- Corona Borealis (Wikipedia)
Corona Borealis is a small constellation in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere. It is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations. Its brightest stars form a semicircular arc. Its Latin name, inspired by its shape, means “northern crown”. In classical mythology Corona Borealis generally represented the crown given by the god Dionysus to the Cretan princess Ariadne and set by her in the heavens. Other cultures likened the pattern to a circle of elders, an eagle’s nest, a bear’s den, or even a smokehole. Ptolemy also listed a southern counterpart, Corona Australis, with a similar pattern.
- Ankaa (stars.astro.illinois.edu)
Well into the southern hemisphere lies the modern constellation Phoenix, the mythical Phoenix or Firebird, named by southern hemisphere explorers and first noted in Bayer’s Uranometria. The name of the bright second magnitude (2.39) luminary derives from a late application of the Arabic for the marvelous bird.
- Alpha Phoenicis (Wikipedia)
Alpha Phoenicis (α Phoenicis, abbreviated Alpha Phe or α Phe), formally named Ankaa /ˈæŋkə/, with the same pronunciation) is the brightest star in the constellation of Phoenix.
