Four tiny constellations to west are faint and not too famous
San Diego Union-Tribune
Nov 24 2004
UNION-TRIBUNE
As the year draws to a close, the three bright stars of the famous
Summer Triangle appear high above the western horizon shortly after
dark.
Near and among the stars of this large celestial grouping lie four
small constellations. But don’t think you’ll be able to recognize
these from just their names alone. These are some of the tiniest and
faintest constellations in the heavens.
The easternmost of the four is Equuleus, the Little Horse. It’s an
ancient group whose origins are shrouded in history.
It was mentioned by the first century astronomer Claudius Ptolemy in
his great book “Almagest” but, because Ptolemy borrowed much of his
material from others, it might have actually been created by the
Greek astronomer Hipparchus three centuries earlier. The
second-tiniest constellation in the sky – and one of the faintest –
Equuleus is difficult to see even under the darkest conditions.
Just to its west lies Delphinus, an ancient constellation that
represents the dolphin, and that probably originated in ancient
Greece. When Poseidon, god of the sea, wanted to marry Amphitrite,
she became so disgusted at the thought of living under the sea that
she fled to the distant Atlas Mountains. Poseidon sent several
messengers after her in hopes that she might return to him; only the
dolphin Delphinus succeeded, and was rewarded by Poseidon with a
place in the heavens.
Sagitta, the Arrow, is the third-smallest constellation in the sky
and, interestingly, is one of the few star patterns that actually
looks like its namesake. Sagitta is an ancient constellation, and
many cultures have seen an arrow outlined by its five faint stars.
It has been identified as a stray arrow shot by Sagittarius, the
archer, as one shot by Apollo to kill the Cyclops, or even as one of
Cupid’s arrows. Its name comes from ancient Hebrew, Armenian and
Arabic, and all mean “arrow.”
Finally we find Vulpecula, the Fox, one of seven faint and relatively
obscure Northern Hemisphere constellations created and introduced as
“Vulpecula cum Anser” – Fox with Goose – by the Polish astronomer
Johannes Hevelius in his 1690 atlas titled “Firmamentum Sobieski.”
It was in this constellation that, in 1967, astronomer Jocelyn Bell
discovered the first pulsar – a rapidly rotating neutron star whose
regularly pulsating radio signals led some (erroneously) to believe
it was a message from an intelligent extraterrestrial civilization.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress