Aries (constellation)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| List of stars in Aries | |
| Abbreviation: | Ari |
| Genitive: | Arietis |
| Symbolism: | the Ram |
| Right ascension: | 3 h |
| Declination: | +20° |
| Area: | 441 sq. deg. (39th) |
| Main stars: | 3, 10 |
| Bayer/Flamsteed stars: |
67 |
| Stars with known planets: |
4 |
| Bright stars: | 2 |
| Nearby stars: | 2 |
| Brightest star: | α Ari (Hamal) (2.0m) |
| Nearest star: | Teegarden's Star (12.6? ly) |
| Messier objects: | 0 |
| Meteor showers: | May Arietids Autumn Arietids |
| Bordering constellations: |
Perseus |
| Visible at latitudes between +90° and −60° Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of December |
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Aries (pronounced /ˈɛəriːz/, or formally /ˈɛərɪ.iːz/; genitive Arietis /əˈraɪ.ɨtɨs/) is one of constellations of the zodiac, located between Pisces to the west and Taurus to the east. Its name is Latin for ram, and its symbol is 
(Unicode ♈), representing a ram's horns.
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[edit] Notable features
[edit] Stars
- See also: List of stars in Aries
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None of the stars of Aries is particularly bright, so a little patience and persistence is required to learn to locate it. Look to the east in the evening and find the dim clustered stars of the Pleiades and, below them, the companion cluster in a "V" shape, the Hyades. The bright reddish star at the end of the "V" is Aldebaran, brightest star in Taurus, the Bull. Let Aldebaran be the beginning of an arc and extend it on through the Pleiades (it is about one clenched fist at arm's length between Aldebaron and the Pleiades). Keep on going about 25 degrees (two clenched fists at arms length) where the two brightest stars of Aries, close together (two finger-widths at arms length apart), will form the West End of the arc. Notice the dimmer star located just beyond the second star of the pair in Aries; let this dim star form the very tip of the arc we have described. Now, back along the arc, about midway between the Pleiades and the brightest star of Aries, there is still another very dim star belonging to Aries. The four stars you have found, two of them considerably brighter than the others, are all there is to see of Aries without optical aid.
It is not the brightness of the stars of Aries that makes them worth knowing. They provide one of the twelve constellation sky-marks to help you know the zodiac, and it is the zodiac, after all that is essential if you are to know the apparent journeys of the Sun in our sky caused by the fact that we orbit the Sun. From mid-April until mid-May the Sun is drifting under the stars of Aries that we have just described. Thus, they are not visible during spring. We begin to pick them up in the early morning in summer and they rise in the evening during autumn. In late November they are high in the southeast at 8:00 p.m. and nearly overhead by 10:00 p.m. If you have trouble finding them, visit your local planetarium or contact your local astronomy club for a program about the current sky and ask the staff or club member to identify Aries. You could also ask one of these organizations for a chart of the sky to assist in finding Aries.
[edit] Deep sky objects
The few deep sky objects in Aries are very dim. They include the galaxies NGC 697 (northwest of β Ari), NGC 772 (southeast of β Ari), NGC 972 (in the constellation's northern corner), and NGC 1156 (northwest of δ Ari).
[edit] Visualizations
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This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (November 2008) |
The stars of the constellation Aries can be connected in an alternative way, which graphically shows the ram running (or jumping).
The ram's head consists of the stars α Ari, λ Ari, and β Ari: α Ari being of the second magnitude and beta Arietis of the third magnitude.
The ram's body consists of the stars α Ari, η Ari, ε Ari, 41 Ari, and 35 Ari: ε Ari and 41 Ari being of the fourth magnitude.
The ram's tail consists of the stars 35 Ari, 41 Ari, and 39 Ari.
The star γ Ari, of fourth magnitude, represents the ram's front foot, and the star δ Ari, also of fourth magnitude, represents the ram's hind foot.
[edit] Mythology
Aries was the final station along the ecliptic in the list of constellations given in the MUL.APIN. It was known as MULLU.ḪUN.GA "The Agrarian Worker". It is unclear how the "Agrarian Worker" became "The Ram" of Greek tradition, possibly via association with Dumuzi the Shepherd. Aries only rose to its prominent position in the Neo-Babylonian revision of the Babylonian zodiac as the first point of Aries came to represent vernal equinox, replacing the Pleiades which had had this function during the Bronze Age.[1]
In Greek mythology, the constellation of Aries represents the golden ram that rescued Phrixos, taking him to the land of Colchis. Phrixos sacrificed the ram to the gods and hung its skin in a temple, where it was known as the Golden Fleece.[2]
[edit] Astrology
As of 2009[update], the Sun appears in the constellation Aries from April 19 to May 13. In tropical astrology, the Sun is considered to be in the sign Aries from March 21 to April 20, and in sidereal astrology, from April 15 to May 15.
[edit] References
- ^ John H. Rogers, "Origins of the ancient contellations: I. The Mesopotamian traditions", Journal of the British Astronomical Association 108 (1998) 9–28
- ^ "Astronomica", chapter 20, Hyginus, translation by Mary Grant
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This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (February 2008) |
- H. A. Rey, The Stars—A New Way To See Them. Enlarged World-Wide Edition. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1997. ISBN 0-395-24830-2.
- Ian Ridpath and Wil Tirion (2007). Stars and Planets Guide, Collins, London. ISBN 978-0007251209. Princeton University Press, Princeton. ISBN 978-0691135564.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aries |
- The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Aries
- NightSkyInfo.com: Constellation Aries
- Star Tales – Aries
| Astronomy | Constellations and Signs of the Zodiac | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer | Leo | Virgo | Libra | Scorpius | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | Capricornus | Aquarius | Pisces |
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