Part 12

To find the Whale (Cetus), we may notice below the Ram a star of the second magnitude which forms an equilateral triangle with the Ram and the Pleiades; this is α of Cetus, or the Jaw; α, μ, ξ, and γ form a parallelogram which represents the head. The base, α, γ, may be produced to a star of the third magnitude, δ, and to a star of the neck marked ο. This star is one of the most curious in the heavens. It is named the Wonderful, Mira Ceti. It belongs to the class of variable stars. Sometimes it equals in brightness stars of the second magnitude, sometimes it becomes completely invisible. Its variations have been followed since the end of the Sixteenth Century, and it has been found that they are reproduced periodically every 331 days on the average. The study of these singular stars presents us with curious phenomena.

Lastly, the constellation of the Centaur is situated below Spica of the Virgin. The star θ, of the second magnitude, and the star ι, of the third, mark the head and the shoulder. This is the only part of this figure which rises above our horizon. The Centaur contains the nearest star to us (α) of the first magnitude, the distance of which is about twenty-five billions of miles. The feet of the Centaur touch the Southern Cross, formed of four stars of the second magnitude, always hidden below our horizon. It reigns in silence above the icy solitudes of the Southern Pole, where ships proceed only with difficulty. Further on, at the centre of the other hemisphere, is the southern celestial pole, which is not marked by any remarkable star.

It was from this region, Dante relates, that, having visited hell, inclosed in the centre of the earth, he went to the Mountain of Purgatory, and from there to the Heights of Paradise. These beautiful dreams have disappeared in the sunshine of modern astronomy.

We will complete these descriptions by a little astronomical chronology, which is not without interest. From a careful examination of the most ancient historical sources of classical astronomy, the following is the order in which the constellations appear to have been noticed, formed, and named, beginning with the most ancient:

Most Ancient Reference

The Great Bear Job (ch. xxxviii. ver. 32) (Seventeenth Century before our era), Homer (Ninth Century). Orion Job (ch. ix. ver. 9), Homer, Hesiod. The Pleiades (the Hyades) Job (ch. xxxviii. ver. 31), Homer, Hesiod. Sirius and the Great Dog Hesiod mentions it. Homer calls Sirius the Star of Autumn. Aldebaran (Taurus) Homer, Hesiod. Boötes, Arcturus Job (ch. xxxviii. ver. 32), Homer, Hesiod. The Little Bear Thales (Seventh Century), Eudoxus, Aratus. Draco (the Dragon) Eudoxus (Fourth Century), Aratus (Third Century). The Man on his Knees, or Hercules Id. The Branch and Cerberus Id. Corona Borealis Id. Ophiuchus or Serpentarius Id. The Scorpion Id. Virgo and Spica Eudoxus (Fourth Century), Aratus (Third Century) Gemini (the Twins) Id. Procyon Id. Cancer (the Crab) Id. Leo (the Lion) Id. Auriga (the Charioteer) Id. Capella (the Goat, the Kids) Id. Cepheus Id. Cassiopeia Id. Andromeda Id. Pegasus (the Horse) Id. Aries (the Ram) Id. The Triangle Id. Pisces (the Fishes) Id. Perseus Id. Lyra Id. The Bird, or Cygnus (the Swan) Id. Aquila (the Eagle) Id. Aquarius Id. Capricornus Id. Sagittarius Id. Sagitta (the Arrow) Id. Delphinus (the Dolphin) Id. Lepus (the Hare) Id. Argo (the Ship) Id. Canobus (afterward written Canopus) Id. Eridanus Id. Cetus (the Whale) Id. Piscis Australis (the Southern Fish) Id. Corona Australis Id. The Altar Id. The Centaur Id. The Wolf (Lupus) Id. Hydra Id. Crater (the Cup) Id. Corvus (the Crow) Id. Libra (the Balance) Manetho (Third Century B. C.) Geminus (First Century) B. C.). The Hair of Berenice Callimachus, Eratosthenes (Third Century). Feet of the Centaur Hipparchus (First Century B. C.). Propus (η of Gemini) Hipparchus. The Manger and Donkeys Id. The Little Horse (Equuleus) Id. The Head of Medusa Id. Antinous Under the Emperor Adrian (130 A. D.). The Peacock (Pavo) John Bayer, 1603. Toucan Id. Grus (the Crane) Id. Phœnix Id. Doradus Id. The Flying Fish Id. Hydrus Id. Chamæleon Id. The Bee (Musca) Id. The Bird of Paradise (Apus) Id. Triangulum Australis Id. 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 II Halley, 1679. The Southern Cross (already seen by the ancients) Augustine Royer, 1677. The Great and Little Cloud (Magellanic Clouds) Hevelius, 1690. The Fleur de Lys Id. 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 Lynx Id. The Shield of Sobieski Id. The Little Triangle Id. Mount Mænalus Flamsteed, 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 Pen Id. The Painter’s Easel (Pictor) Id. The Compass (Circinus) Id. The Air Pump (Antlia) Id. The Octant (Octans) Id. The Compass and Square Id. The Telescope (Telescopium) Id. The Microscope (Microscopium) Id. The Table Mountain (Mensa) Id. The Reindeer Lemonnier, 1774. The Solitaire (Indian Bird) Id. Le Messier Lalande, 1776. The Bull of Poniatowski Poczobut, 1877. The Honors of Frederick Bode, 1786. The Harp of the Georges Hell, 1789. The Telescope of Herschel Bode, 1787. The Electrical Machine Id, 1790. The Printer’s Workshop Id. The Mural Quadrant Lalande, 1795. The Air Balloon Id., 1798. The Cat Id., 1799.

Such are the constellations, ancient and modern, venerable or recent, into which the celestial sphere has been divided. The ancient names are respectable and 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.

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:

The French trillion is equivalent to the English billion, or a million times a million (1,000,000,000,000).—J. E. G.

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.

More correctly, from 2.3 magnitude to 3.5 magnitude.—J. E. G.

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?

See Astronomical Myths, based on Flammarion’s History of the Heavens. By J. F. Blake. London, 1876.

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.

A constellation wrongly attributed by Arago and others to Hevelius. It is found on the sphere of Eudoxus.

Constellations incorrectly attributed to Tycho Brahe. The first is given by Eratosthenes, the second dates from the Emperor Adrian.

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 obliged to draw in her arm, which she had stretched out there for three thousand years.

THE ARABIAN HEAVENS.—LUDWIG IDELER

The majority of Arabic star-names mentioned by Kazwini owe their origin to the astronomy of the Greeks. For instance, to the latter belong El-dschediain, the two Kids (Hædi); El-ma’lef, the Manger; El-hhimârain, the two Asses; Kalb el-ased, the Lion’s Heart; El-sumbela, the Ears; El-zubênâ, the two Claws. Others indicate the positions of the stars in the Greek constellations as Râs el-tinnîn, Dragon’s Head; Râs el-hhauwâ, Head of the Snake Man; Râs el-dschêthi, Head of the Kneeling (Hercules); Dseneb el-dedschâdsche, the Hen’s Tail (Swan’s); Dseneb el-dschedi, Goat’s Tail (Wild-goat); Dseneb Kaitos, Whale’s Tail; Fom el-hhût, Jaw of the (southern) Fish; Ridschl el-dschebbâr, Giant’s Foot (Orion), etc. Still others, such as Khebd el-ased, Dafîra el-ased, El-dsirâ el-mebsûta, and el-mekbûda, El-nethra, El-dschebha, El-zubra, Sâk el-ased, Adschaz el-ased, refer to the Arabic Lion, which is a caricature of the Greek one.

Now if we separate these and many similar expressions from the astronomical nomenclature of the Arabs, there remains a class of star-names that present sufficient internal evidence to show plainly that they are indigenous to Arabia. It is worth while taking the trouble to collect and compare them. We shall in this way obtain a clearer idea of the sky that was altogether peculiar to this people.

In the first place, a large number of names of animals attracts our notice. In the vicinity of the North Pole, a shepherd (El-râï, Gamma in Cepheus), accompanied by his dog (Khelb el-râï, Zeta in Cepheus), is pasturing a herd of sheep (El-firk and El-agnâm, Alpha, Beta, Eta, and smaller stars in Cepheus), to which group also seem to belong two calves (El-ferkadain, Beta and Gamma in the Little Bear), a she-goat (El-anâk, Zeta in the Great Bear), a he-goat (El-tais in the Dragon), a young he-goat (El-dschedi, Alpha in the Little Bear), four mother-camels, a camel-foal, and a single camel pasturing by itself (El-awaîd, El-raba, and El-râfid, collectively on the head of the Dragon).

Various predatory animals are slinking around this herd, two Jackals (El-dsîbain, Zeta and Eta in the Dragon), which are specially stalking the camel-foal; a male-hyena (El-dsîch, Iota in the Dragon) and many other she-hyenas (El-dibâ, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Mu in Boötes), and other she-hyenas with their young (Aulâd el-dibâ, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, and others in the same figure).

In the neighborhood of the two jackals (two stars in the Dragon) bear the name of their claws (Adhfâr el-dsîb).

Another shepherd (El-râï, Alpha in Ophiuchus) pastures his sheep (El-agnâm, small stars in the region of Hercules’s Club) on a mead (El-rauda), which is defended on the side of the above-mentioned hyenas by two hurdles (Nasak schâmi and Nasak jemêni, rows of stars in Hercules and in the upper part of the Snake), and is open in the direction of the shepherd’s two dogs (Khelb el-râï, Alpha in Hercules and Beta in Ophiuchus).