- Star Tales - Boötes (ianridpath.com)
This constellation (pronounced Boh-oh-tease) is closely linked in legend with the Great Bear, Ursa Major, because of its position behind the bear’s tail. The origin of the name Boötes (Greek: Βοώτης) is not certain, but it probably comes from a Greek word meaning ‘noisy’ or ‘clamorous’, referring to the herdsman’s shouts to his animals. An alternative explanation is that the name comes from the ancient Greek meaning ‘ox-driver’, from the fact that Ursa Major was sometimes visualized as a cart pulled by oxen.
- Star Tales - Coma Berenices (ianridpath.com)
Between Boötes and Leo lies a fan-shaped swarm of faint stars that was known to the Greeks but was not classed by them as a separate constellation. Eratosthenes referred to this swarm as the hair of Ariadne under his entry on the Northern Crown (Corona Borealis), but under Leo he said it was the hair of Queen Berenice of Egypt, which is how we identify it today.
- Star Tales - Ursa Major (ianridpath.com)
Undoubtedly the most familiar star pattern in the entire sky is the seven stars that make up the shape popularly termed the Plough or Big Dipper, part of the third-largest constellation, Ursa Major, the Great Bear. The seven stars form the rump and tail of the bear, while the rest of the animal is comprised of fainter stars. Its Greek name in the Almagest was Ἄρκτος Μεγάλη (Arktos Megale); Ursa Major is the Latin equivalent.
- The Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius formed this constellation in 1687 from a scattering of faint stars beneath the tail of Ursa Major. Canes Venatici represents a pair of greyhounds held on a lead by Boötes, snapping at the heels of the Great Bear. Hevelius named the dogs Asterion (‘Starry’) and Chara (‘Dear’), identifying them as male and female respectively…