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Lupus (constellation)
Lupus is a constellation of the mid-Southern Sky. Its name is Latin for wolf. Lupus was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the IAU designated constellations, 88 modern constellations but was long an Asterism (astronomy), asterism associated with the just westerly, larger constellation Centaurus. History and mythology In ancient times, the constellation was considered an Asterism (astronomy), asterism within Centaurus, and was considered to have been an arbitrary animal, killed, or about to be killed, on behalf of, or for, Centaurus. An alternative visualization, attested by Eratosthenes, saw this constellation as a wineskin held by Centaurus. It was not separated from Centaurus until Hipparchus, Hipparchus of Bithynia named it ( meaning "beast") in the 2nd century BC. The Greek constellation is probably based on the Babylonian figure known as the Uridimmu, Mad Dog (UR.IDIM). This was a strange hybrid creature that c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lepus (constellation)
Lepus is a constellation lying just south of the celestial equator. Its name is Latin for hare. It is located below—immediately south—of Orion (the hunter), and is sometimes represented as a hare being chased by Orion or by Orion's hunting dogs. Although the hare does not represent any particular figure in Greek mythology, Lepus was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. History and mythology Lepus is most often represented as a hare being hunted by Orion, whose hunting dogs (Canis Major and Canis Minor) pursue it. The constellation is also associated with the Moon rabbit. Four stars of this constellation (α, β, γ, δ Lep) form a quadrilateral and are known as ''‘Arsh al- Jawzā''', "the Throne of Jawzā'" or ''Kursiyy al-Jawzā' al-Mu'akhkhar'', "the Hindmost Chair of Jawzā'" and ''al-Nihāl'', "the Camels Quenching Their Thirst" in Arabic. Features Stars There are a f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IAU Designated Constellations
In contemporary astronomy, 88 constellations are recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Each constellation is a region of the sky bordered by arcs of right ascension and declination, together covering the entire celestial sphere. Their boundaries were officially adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1928 and published in 1930. The ancient Mesopotamians and later the Greeks established most of the northern constellations in international use today, listed by the Roman-Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy. The constellations along the ecliptic are called the zodiac. When explorers mapped the stars of the southern skies, European astronomers proposed new constellations for that region, as well as ones to fill gaps between the traditional constellations. Because of their Roman and European origins, every constellation has a Latin name. In 1922, the International Astronomical Union adopted three-letter abbreviations for 89 constellations, the modern list of 88 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IAU Designated Constellations By Area
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) designates 88 constellations of stars. In the table below, they are ranked by the solid angle that they subtend in the sky, measured in square degrees and millisteradians. These solid angles depend on arbitrary boundaries between the constellations: the list below is based on constellation boundaries drawn up by Eugène Delporte in 1930 on behalf of the IAU and published in ''Délimitation scientifique des constellations'' (Cambridge University Press). Before Delporte's work, there was no standard list of the boundaries of each constellation. Delporte drew the boundaries along vertical and horizontal lines of right ascension and declination; however, he did so for the epoch B1875.0, which means that due to precession of the equinoxes, the borders on a modern star map (e.g., for epoch J2000) are already somewhat skewed and no longer perfectly vertical or horizontal. This skew will increase over the centuries to come. However, this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Celestial Globe
Celestial globes show the apparent positions of the stars in the sky. They omit the Sun, Moon, and planets because the positions of these bodies vary relative to those of the stars, but the ecliptic, along which the Sun moves, is indicated. There is an issue regarding the "handedness" of celestial globes. If the globe is constructed so that the stars are in the positions they actually occupy on the imaginary celestial sphere, then the star field will appear reversed on the surface of the globe (all the constellations will appear as their mirror images). This is because the view from Earth, positioned at the centre of the celestial sphere, is of the gnomonic projection inside of the celestial sphere, whereas the celestial globe is orthographic projection as viewed from the outside. For this reason, celestial globes are often produced in mirror image, so that at least the constellations appear as viewed from Earth. This ambiguity is famously evident in the astronomical ceiling ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Book Of Fixed Stars
''The Book of Fixed Stars'' ( ', literally ''The Book of the Shapes of Stars'') is an Astronomy, astronomical text written by Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (Azophi) around 964. Following Graeco-Arabic translation movement, the translation movement in the 9th century AD, the book was written in Arabic language, Arabic, the common language for scholars across the vast Islamic territories, although the author himself was Persian people, Persian. It was an attempt to create a synthesis of the comprehensive star catalogue in Ptolemy's ''Almagest'' (books VII and VIII) with the indigenous Arabic astronomical traditions on the constellations (notably the Arabic constellation system of the ''Anwā). The original manuscript no longer survives as an Autograph (manuscript), autograph; however, the importance of tradition and the practice of diligence central to Islamic manuscript tradition have ensured the survival of the ''Book of Stars'' in later-made copies. Historical context The treatise w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sufi
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī (; 7 December 90325 May 986) was a Persian astronomer. His work '' '' ("''The Book of Fixed Stars''"), written in 964, included both textual descriptions and illustrations. The Persian polymath Al-Biruni wrote that al-Ṣūfī's work on the ecliptic was carried out in Shiraz. Al-Ṣūfī lived at the Buyid court in Isfahan. Biography ʿAbd al-Rahmān al-Ṣūfī (full name: Abū’l-Ḥusayn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUmar ibn Sahl al-Ṣūfī al-Rāzī) was one of the nine famous Muslim astronomers. He lived at the court of Emir 'Adud al-Dawla in Isfahan, and worked on translating and expanding ancient Greek astronomical works, especially the '' Almagest'' of Ptolemy. He made corrections to Ptolemy's star list, and his estimations of star brightness and magnitude deviated from those by Ptolemy; just over half of al-Ṣūfī's magnitudes being identical to Ptolemy's. A Persian, al-Ṣūfī wrote in Arabic, the lingua franca of the scientific M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astronomy In The Medieval Islamic World
Medieval Islamic astronomy comprises the astronomical developments made in the Islamic world, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age (9th–13th centuries), and mostly written in the Arabic language. These developments mostly took place in the Middle East, Central Asia, Al-Andalus, and North Africa, and later in the Far East and India. It closely parallels the genesis of other Islamic sciences in its assimilation of foreign material and the amalgamation of the disparate elements of that material to create a science with Islamic characteristics. These included Greek, Sassanid, and Indian works in particular, which were translated and built upon. Islamic astronomy played a significant role in the revival of ancient astronomy following the loss of knowledge during the early medieval period, notably with the production of Latin translations of Arabic works during the 12th century. A significant number of stars in the sky, such as Aldebaran, Altair and Deneb, and astrono ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Date Palm
''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern Africa, the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, Australia, South Asia, and the desert regions of Southern California in the United States. It is Naturalisation (biology), naturalized in many Tropics, tropical and Subtropics, subtropical regions worldwide. ''P. dactylifera'' is the type species of genus ''Phoenix (plant), Phoenix'', which contains 12–19 species of wild date palms. Date palms reach up to 60–110 feet in height, growing singly or forming a Clumping (biology), clump with several stems from a single root system. Slow-growing, they can reach over 100years of age when maintained properly. Date fruits (dates) are oval-cylindrical, long, and about in diameter, with colour ranging from dark brown to bright red or yellow, depen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kusarikku
Kusarikku ("Bull-Man") was an ancient Mesopotamian mythological demon shown in artistic representation from the earliest (late Uruk period) times with the arms, torso and head of a human and the ears, horns and hindquarters of a bull. He is portrayed as walking upright and characterized as a door keeper to protect the inhabitants from malevolent intruders. He is one of the demons which represented mountains. He is pictured in late iconography holding a ''banduddû'', "bucket". On a stela of Meli-Šipak, the land grant to Ḫasardu kudurru, he is pictured carrying a spade. Mythology In the Sumerian myth, '' Angim'' or "Ninurta's return to Nippur", the god "brought forth the Bison (gud-alim) from his battle dust" and "hung the Bison on the beam". He is one of Tiāmat's offspring vanquished by Marduk in the Epic of Creation, Enûma Eliš. In the prologue of the Anzû Myth, Ninurta defeats the kusarikku "in the midst of the sea". In an incantation against the evil eye of the L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uridimmu
Ur(i)dimmu, meaning "Mad/howling Dog" or Langdon's "Gruesome Hound", ( Sumerian: 𒌨𒅂UR.IDIM and giš.pirig.gal = ''ur-gu-lu-ú'' = ''ur-idim-'' 'mu''in the lexical series ḪAR.gud = ''imrû'' = ''ballu''), was an ancient Mesopotamian mythical creature in the form of a human headed dog-man whose first appearance might be during the Kassite period, if the Agum-Kakrime Inscription proves to be a copy of a genuine period piece. He is pictured standing upright, wearing a horned tiara and holding a staff with an ''uskaru'', or lunar crescent, at the tip. The lexical series ḪAR-ra=ḫubullu describes him as a ''kalbu šegû'', line 95. "rabid dog". Mythology His appearance was essentially the opposite, or complement of that of Ugallu, with a human head replacing that of an animal and an animal's body replacing that of a human. He appears in later iconography paired with Kusarikku, "Bull-Man", a similar anthropomorphic character, as attendants to the god Šamaš. He is carved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hipparchus
Hipparchus (; , ; BC) was a Ancient Greek astronomy, Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician. He is considered the founder of trigonometry, but is most famous for his incidental discovery of the precession of the equinoxes. Hipparchus was born in Nicaea, Bithynia, and probably died on the island of Rhodes, Greece. He is known to have been a working astronomer between 162 and 127 BC. Hipparchus is considered the greatest ancient astronomical observer and, by some, the greatest overall astronomer of classical antiquity, antiquity. He was the first whose quantitative and accurate models for the motion of the Sun and Moon survive. For this he certainly made use of the observations and perhaps the mathematical techniques accumulated over centuries by the Babylonians and by Meton of Athens (fifth century BC), Timocharis, Aristyllus, Aristarchus of Samos, and Eratosthenes, among others. He developed trigonometry and constructed trigonometric tables, and he solved se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
