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 most swift courses of the Ram [Aries], who, pursued through the longest circuit, runs not a whit slower than the Bear Cynosura – himself weak and starless as on a moonlit night, but yet by the belt of Andromeda thou canst trace him out. For a little below her is he set. Midway he treads the mighty heavens, where wheel the tips of the Scorpion’s Claws and the Belt of Orion.

[239] Still father in front of the Ram and still in the vestibule of the South are the Fishes [Pisces].

[709] Her [Andromeda's] right side the Fishes bring, but the left the rising Ram. When the latter rises, the Altar is seen setting in the West,

[712] As to his belt itself disputed might it be whether it rises as the Ram ceases to rise or at the rising of the Bull [Taurus], with whom he rises wholly.

(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)