Between Pisces to the west and Taurus to the east, Aries is found in the Northern Hemisphere. The ideal time to see Aries is around 9 p.m. local time in December.
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When is the ideal time to see the constellation Aries?
Out of the 12 zodiac constellations, Aries the Ram is the 11th smallest. December is a terrific month to look for it, and if you do, you’ll be one of the lucky few who have found it. Even though Aries has few bright stars, there is still a lot to view. It contains the Northern Fly asterism, as well as the planet Uranus, which is now residing within its boundaries.
How to see Aries the Ram
When the Earth is on the opposite side of the sun from the constellation, it is the greatest time to see it. November and December are particularly wonderful months to see Aries the Ram in all his starlit glory, since this constellation rises above the eastern horizon before dusk and is visible for the rest of the night. At around 10 p.m. local time (the time in all time zones) in late November, 8 p.m. local time in late December, and 6 p.m. local time in late January, Aries reaches its highest point in the sky.
Because Aries isn’t a particularly well-known constellation, a dark country sky with no moonlight is ideal for seeing the Ram at its best. Hamal, Sheratan, and Mesartim, the three stars symbolizing the Ram’s bust, suddenly light in a dark sky, as if someone had turned up the dimmer switch. Mesartim is a double star, by the way, as revealed with a tiny telescope.
Fortunately, the Ram’s head is relatively easy to find. It’s located halfway between these two landmarks: the Pleiades star cluster to the east and Pegasus’ Great Square to the west. The Ram’s head is inclined backwards, as if admiring the Pleiades or possibly his own golden fleece.
Or use Cassiopeia to find Aries
You can also reach Aries by tracing an imaginary line from Polaris, the North Star, and passing through a certain star in Cassiopeia: Segin (Epsilon Cassiopeiae). As seen on the sky chart below, you’re looking for the star at the east end of the famous starlit W or M. It’s a long journey, more than twice the distance between Polaris and Seguin. Jump until you’re between the Pleiades star cluster and Pegasus’ Great Square.
What is the First Point of Aries?
On the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere or the fall equinox in the Southern Hemisphere, the First Point of Aries denotes the sun’s position in front of the zodiac constellations. This equinox occurs on or around March 20 each year, when the sun crosses the celestial equator from south to north.
The celestial sphere’s coordinate system is defined by the First Point of Aries, which is now in the constellation Pisces. The 0o right ascension and 0o declination are always the same for the First Point of Aries. On Earth, right ascension is the equivalent of longitude. The counterpart of latitude on the sky’s dome is declination.
The ecliptic and celestial equator connect at the First Point of Aries, one of two points on the celestial sphere where they do. The September equinox point on the celestial sphere is marked by the First Point of Libra, which is 180 degrees east of the First Point of Aries.
Why is the First Point of Aries in Pisces?
Polaris does not stay the North Star indefinitely, and the equinox positions do not remain constant relative to the zodiac stars, because the Earth’s rotating axis wobbles complete round relative to the backdrop stars every 26,000 years. The point of the March equinox wanders westward (along the ecliptic) through the zodiac constellations at a rate of one degree (two sun diameters) every 72 years, or 30 degrees every 2,160 years.
As a result, in 68 B.C., the March equinox point moved from the constellation Aries to the constellation Pisces. Despite this, the equinox point is still referred to as the First Point of Aries.
Hamal, brightest star in Aries
The brightest star in Aries is Hamal, also known as Alpha Arietis. This orange giant star has a magnitude of 2 and is 65 light-years away from Earth.
The name Hamal means “head of the ram,” which is an appropriate moniker. Hamal was traditionally used by sailors to aid navigation. The brightest star in the sky is the 50th brightest.
Aries the Ram in star lore
Aries is the magical Ram who was sent by Zeus to save the children of Athamus, King of Thebes, from political intrigue in Greek mythology. Phrixus and his sister Helle were about to die, but the flying Ram, who could communicate and reason, intervened just in time to save them.
The youngsters clung to the Ram as he whisked them away to the safety of Colchis, an ancient kingdom on the Black Sea’s eastern shore. Helle, however, drowned in the sea before they arrived at their goal. The Hellespont, a historic name for the Dardanelles Strait near Istanbul, Turkey, marks the spot where she died and was named for her.
Phrixus made it to Colchis after a lengthy journey. He expressed his gratitude by sacrificing the Ram to Zeus and hanging the fleece in a sacred forest, where it transformed to gold. The Golden Fleece was later recovered by Jason and the Argonauts.
The bottom line: Learn how to recognize the constellation Aries the Ram, as well as information about its history in astronomy and mythology.
What are the locations of the zodiac constellations?
The Sun also travels through Ophiuchus, a constellation that hasn’t always been considered a part of the zodiac. It is a member of the Hercules family.
The northern zodiac constellations Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, and Leo are in the eastern celestial hemisphere, while the southern zodiac constellations Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, and Aquarius are in the western celestial hemisphere.
The word zodiac derives from the Greek (zidiakos), which means “the signs.” “Animals in a circle.” The Latin word zdiacus originates from the Greek word v (zdion), which is a diminutive of the word (zon), which means animal. Aries (the Ram), Taurus (the Bull), Cancer (the Crab), Leo (the Lion), Scorpius (the Scorpion), Capricornus (the Goat), and Pisces (the Fish) are seven constellations found along the ecliptic that depict animals, as they did in Greek and Roman eras (the Fish).
The 12 signs of the western zodiac correspond to the 12 constellations viewed along the ecliptic, and the term zodiac is now largely connected with astrology. The four cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn) are thought to signal the start of each season, with the Sun entering these signs on the first days of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, respectively. This may have been true in antiquity, but the vernal and autumnal equinoxes (known as the First Point of Aries and First Point of Libra) have since migrated to Pisces and Virgo due to the Earth’s axial precession. The equinoxes are the locations where the celestial equator intersects the ecliptic, and the Sun appears directly above the equator twice a year (on March 19-21 and September 21-24).
Virgo is the largest of the 12 zodiac constellations, covering 1294.43 square degrees of the night sky in the southern hemisphere. Virgo is also the second largest of the 88 constellations, coming in just behind Hydra.
Aquarius is the second largest zodiac constellation and the tenth largest constellation in the sky, with an extent of 979.85 square degrees. Aquarius represents Ganymede, the cup bearer to the Olympian gods in Greek mythology, and is also positioned in the southern celestial hemisphere.
The third largest zodiac constellation, Leo, covers 946.96 square degrees in the northern sky. It portrays the fabled Nemean lion, which Heracles defeated as part of his 12 labors.
With 889.417 square degrees, Pisces is fourth, followed by Sagittarius (867.43 square degrees), and Taurus (867.43 square degrees) (797.25 square degrees). Libra (538.05), Gemini (513.76), Cancer (505.87), and Scorpius (496.78) cover similar-sized and smaller-scale areas. Aries covers 441.39 square degrees of the southern sky, while Capricornus, the smallest of the 12 zodiac constellations, covers 413.95 square degrees.
Several of the 12 constellations have some of the brightest stars in the sky in terms of brightness. Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus, is the 14th brightest star in the sky, followed by Spica, the brightest star in Virgo and the 15th brightest star, Antares, the bright red supergiant in Scorpius and the 16th brightest star, Pollux in Gemini, the 17th brightest star, and Regulus in Leo, which is the 21st brightest star in the sky.
Because the 12 constellations correspond to the 12 signs of the zodiac, zodiac constellations are most usually mentioned in the context of western astrology.
The issue of tying astronomical constellations to astrology in order to give the latter a more scientific basis “The “scientific” underpinning is straightforward: the constellations aren’t real. They are clusters of stars that appear to be close together and have been called after various objects, animals, or mythological beings by human observers at some point in history.
Constellations create a two-dimensional map of the sky that is utilized for orientation, making it easier for astronomers to discover and explain objects and navigators to use stars to calculate their position. The cosmos, on the other hand, isn’t flat and doesn’t rotate around our planet, which is why these star clusters are so random. While Carl Gustav Jung acknowledged that astrology had some validity as a personality theory and that it can be approached scientifically, it is not a science in and of itself.
What does the Aries constellation look like?
Until classical times, Aries was not fully regarded as a constellation. The constellation of Aries is associated in Hellenistic astrology with the golden ram of Greek mythology, which rescued Phrixus and Helle on Hermes’ commands and took Phrixus to the country of Colchis. King Athamas and his first wife Nephele had a son and a daughter, Phrixos and Helle. Ino, the king’s second wife, was enraged and plotted to murder his children. To do so, she created a famine in Boeotia and then forged a message from the Oracle of Delphi stating that Phrixos must be sacrificed to end the famine. When Aries, sent by Nephele, came, Athamas was about to sacrifice his son atop Mount Laphystium. Helle drowned in the Dardanelles, often known as the Hellespont, after falling from Aries’ back in flight.
Aries has traditionally been represented as a hunched, wingless ram with its head bent toward Taurus. Although Ptolemy did not include Alpha Arietis in his constellation figure, Ptolemy claimed in his Almagest that Hipparchus portrayed it as the ram’s muzzle. Instead, it was referred to as “the star over the head” and was categorized as a “unformed star.” Ptolemy’s description was followed by John Flamsteed in his Atlas Coelestis, who mapped it above the figure’s head. Flamsteed depicted Aries lying down in accordance with map practice. Aries has long been associated with the head and its humors in astrology. It was closely linked to Mars, both as a planet and as a god. It was thought to govern Western Europe and Syria, as well as to describe a person with a bad temper.
The constellation Aries is named for the site of the spring equinox, the First Point of Aries. This is because more than two millennia ago, the Sun crossed the celestial equator from south to north in Aries. Hipparchus classified it as a place south of Gamma Arietis around 130 BC. The First Point of Aries has shifted into Pisces and will move into Aquarius by roughly 2600 AD due to the precession of the equinoxes. Though the constellation is still linked with the beginning of spring, the Sun now appears in Aries from late April to mid May.
Aries was portrayed in many ways by medieval Muslim astronomers. Astronomers such as al-Sufi interpreted the constellation as a ram, following Ptolemy’s example. Some Islamic celestial globes, on the other hand, showed Aries as a plain four-legged animal with what appear to be antlers rather than horns. A ram was seen elsewhere in the sky by some early Bedouin observers, with the Pleiades serving as the ram’s tail. The commonly recognized Arabic configuration of Aries included thirteen stars in a figure, as well as five “unformed” stars, four of which were over the animal’s hindquarters and one of which was the disputed star above Aries’ head. In contrast to other Arab astronomers and Flamsteed’s depictions, Al-Aries Sufi’s was sprinting and looking behind itself.
The Aries constellations (Apes/Vespa/Lilium/Musca (Borealis)) were all centered on the same northern stars in the past. Petrus Plancius introduced Apes, a constellation depicting a bee, in 1612. Jakob Bartsch, who represented a wasp in 1624, utilized the same stars as Vespa. Augustin Royer utilized these stars in his Lilium constellation, which represents the fleur-de-lis, in 1679. None of these constellations has gained widespread acceptance. In his Firmamentum Sobiescianum, Johann Hevelius dubbed the constellation “Musca” in 1690. It was then dubbed Musca Borealis to distinguish it from Musca, the southern fly, but it did not achieve favor, and its stars were eventually reabsorbed into Aries. 33, 35, 39, and 41 Arietis were the asterisms in question.
The International Astronomical Union recommended the three-letter abbreviation “Ari” in 1922. Eugne Delporte defined the formal limits of Aries as a 12-segment polygon in 1930. In the equatorial coordinate system, its right ascension is between 1h 46.4m and 3h 29.4m, and its declination is between 10.36 and 31.22.
What planet is Aries in proximity to?
As the first sign of the zodiac, Aries, you are the family’s oldest kid. While the rest of the world catches up, you set the pace. Your sheer will and drive will bring you where you need to go, and quickly. To put it another way, you’re a warrior. It’s no surprise that Mars, the planet of action and, according to ancient Roman mythology, the God of War, rules Aries. Mars is all about energy, passion, and self-starting, giving Aries an irrefutable sense of self-assurance. You’re confident not only in your ability to complete the task, but also in the fact that no one else is better suited for it. Mars is the one who is speaking.
We all feel Mars’ impact throughout the Aries season. While your Aries pals are blowing out their birthday candles, the other signs are likely to feel more confident and challenged to take action, making this a great time of year to start a project or turn over a new leaf. Speak up at work or confront a friend with whom you’ve been experiencing issues. Find your inner warrior and let it loose – I’m sure you’ll be the first to cross the finish line.
What animal is the sign of Aries?
The Ram is the sign of Aries. Your constellation, Aries, has a variety of cultural implications, but it was historically identified with a ram by the Greeks and Egyptians. The ram is also a symbol of action, determination, and initiative, which corresponds to the archetype of your sign.
What is the legend surrounding the constellation Aries?
As we approach the end of March, we enter the time of year associated with the Zodiac sign Aries (March 21st – April 19th). But what does Aries stand for, and what is its significance in history?
The Ram is Aries’ symbol, and it represents initiation, daring, boldness, spontaneity, and inspiration. The animal represents a battering ram (‘Aries’ is the Latin word for ‘ram’), which uses tenacity and strength to tear through an opponent’s defenses.
Aries also denotes the start of the astrological year as well as the season shift that ushers in Spring. As we travel into Aries – a sign of immense vitality and promise for the exciting year ahead – sunlight hours increase and days get warmer, symbolising development and rejuvenation.
Ptolemy, a Greek astronomer, was the first to catalog this constellation in the second century. Aries’ tale is based on a golden ram from Greek mythology. According to legend, Aries, who was represented by a golden ram, rescued Phrixus and carried him to Colchis, where he sacrificed the ram to please the Gods. In the face of death, Phrixus was rescued by a golden ram with wings, who flew him to safety.
Aries people, like their fellow fire signs, are highly determined, passionate, and self-assured. They make excellent leaders, with the drive and ability to establish and preserve communities. Impatience, a fast loss of temper, and aggressiveness are common flaws in Aries, as they are in every fire sign.
Do you have a special someone who was born under the sign of Aries? Is there a significant date under the sign of Aries that you wish to commemorate in a distinctive way? Register a star in the constellation of Aries now for a present that will be remembered for a long time.
In the north sky, which constellation has the brightest star?
Arcturus is a red massive star only 37 light-years from Earth. It’s the fourth brightest star in the sky, as well as the brightest in the northern hemisphere. Look for it by arcing to Arcturus from the Big Dipper’s handle on spring evenings in the Northern Hemisphere, and discover more about this bright orange-colored star here.
Arcturus is the alpha star of Botes the Herdsman, a cone-shaped constellation. It’s far enough north on the sky’s dome that it’s visible during some part of the night for most of the year for Northern Hemisphere watchers. This beautiful orange star can be identified using a simple mnemonic. Keep the words “follow the arc to Arcturus” in mind.
Find the Big Dipper in the northern sky first. The handle of the Big Dipper is a curve or arc, as you can see. If you follow this curve all the way to the end of the Big Dipper’s handle, you’ll find Arcturus.
A lonely bright star
On late spring evenings, you might notice a bright orange Arcturus passing high overhead. Arcturus rises high in the sky just after sunset in the summer. Autumn viewers should gaze early in the morning because the sun sets around mid-afternoon. In the winter, the best time to see it is in the early hours of the morning.
Arcturus, unlike other bright stars in the night sky, has no luminous neighbors. In the spring, Arcturus rules the skies, and until the Summer Triangle sweeps over the eastern sky, Arcturus reigns supreme.
As you face east on spring evenings, our chart below shows the constellation Botes. It may be tough to spot a Herdsman among these stars, but the constellation is easily recognizable as a kite.
Arcturus is the brightest star north of the celestial equator
What exactly does that imply? Consider projecting the equator of the Earth into the sky. The heavenly equator is a line that runs above Earth’s equator. It separates the sky into northern and southern hemispheres in the same way that the equator divides the Earth’s hemispheres. Sirius, Canopus, and Alpha Centauri, the three brightest stars in the sky, are all south of the celestial equator.
Arcturus, meantime, is the brightest star in the northern sky. It is only slightly brighter than Vega, the second-brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere. Because of its fame, some people assume that Polaris, the North Star, is the brightest star in the sky. However, it is rather dim, only around the 50th brightest.
Visible during daytime
In 1635, less than three decades after the development of the telescope, French astronomer Jean-Baptiste Morin used his telescope to study Arcturus during the day. Aside from the sun and a rare supernova, this was the first time any star has been viewed telescopically during daylight hours. You can take it a step further and watch Arcturus throughout the day with your naked eye. This is how you can do it, according to a 1911 account.
History and mythology of Arcturus
Botes the Herdsman, an Arcturus constellation, is commonly depicted guarding the Great Bear, or Ursa Major, which contains the Big Dipper asterism. Arcturus is sometimes referred to as the Bear Guard.
Arcturus is sometimes referred to as the Dragon in China. Botes was Icarus in some Greek myths, and in another myth, he soared dangerously near to the sun. Arcturus was a particularly essential navigational star to the Hawaiian Islands’ indigenous people and other Polynesians since it passed directly overhead.
Although the translation is debatable, Arcturus is one of the few stars named in the Bible. (“Who made Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the southern chambers” Job 9:9, KJV, and “Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?” or are you capable of guiding Arcturus and his sons?” – KJV, Job 38:32.)
Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago
The 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago is a fascinating story about Arcturus. The performance’s promoters wanted a flashy way to start the show, so they had the light from Arcturus start it. Four telescopes in various observatories captured the light from Arcturus around 9:15 p.m. on May 27, 1933, and concentrated it into photoelectric cells. The photocells, in turn, served as the switch that switched on the exhibition’s primary spotlights. It’s a good thing the weather wasn’t overcast!
A World’s Fair was held in Chicago in 1893, 40 years before the 1933 event. Astronomers assumed Arcturus was 40 light-years away at the time. If that’s the case, the light must have departed Arcturus at the end of the 1893 fair and traveled across space for 40 years like an Olympic torch bearer to begin the 1933 event.
The organizers of Chicago’s World’s Fair had a brilliant idea, but today’s astronomers estimate Arcturus’ distance to be just under 37 light-years. Perhaps it should have been used for the groundbreaking!