Argo

animated GIF of the transformation of the constellation Argo over the course of the centuries from ancient Greek to modern depictions (map: Stellarium)

Argo Navis (short: Argo) is one of the constellations of the Almagest star catalogue (137 CE) that became standardized by common usage of several cultures in the subsequent centuries. In the Early Modern Era, the constellation was changed and finally included in the set of constellations, globally defined by the IAU over the course of the 1920s.

History of Argo

There is no Babylonian predecessor at the place of this Greek constellation. In the place of the Greek Argo, the Babylonian uranology recognizes the constellations of the Harrow and the Asterism of Eridu.

Yet, the Babylonian uranology does contain a constellation of a ship or rather a boat but this is at the opposite site of the sky, frequently identified with the stars in the modern constellations Sgr, CrA and Cap (or only CrA). Some scholars think that The Ship (now called Argo) in the Greek culture is halved and sails backwards through the sky because of hypothetical roots in the Epic of Gilgamesh. However, this scholarly suggestions lacks evidence.

Aratus, Phainomena

verse no.	Greek	English
342:	Ἡ δὲ Κυνὸς μεγάλοιο κατ' οὐρὴν ἕλκεται Ἀργὼ πρυμνόθεν·	Beside the tail of the Great Dog the ship Argo is hauled stern-foremost.
348:	ὣς ἥ γε πρύμνηθεν Ἰησονὶς ἕλκεται Ἀργώ.	Even so is the Argo of Jason borne along stern-foremost.

Other names

Ratis (Manilius I, 623 and 694; Germanicus 622 and 683), Cymba (Avienus 757), Carina (Germanicus 374; Avienus 808), Puppis (Cic. Arat. 34; 389)

Ptolemy's Almagest

Map of Argo in Stellarium with the Little Shield marked and the star "Azmidi" highlighted.

Argo, The Ship is one of the southern constellations.

Caption text

No.	Greek (Heiberg 1898)	English translation (Toomer 1984)	ident.
1		The more advanced of the 2 stars in the stern-ornament	11 (e) Pup
2		The rearmost of them	rho Pup
3		The northernmost of the 2 stars close together over the little shield in the poop	xi Pup
4		The southernmost of them	o Pup
5		The star in advance of these	m Pup HR 2944
6		The bright star in the middle of the little shield	HR 2948 +29
7		The most advanced of the 3 stars under the little shield	p Pup HR 2922
8		The rearmost of them	3 Pup
9		The middle one of the three	1 Pup
10		The star on the goose[-neck]	HR 3113
11		The northernmost of the 2 stars in the stern-keel	?
12		The southernmost of them	pi Pup
13		Stars in the poop-deck: 1. the northernmost	f Pup HR 2937
14		2. the most advanced of the next 3	HR 2961 + 64
15		3. the middle one	c Pup HR 3017
16		4. the rearmost of the three	b Pup HR 3084
17		5. the bright star on the deck to the rear of these	zet Pup
18		6. the more advanced of the 2 faint stars under the bright one	a Pup HR 3080
19		7. the rearmost of them	HR 3162
20		8. the more advanced of the 2 stars over the above-mentioned bright one	h1 Pup HR 3225
21		9. the rearmost of them	h2 Pup HR 3243
22		The northernmost of the 3 stars on the little shields, about on the mast holder	HR 3439
23		The middle one	d Vel HR 3477
24		The southernmost of the three	e Vel HR 3426
25		The northernmost of the 2 stars close together under these	*a Vel HR 3487
26		The southernmost of them	*b Vel HR 3445
27		The southernmost of the 2 stars in the middle of the mast	bet Pyx
28		The northernmost of them	alf Pyx
29		The more advanced of the 2 stars by the tip of the mast	gam Pyx
30		The rearmost of them	del Pyx
31		The star below the 3rd and rearmost little shield	lam Vel
32		The star on the cut-off of the deck	psi Vel
33		The star between the steering-oars, in the keel	sig Pup
34		The faint star to the rear of this	HR 3055
35		The bright star to the rear of this, under the deck	gam Vel
36		The bright star to the south of this, on the lower [part of the] keel	chi Car
37		The most advanced of the 3 stars to the rear of this	omi Vel
38		The middle one	del Vel
39		The rearmost of the three	HR 3498
40		The more advanced of the 2 stars to the rear of these, near the cut-off	kap Vel
41		The rearmost of them	N Vel HR 3803
42		The more advanced of the 2 stars in the northern, advance steering-oar	eta Col
43		The rearmost of them	nu Pup
44		The more advanced of the 2 stars in the other steering-oar, called Canopus	alf Car
45		The other, rearmost star	tau Pup

Transformation Images

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  Argo stickfigure according to the Almagest (published in Stellarium 2021)

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  Argo stickfigure according to the Almagest and drawing from the contemporary Farnese marble Globe (both published in Stellarium 2021).

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  Argo as drawn on the Farnese Globe (Stellarium 2021).

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  Argo in the Leiden Aratea (published in Stellarium 2022)

• 

  Argo early modern stick figure (here first published)

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  Argo drawn in Bayer (1603)

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  Argo drawn by Doppelmayr (1742)

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  Argo drawn by Bode (1782)

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  Argo in Fortin's Atlas Céleste, 3rd edition (1795).

Splitting Argo up into three constellations

In 1755, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille divided Argo into the three modern constellations that occupy much of the same area: Carina (the keel), Puppis (the poop deck or stern), and Vela (the sails).

In his 1768 Coelum Australe Stelliferum, Lacaille divided the more than 160 stars in the constellation into the regions Argûs in carina (Carina, the keel), Argûs in puppi (Puppis, the stern), and Argûs in velis (Vela, the sails).

References

• References (general)
• References (early modern)
• Ian Ridpath's website (Argo, Argo_2)