Each year the Sun moves eastward in a complete circle around the
sky. The path followed by the Sun is called the
ecliptic, and any constellation
containing the ecliptic is called a zodiac constellation. The
constellations of the zodiac are listed below, in order as the Sun
moves eastwardly through them, starting from the constellation
containing the Sun at the vernal equinox (thus it is visible overhead
at night in the fall, six months later).
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Zodiac Constellation
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Mythological Identity
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Appearance and Notes
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Season in
Evening Sky
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Pisces
(Pie-seez)
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Two fish. Venus and her son Cupid escaped
from Typhon by swimming through the sea as two fish.
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Near
Pegasus and
Andromeda.
Red star TX Piscium varies in brightness.
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Fall
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Aries
(Air-eez)
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Ram with Golden Fleece, could fly through the
air.
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A small constellation, with only two
easily-visible stars.
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Winter
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Taurus
(Tore-us)
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Bull. Babylonian constellation. Jupiter turned
himself into a bull to carry off Europa, daughter of the
King of Crete.
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Reddish eye the star Aldebaran, one vertex
of the Winter
Hexagon, in a V-shaped grouping called the Hyades. Look
at Pleiades, a jewel-box of stars, with binoculars.
|
Winter
|
Gemini
(Jem-eh-ni)
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Twin brothers. Protectors of ships and sailors,
who swore oaths by them: "By Jiminy!"
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Look for the two bright stars, Castor and
Pollux, which together form one vertex of the
Winter
Hexagon.
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Winter
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Cancer
(Kan-ser)
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Crab, sent by Juno to kill Hercules, who squashed
it with his foot.
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Faint stars. Look with binoculars for the Beehive
star cluster, faintly visible to the naked eye.
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Spring
|
Leo
(Lee-oh)
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Lion. Prehistoric constellation, often associated
with royalty.
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Look for sickle-shaped or backward-question-mark
asterism. Bright star Regulus.
|
Spring
|
Virgo
(Vir-go)
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Maiden, goddess of farms and harvest, holding a
shock of wheat.
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Second-largest constellation in sky. Bright star
Spica. Cluster of galaxies. Bright quasar.
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Spring
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Libra
(Lee-brah)
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Scales (balance), because the Sun was in Libra
during the autumn equinox when the Romans chopped off the
claws of Scorpius to create this constellation.
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Two faint stars. Includes the traditional claws
of Scorpius. Alpha-Librae is a double-star resolvable by
binoculars.
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Spring
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Scorpius
(Scor-pee-us)
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Scorpion sent by Gaia to kill
Orion when
Orion boasted he would slay all the animals of the Earth;
now Orion and Scorpius circle each other on opposite sides
of the sky.
|
Fish-hook to Polynesians; rises right out of
water in the SE in the summer. Bright star Antares,
the heart of the Scorpion, rivals Mars in its reddish tint.
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Summer
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Ophiuchus
(Oh-fee-uke-us)
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The serpent holder, Oph. ("Gus" for short)
represents Aesclepius the healer. Although not traditionally
considered part of the zodiac, the sun now is actually
within Oph. longer than it is in Scorpius.
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Faint stars. Look for Ophiuchus holding the
Serpent (Serpens) between Arcturus
(Bootes;
locate with Big
Dipper) and Altair
(Aquila; cf.
Summer
Triangle).
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Summer
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Sagittarius
(Saj-eh-tair-ee-us)
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The Archer, a centaur (half man and half horse)
archer named Chiron, shooting an arrow.
|
Look for teapot asterism. In direction of the
center of the Milky Way galaxy, rich with many stars. Try
binoculars.
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Summer
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Capricornus
(Kap-rih-corn-us)
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Sea Goat. Pan only partly succeeded in turning
himself from a goat into a fish.
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Dim stars. Look for large laughing mouth.
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Fall
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Aquarius
(Ah-kwair-ee-us)
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Water Carrier. Babylonian constellation.
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Water jar asterism. Near
Pegasus.
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Fall
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