The constellations of the zodiac
New constellation symbols
Obsolete Constellations and Sub-Constellations
Quadrans Muralis Mural Quadrant |
Serpens Caput Snake’s Head |
Serpens Cauda Snake’s Tail |
Notes for selected constellations:
- Aquila, Cassiopeia, Delphinus, Orion, Sagitta, Triangulum, Triangulum Australe, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor all contain very distinctive star patterns. I’ve taken a few liberties with their shapes, especially with Triangulum Australe, to create symbols that are simple enough to be learnable and different from other astronomical and astrological symbols. (Triangulum Australe also contains the letter A.)
- Carina, Puppis, and Vela are the 3 parts of the obsolete constellation Argo Navis, the ship Argo. Their symbols fit together to make a picture of the Argo.
- Antlia, the Air Pump, was named by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille. Its symbol is based on Lacaille’s original drawing of it in his Planisphere, published in 1756. Fornax,Reticulum, and Sculptor are also based on Lacaille’s depictions.
- Cepheus was a possibly mythical king of the Phoenician kingdom of Aethiopia. His Greek name, Kepheus, means “gardener”. His symbol combines a crown, a tree or flower, and the Phoenician letter for the “k” sound.
- Coma Berenices commemorates Queen Berenice of Egypt sacrificing her hair to Aphrodite. The symbol depicts a severed lock of hair.
- The symbols for Corona Australis and Corona Borealis, the Northern and Southern Crowns, are simply crowns containing the letters A and B respectively.
- Crux is a cross-shaped constellation visible in the southern hemisphere. It points toward the south pole, which is why its symbol has combined a cross and an arrow.
- Draco has a number of interpretations, many based on a dragon or serpent guarding a tree or other object.
- Hercules‘s symbol is based on the story of the “Pillars of Hercules”.
- Horologium‘s right ascension is about 3 hours, so it’s appropriate for its symbol to be showing 3:00.
- Hydra and Hydrus are female and male water-snakes in the north and south of the southern hemisphere, respectively. Their symbols have their heads facing north and south, and also slightly resemble the feminine Venus and masculine Mars symbols.
- Indus, the “Indian”, was intended to represent a native of the Americas. In illustrations it has often been depicted as a man with a handful of arrows, so I’ve used those arrows as its symbol.
- Leo Minor‘s symbol is a simplification of Leo‘s symbol. Likewise, the symbol for Canis Minor is a simplification of Canis Major‘s symbol, with Canes Venatici being a further simplification. Vulpecula is a long-eared variant. Lupus is a larger “dog” with a tail, or maybe just a single ear.
- Lynx is so-named because it is faint and one would need “the eyesight of a lynx” to see it. The symbol is an eye with a feline vertical pupil.
- Mensa, which borders the Large Magellanic Cloud, is named for South Africa’s often-cloud-covered Table Mountain.
- Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish, also contains an A.
- Quadrans Muralis is an obsolete constellation which depicts the astronomical instrument called a Mural Quadrant. It’s included because it gives its name to the Quadrantids meteor shower.
Sightings
See the sightings page for a Chamaeleon tattoo.
Constellations in context
Sky-maps by hemisphere:
Northern Hemisphere |
Southern Hemisphere |
PDF: hemispheres.pdf
Full-sky map: