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- Aquarius (constellation) (Wikipedia)
Aquarius is an equatorial constellation of the zodiac, between Capricornus and Pisces. Its name is Latin for “water-carrier” or “cup-carrier”, and its old astronomical symbol is (♒︎), a representation of water. Aquarius is one of the oldest of the recognized constellations along the zodiac (the Sun’s apparent path). It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It is found in a region often called the Sea due to its profusion of constellations with watery associations such as Cetus the whale, Pisces the fish, and Eridanus the river.
- Aquarius is also associated with the Age of Aquarius, a concept popular in 1960s counterculture and Medieval Alchemy.
- Aquarius is identified as GU.LA “The Great One” in the Babylonian star catalogues and represents the god Ea himself, who is commonly depicted holding an overflowing vase.
- In Ancient Egypt astronomy, Aquarius was associated with the annual flood of the Nile; the banks were said to flood when Aquarius put his jar into the river, beginning spring.
- In Old Babylonian astronomy, Ea was the ruler of the southernmost quarter of the Sun’s path, the “Way of Ea”, corresponding to the period of 45 days on either side of winter solstice.
- In the first century, Ptolemy’s Almagest established the common Western depiction of Aquarius.
- Star Tales - Aquarius (ianridpath.com)
Star maps show Aquarius as a young man pouring water from a jar or amphora, although Ovid, in his Fasti, says the liquid is a mixture of water and nectar, the drink of the gods. The water jar is marked by a Y-shaped asterism of four stars centred on 4th-magnitude Zeta Aquarii, and the stream ends in the mouth of the Southern Fish, Piscis Austrinus. Who is this young man commemorated as Aquarius?
- The planet Neptune was discovered by German astronomer Johann Galle, near Deneb Algedi (δ Capricorni) on 23 September 1846, as Capricornus can be seen best from Europe at 4:00am in September (although, by modern constellation boundaries established in the early 20th century CE, Neptune lay within the confines of Aquarius at the time of its discovery).
passage through the ecliptic
