α2 Capricorni is the northern of two stars of the 4th magnitude (α and β Capricorni). It really consists of two stars visible to the naked eye. The second of these two stars (α1) is not mentioned by Al-Sufi, but I find that, owing to proper motion, they were nearer together in his time (tenth century), and were evidently seen by him as one star. β Capricorni (about 3rd magnitude) is a very wide double star (3½, 6; 205″), which may be seen with any small telescope. The fainter star was found to be a close double by Burnham. At present β is brighter than α, although rated of the same brightness by Al-Sufi.
Aquarius is the next “sign of the Zodiac.” It is supposed to represent a man pouring water out of an urn or bucket. Other names given to this constellation were Aristæus, Ganymede, Cecrops, Amphora, Urna, and Aqua tyrannus. According to Dupuis it represents the 7th “labour of Hercules,” which was his victory over the famous bull which ravaged Crete.[425] But the connection between a bull and a bucket is not obvious. Aquarius is represented in several places on the Egyptian monuments. Some of the ancient poets supposed that it represented Deucalion (the Noah of the Greek story of the Deluge); others thought that it represented Cecrops, who came to Greece from Egypt, built Athens, and was also called Bifornis. Others say that he was Ganymede, the cup-bearer of the gods.
There is some difficulty about the identification of some of Al-Sufi’s stars in Aquarius. His sixth star (Fl. 7) is nearly 10° south-west of β Aquarii, and is, Al-Sufi says, “the following of three stars in the left hand, and precedes the fourth [β] ... it is of the 6th magnitude. Ptolemy calls it third, but in reality it is very faint” [now about 6th magnitude]. The seventh [μ] is the middle one of the three and about 4½ magnitude, although Al-Sufi calls it “small fifth” [Ptolemy rated it 4]. The eighth star, ε, is the preceding of the three and about 3·8, agreeing closely with Al-Sufi’s 4·3. Ptolemy rated it 3. This star is mentioned under the name nou in the time of Tcheou-Kong in the twelfth century B.C. Al-Sufi says, “These three stars are followed by a star of the 5th magnitude which Ptolemy has not mentioned. It is brighter than the sixth star” [Fl. 7]. This is evidently ν Aquarii. If, however, we plot Ptolemy’s positions as given by Al-Sufi, it seems probable that Ptolemy’s sixth star was really ν, and that either μ or Fl. 7 was not seen by him. As Ptolemy called his seventh star 4th magnitude, and his sixth and eighth stars 3rd magnitude, some considerable change of brightness seems to have taken place in these stars; as ν is now only 4½ and Fl. 7 only a bright sixth. Variation was suspected in Fl. 7[426] by Gould. I found it very reddish with binocular in October, 1892. Burnham found it to be a close double star, the companion being about 12th magnitude at a distance of only 2″. It is probably a binary.
According to Al-Sufi, the Arabians called the second and third stars of the figure (α and ο Aquarii) sad al-malik (malk or mulk), “the Good Fortune of the king.” They called the fourth and fifth stars (β and ξ Aquarii) with the twenty-eighth star of Capricornus (c) sad al-sund, “the Good Fortune of the Happy Events.” “This is the 24th mansion of the moon.” These stars rose at the time of year when the cold ends, and they set at the time the heat ends. Hence, Al-Sufi says, “when they rise the rains begin, and when they set the unhealthy winds cease, fertility abounds, and the dew falls.” Hence probably the Arabic names. This, of course, applies to the climate of Persia and Arabia, and not to the British Isles. Al-Sufi says, “They call the 6th, 7th, and 8th stars sad bula, ‘The Good Fortune which swallows up!’ This is the 23rd mansion of the moon. They say that it is so called because that at the time of the Deluge it rose at the moment when God said, ‘O earth! absorb the waters’ (Koran, chap, xi., v. 46). They called the stars γ, π, ζ and η Aquarii sad al-achbija, ‘the the Good Fortune of the tents’; this is the 25th mansion of the moon, and they give them this name because of these four stars, three form a triangle, the fourth [ζ] being in the middle.” The three were considered to form a tent.
The Arabians called the bright star Fomalhaut “in the mouth of the southern fish al-dhifda al-auval, ‘the first Frog,’ as the bright one on the southern point of the tail of Kîtus [Cetus] is called al-dhifda al-tsani [β Ceti], ‘the second Frog.’” Fomalhaut was also called al-zhalim, “the male ostrich.”
Al-Sufi says, “Some of the Arabians state that a ship is situated to the south of Aquarius.” The stars in the Southern Fish (Piscis Australis) seem to be here referred to.
The constellation Pisces, the Fishes, is the last of the “signs of the Zodiac.” The Fishes appear on an ancient Greek obelisk described by Pococke. Among the Greeks this sign was consecrated to Venus; and in Egypt to Nepthys, wife of Typhon and goddess of the sea. Pisces is said to end the Zodiac as the Mediterranean Sea terminated Egypt. This idea was suggested by Schmidt, who also conjectured that the Ram (Aries) was placed at the beginning of the Zodiac because Thebes, a town sacred to Jupiter Ammon, was at the beginning of Egypt in ancient times; and he thought that the constellation Triangulum, the Triangle, represented the Nile Delta, Eridanus being the Nile.[427] The constellation was represented in ancient times by two fishes connected by a cord tied to their tails. The southern of these “fishes” lies south of the “Square of Pegasus,” and the northern between Andromeda and Aries. According to Manilius, the origin of these fishes is as follows: Venus, seeing Typhon on the banks of the river Euphrates, cast herself with her son into the river and they were transformed into fishes!
Some of the Arabians substituted a swallow for the northern of the two fishes—the one below Andromeda. The swallow was a symbol of Spring. According to Dupuis, Pisces represents the 8th “labour of Hercules,” his triumph over the mares of Diomed which emitted fire from their nostrils.[428] But the connection between fishes and mares is not obvious, and some of Dupuis’ ideas seem very fanciful. Here he seems to have found a “mare’s nest.”
The constellation Cetus, the Whale, represents, according to ancient writers, the sea monster sent by Neptune to devour Andromeda when she was chained to the rock. Aratus calls Cetus the “dusky monster,” and Brown remarks that “the ‘Dusky Star’ would be peculiarly appropriate to Mira (the wondrous ο Ceti).”[429] Cetus was also called Canis Tritonis, or Dog of the Sea, Bayer in his Atlas (1603) shows a dragon instead of a whale, finding it so represented on some ancient spheres. Al-Sufi calls it Kîtus or κητος, the whale. He says, “it is represented by the figure of a marine animal, of which the fore part is turned towards the east, to the south of the Ram, and the hinder part towards the west behind the three ‘extern’ stars of Aquarius.”
Al-Sufi does not mention the variable star ο Ceti, now called Mira, or the “wonderful,” nor does he refer to any star in its immediate vicinity. We may, therefore, conclude that it was near a minimum of light at the time of his observation of the stars of Cetus.