Chart of the Northern Constellations
Showing the principal Stars of the first five magnitudes visible to the naked eye
Among the innumerable army of stars which sparkle in the infinite night, the gaze is especially arrested by the most brilliant lights and by certain groups which vaguely present a mysterious bond between the worlds of space. These groups have been noticed at all epochs, even among the rudest races of men, and from the earliest ages of humanity they have received names, usually derived from the organic kingdom, which give a fantastic life to the solitude and the silence of the skies. Thus were early distinguished the seven stars of the North, or the Chariot, of which Homer speaks; the Pleiades, or the “Poussinière”; the giant Orion; the Hyades in the head of Taurus; Boötes, near the Chariot or Great Bear. These five groups were already named more than 3,000 years ago, and so were the brightest stars of the sky, Sirius and Arcturus, etc.
The epoch of the formation of the constellations is unknown, but we know that they were established successively. The centaur Chiron, Jason’s tutor, has the reputation of having first divided the sky on the sphere of the Argonauts. But this is mythology; and, besides, Job lived before the epoch at which Chiron is supposed to have flourished, and Job had already spoken of Orion, the Pleiades, and the Hyades 3,000 years ago. Homer also speaks of these constellations in describing the famous shield of Vulcan. “On its surface,” says he, “Vulcan, with a divine intelligence traces a thousand varied pictures. He represents the earth, the heavens, the sea, the indefatigable sun, the moon at its full, and all the stars which wreath the sky: the Pleiades, the Hyades, the brilliant Orion, the Bear, which they also call the Chariot, and which revolves round the pole; this is the only constellation which does not dip into the ocean waves” (Iliad, chapter xviii.).
Several theologians have affirmed that it was Adam himself, in the terrestrial paradise, who gave their names to the stars; the historian Josephus assures us that it was not Adam, but his son Seth, and that in any case astronomy was cultivated long before the Deluge. This nobility is sufficient for us.
Attentive observation of the sky also noticed from the beginning the beautiful stars Vega of the Lyre, Capella of Auriga, Procyon of the Little Dog, Antares of the Scorpion, Altair of the Eagle, Spica of the Virgin, the Twins, the Chair of Cassiopeia, the Cross of the White Swan, stretched in the midst of the Milky Way. Although noticed at the epoch of Hesiod and Homer, these constellations and stars were probably not yet named, because doubtless men had not yet felt the necessity of registering them for any application to the calendar, to navigation, or to voyages.[7]
At the epoch when the maritime power of the Phœnicians was at its apogee, about 3,000 years ago, or twelve centuries before our era, it was the star β of the Little Bear which was the nearest bright star to the pole, and the skilful navigators of Tyre and Sidon (O purpled kings of former times! what remains of your pride?) had recognized the seven stars of the Little Bear, which they named the Tail of the Dog, Cynosura; they guided themselves by the pivot of the diurnal motion, and during several centuries they surpassed in precision all the mariners of the Mediterranean. The Dog has given place to a Bear, doubtless on account of the resemblance of the configuration of these seven stars to the seven of the Great Bear, but the tail remains long and curled up, in spite of the nature of the new animal.
Thus the stars of the North at first served as points of reference for the first men who dared to venture on the seas. But they served at the same time as guides on the mainland for the nomadic tribes who carried their tents from country to country. In the midst of savage nature, the first warriors themselves had nothing but the Little Bear to guide their steps.
Imperceptibly, successively, the constellations were formed. Some groups resemble the names which they still bear, and suggested their denomination to the men of ancient times, who lived in the midst of nature and sought everywhere for relations with their daily observations. The Chariot; the Chair; the Three Kings, also named the Rake; Jacob’s Staff and the Belt of Orion; the Pleiades, or the Hen and Chickens; the Arrow (Sagitta); the Crown; the Triangle; the Twins; the Dragon; the Serpent; and even the Bull, the Swan, the Giant Orion, the Dolphin, the Fishes, the Lion, Water and Aquarius (the Water-bearer), etc., have given rise to the analogy. These resemblances are sometimes vague and far-fetched, like those we find in the clouds; but it appears much more natural to admit this origin than to suppose, with the classic authors, that these names were suggested by the concordance between the seasons or the labors of the fields and the presence of the stars above the horizon. That the name of the Balance (Libra) was given to the constellation of the equinox because then the days are equal, seems to us more than questionable; that Cancer (the Crab) signifies that the sun goes back to the solstice, and that the Lion has for its object to symbolize the heat of summer, and Aquarius the rain and inundations, appears to us no less imaginary. However, they have also had other origins. Thus, the Great Dog Sirius certainly announced the rising of the Nile and the dog-days (which remain in our calendar as a fine type of anachronism). Poetry, gratitude, the deification of heroes, mythology, afterward transferred to the sky the names of personages and sovereigns—Hercules, Perseus, Andromeda, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Pegasus; later, in the Roman epoch, they added the Hair of Berenice and Antinous; later still, in modern times, they added the Southern Cross, the Indian, the Sculptor’s Workshop (Cœlum), the Lynx, the Giraffe (Camelopardus), the Greyhounds (Canes Venatici), the Shield of Sobieski, and the little Fox (Vulpecula). They even placed in the sky a Mountain, an Oak, a Peacock, a Swordfish, a Goose, a Cat, a Crane, a Lizard, and a Fly, for which there was no necessity.
This is not the place to describe and draw in detail all these constellations, with their more or less strange figures. The important point for us here is to form a general idea.