Aries

Aries star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg)

One of the 88 IAU constellations.

Etymology and History

The Greek constellation ...

Origin of Constellation

Babylonian

Kugel Globe: Aries and Triangulum, 1st century BCE (drawing by SMH 2024)

Greco-Roman

Aratos

[225] There too are the paths of the Ram, the swiftest because it speeds round the longest circle and yet does not lag behind the Bear Cynosura as it runs. The Ram itself is faint and starless, as if observed by moonlight, but you can still identify it from the girdle of Andromeda: for it is set a little way below her. [231] It traverses the great sky centrally, where the tips of the Claws and Orion’s belt revolve. (Kidd 1997)

Almagest Κριός

id	Greek (Heiberg 1898)	English (Toomer 1984)	ident.
	Κριοῦ ἀστερισμός
1	τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ κέρως β ὁ προηγούμενος	The more advanced of the 2 stars on the horn	gam Ari
2	ὁ ἐπόμεσος αὐτῶν	The rearmost of them	bet Ari
3	ὁ τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ ῥύγχους β ὁ βορειότερος	The northernmost of the 2 stars on the muzzle	eta Ari
4	ὁ φοτιώτερος αὐτῶν	The southernmost of them	tet Ari
5	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ τραχήλου	The star on the neck	iot Ari
6	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς ὀσφύος	The star on the rump	nu Ari
	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκφύσεως τῆς οὐρᾶς	The star on the place where the tail joins [ the body]	eps Ari
	τῶν ἐν τῇ οὐρᾷ 7 ὁ προηγούμενος	The most advanced of the 3 stars in the tail	del Ari
	ὁ μέσος τῶν τριῶν.	The middle one of the three	zet Ari
	ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν.	The rearmost of them	tau Ari
	ὁ ἐν τῷ ὀπισθομήρῳ!	The star in the back of the thigh	rho Ari
	ὁ ὑπὸ τὴν ἀγκύληη	The star under the knee-bend	sig Ari
	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὀπισθίου ἀκρόποδος	The star an the hind hoof	mu Ari
	ἀστέρες ιχ, ὧν γ’ μεγέθους β, δ’ δ,ἐς,ςα	13 stars, 2 of the third magnitude, 4 of the fourth, 6 of the fifth., 1 of the sixth
	Οἱ περὶ τὸν Κριὸν ἀμόρφωτοι	Stars araund Aries outside the constellation
	ὁ ὑπὲρ τὴν κεφαλήν, ὃυ Ἴππαρχος ἐπὶ τοῦ ῥύγχους	The star over the head, which Hipparchus [calls] 'the one on the muzzle'	alf Ari
	τῶν ὑπὲρ τὴν ὀσφὺν δ ὁ ἐπόμενος καὶ λαμπρότερος.	The 4 stars over the rump: the rearmost,_ which is brighter [than the others]	41 Ari
	τῶν λοιπῶν γ’ καὶ ἀμαυροτέρων ὁ βόρειος.	The 4 stars over the rump: the northernmost of the other 3, fainter stars	39 Ari
	μέσος τῶν τριῶν	The 4 stars over the rump: the middle one of these three	35 Ari
	ὁ νότιος αὐτῶν.	The 4 stars over the rump: the southernmost of them	33 Ari
	ἀστέρες ἓ, ὥν γ’ μεγέθους ἄ, δ’ ἂ, γ.	5 stars, I of the third magnitude, 1 of the fourth, 3 of the fifth

Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation

• 

  Late Babylonian Aries (Perdok 2016)

• 

  Aries in Leiden Aratea (c. 830)

• 

  Aries in Bayer's Uranometria (1603)

• 

  Aries and French "Lily" Ignace Gaston Pardies (1674)

• 

  Aries in Hevelius (1690) with Fly

• 

  Aries in Flamsteed/ Fortin (1776) with a Fly

• 

  Aries in Hall (1825) with a Fly

References

• References (general)
• References (Babylonian)
• References (ancient Greco-Roman)
• References (medieval)