- Star Tales - Aquila (ianridpath.com)
Aquila represents an eagle, the thunderbird of the Greeks. The constellation’s name in Greek was Ἀετός, i.e. Aetos, meaning eagle. There are several explanations for the presence of this eagle in the sky. In Greek and Roman mythology, the eagle was the bird of Zeus, carrying (and retrieving) the thunderbolts which the wrathful god hurled at his enemies. But the eagle was involved in love as well as war.
- Star Tales - Sagittarius (ianridpath.com)
Sagittarius is depicted in the sky as a centaur, with the body and four legs of a horse but the upper torso of a man. He is shown wearing a cloak and drawing a bow, aimed in the direction of the neighbouring scorpion, Scorpius. Aratus spoke of the Archer, Τοξότης (Toxotes), and his Bow, Τόξον (Toxon), as though they were separate constellations. Most likely this is because the stars of the bow and arrow are the most distinctive part of the figure. They form the asterism that we now know as the Teapot…
- Star Tales - Serpens (ianridpath.com)
This constellation is unique, for it is divided into two parts – Serpens Caput, the head, and Serpens Cauda, the tail. Nevertheless, astronomers regard it as a single constellation. Serpens represents a huge snake held by the constellation Ophiuchus. Its Greek name was Ὄφις (Ophis), but in the Almagest Ptolemy gave it as Ὄφις Ὀφιούχου (Ophis Ophiouchou), i.e. the serpent of the serpent-holder, presumably to prevent confusion with the other celestial serpents Draco and Hydra.
- The fifth-smallest constellation in the sky, introduced in 1684 by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius under the title Scutum Sobiescianum, Sobieski’s Shield. He named it in honour of King John III Sobieski of Poland who helped Hevelius rebuild his rooftop observatory after a disastrous fire in 1679 that destroyed his instruments and most of his three houses.