, which she had stretched out there for three thousand years.
[6]The French trillion is equivalent to the English billion, or a million times a million (1,000,000,000,000).—J. E. G.
[6]The French trillion is equivalent to the English billion, or a million times a million (1,000,000,000,000).—J. E. G.
[7]The Chinese had designated them all, it is true, at the same epoch, but their groups as well as their denominations are absolutely different from ours, and do not appear to have exercised any influence on the foundations of astronomical history. It was another world, other methods, other inspirations, as if Asia and Europe formed two distinct planets. A distinguished author, M. Schlegel, published in 1875 a Chinese Uranography, which is composed of 670 asterisms, and of which he believes he can trace back the origin to 17,000 years before our era. His argument is not convincing, and it seems to me that the origin of the astronomy of the Celestial Empire can not be very much anterior to the reign of the Emperor Hoang-Ti—that is to say, to the Twenty-seventh Century before our era—and would go back at furthest to the time of Fou-Hi that is to say, to the Twenty-ninth Century. It was about the same epoch—the Twenty-eighth Century before our era—that the Egyptians, observing Sirius, the early rising of which announced the inundation of the Nile, formed their canicular year of 365 days.
[7]The Chinese had designated them all, it is true, at the same epoch, but their groups as well as their denominations are absolutely different from ours, and do not appear to have exercised any influence on the foundations of astronomical history. It was another world, other methods, other inspirations, as if Asia and Europe formed two distinct planets. A distinguished author, M. Schlegel, published in 1875 a Chinese Uranography, which is composed of 670 asterisms, and of which he believes he can trace back the origin to 17,000 years before our era. His argument is not convincing, and it seems to me that the origin of the astronomy of the Celestial Empire can not be very much anterior to the reign of the Emperor Hoang-Ti—that is to say, to the Twenty-seventh Century before our era—and would go back at furthest to the time of Fou-Hi that is to say, to the Twenty-ninth Century. It was about the same epoch—the Twenty-eighth Century before our era—that the Egyptians, observing Sirius, the early rising of which announced the inundation of the Nile, formed their canicular year of 365 days.
[8]More correctly, from 2.3 magnitude to 3.5 magnitude.—J. E. G.
[8]More correctly, from 2.3 magnitude to 3.5 magnitude.—J. E. G.
[9]The author possesses in the Museum of the Observatory at Juvisy a Japanese executioner’s sword, on the guard of which this constellation is engraved. Was it believed that the souls of executed criminals were sent there?
[9]The author possesses in the Museum of the Observatory at Juvisy a Japanese executioner’s sword, on the guard of which this constellation is engraved. Was it believed that the souls of executed criminals were sent there?
[10]SeeAstronomical Myths, based on Flammarion’s History of the Heavens. By J. F. Blake. London, 1876.
[10]SeeAstronomical Myths, based on Flammarion’s History of the Heavens. By J. F. Blake. London, 1876.
[11]That is, to the naked eye; it never descends below the tenth magnitude, and always remains visible in a 3-inch telescope.—J. E. G.
[11]That is, to the naked eye; it never descends below the tenth magnitude, and always remains visible in a 3-inch telescope.—J. E. G.
[12]A constellation wrongly attributed by Arago and others to Hevelius. It is found on the sphere of Eudoxus.
[12]A constellation wrongly attributed by Arago and others to Hevelius. It is found on the sphere of Eudoxus.
[13]Constellations incorrectly attributed to Tycho Brahe. The first is given by Eratosthenes, the second dates from the Emperor Adrian.
[13]Constellations incorrectly attributed to Tycho Brahe. The first is given by Eratosthenes, the second dates from the Emperor Adrian.
[14]Especially those which are absolutely superfluous, and occupy places stolen from the ancient constellations, like the Heart of Charles II, the Fox and Goose, the Lizard, the Sextant, the Shield of Sobieski, Mount Mænalus, the Reindeer, the Solitaire, the Messier, the Bull of Poniatowski, the Honors of Frederick, the Harp, the Telescope, the Mural Circle, the Air Balloon, the Electrical Machine, the Printer’s Workshop, and the Cat. I know, however, with reference to this last animal, that Lalande wrote: “I love cats! I adore cats! I may be pardoned for having placed one in the sky after my sixty years of assiduous labors.” But the illustrious astronomer had no necessity for this plea in order that his name should remain inscribed in letters of gold on the tablets of Urania. The Heart of Charles II is but the flattery of a courtier; the Shield of Sobieski, the Bull of Poniatowski, should fall from the sky; the Messier is but a play on words which makes the celestial flocks guarded by a pastor whose name is the same as that of the prolific hunter of comets, Messier. As for the Honors of Frederick, they usurp an unmerited place, for, in order to make room for them, Andromeda has been obligedto draw in her arm, which she had stretched out there for three thousand years.
[14]Especially those which are absolutely superfluous, and occupy places stolen from the ancient constellations, like the Heart of Charles II, the Fox and Goose, the Lizard, the Sextant, the Shield of Sobieski, Mount Mænalus, the Reindeer, the Solitaire, the Messier, the Bull of Poniatowski, the Honors of Frederick, the Harp, the Telescope, the Mural Circle, the Air Balloon, the Electrical Machine, the Printer’s Workshop, and the Cat. I know, however, with reference to this last animal, that Lalande wrote: “I love cats! I adore cats! I may be pardoned for having placed one in the sky after my sixty years of assiduous labors.” But the illustrious astronomer had no necessity for this plea in order that his name should remain inscribed in letters of gold on the tablets of Urania. The Heart of Charles II is but the flattery of a courtier; the Shield of Sobieski, the Bull of Poniatowski, should fall from the sky; the Messier is but a play on words which makes the celestial flocks guarded by a pastor whose name is the same as that of the prolific hunter of comets, Messier. As for the Honors of Frederick, they usurp an unmerited place, for, in order to make room for them, Andromeda has been obligedto draw in her arm, which she had stretched out there for three thousand years.