Description: Coma Berenices or Berenice’s Hair was named after the Queen Berenice II of Egypt. Berenice promised to sacrifice her long hair if her husband - Ptolemy returned safely from a battle in 245 BC. Berenice dedicated her long blonde hair to Aphrodite and placed it in the temple. The next morning the hair had disappeared. The priest proposed that Aphrodite had placed the tresses in the sky as an acknowledgment of Berenice's sacrifice. The constellation contains beautiful stellar clusters and a lot of galaxies.
Description: The asterism of five main stars of the constellation. It was named after Cassiopeia, the wife of King Cepheus of Aethiopia and mother of Princess Andromeda. She was placed in the sky by the order of Poseidon as a punishment because she boasted that her daughter Andromeda (or maybe herself) was more beautiful than the sea nymphs Nereids. Andromeda was bound to a rock as prey for the horrible monster Cetus but was saved by Perseus, whom she later married. Happy end.
Description: Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern hemisphere. Alpha Centauri is the nearest star to the Sun, just 4,37 light years far. It has several proper star names: Rigil Kentaurus, Rigil Kent, and Toliman. Centaur is the half man, half horse creature in Greek mythology.
Description: Crux is the most known and prominent of all southern hemisphere constellations. Its name means cross is Latin, which refers to the main asterism of four bright stars. Coalsack is the most prominent dark nebula in the sky. It looks like a dark patch on the Milky Way. The nebula was first recorded in 1499 by Spanish explorer Vincente Yanez Pinzon on his voyage to South America. Jewel Box or Kappa Crucis Cluster (NGC 4755) is one of the finest open star clusters in the sky, it consists of five bright stars with many fainter stellar bodies around them.
Description: In classic Greek mythology, The Pleiades were the seven daughters of the titan Atlas and the sea-nymph Pleione. They were nymphs in the train of Artemis, and teachers to the infant Dionysus. They have been translated to the sky as a cluster of stars and were associated with rain. The Pleiades open star cluster is also known as the Seven Sisters and Messier 45. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth. You can see them in the sky with the unarmed eye in the Taurus constellation.
Description: Orion is a bright and prominent constellation. It can be seen from all locations on Earth. The constellation is named after a hunter in Greek mythology. It contains many bright stars, famous belt of Orion, spectacular nebulae Horsehead and other impressive stellar bodies. Names of main stars are printed on this product.
Description: In classic Greek mythology, the goddess Hera sent a crab to aid Lernaean Hydra serpent in her hand-to-hand battle with Heracles. But Heracles killed the crab with his foot. As a reward for its service, Hera placed the crab's image in the sky though in a region without bright stars, because the crab failed to accomplish its important mission. Cancer is a zodiac constellation. The Sun transits the area between June 22 and July 22.
Description: Gemini is one of the zodiac constellations, the sun transits it between May 21 and June 20 or so. In Greek classical mythology, the twins Castor and Pollux shared the same mother, Leda, but they had different fathers. Pollux's father was the god Zeus, making Pollux immortal while Castor was mortal. Their sister was Helen of Troy, so they fought in the Trojan War. When the mortal Castor was killed, Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his own immortality with his twin to keep them together, and they were transformed into the constellation Gemini.
Description: In Greek mythology, Taurus is a bull, the transfiguration of Zeus to abduct a beautiful Europe. Hyades were nymph sisterhood that brings rain. The Pleiades or Seven Sisters were the seven daughters of the titan Atlas and the sea-nymph Pleione. They were teachers of the Dionysus and were associated with rain. Taurus is a zodiac constellation. The Sun is in Taurus from about April 20 until about May 21.
Description: According to ancient Greek mythology, Aries was the golden ram that rescued Phrixus and took him to Colchis, where he sacrificed the ram to the gods. That was called hearty gratitude. The ram’s skin in a temple was that very Golden Fleece, which later appears in the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Aries is the Zodiac constellation. The Sun transits the area between March 21 and April 20.
Description: According to ancient Greek and Babylonian legends, Pisces - Fish - represents two fishes joined by a rope. The knot of the rope is Alpha Piscium - Alrescha (“the cord” in Arabic). In Roman mythology the constellation represents Venus and Cupid, who transformed themselves into fish in order to escape the monster Typhon. Pisces is the Zodiac constellation. The Sun transits the area between February 18 and March 20.
Description: In Greek mythology, Aquarius, The Water Bearer, is associated with Deucalion, who built a ship with his wife Pyrrha to survive the great flood. He also is identified as Ganymede, the son of Trojan king Tros, who was taken to Mount Olympus by Zeus to act as cup-carrier to the gods. Neighboring Aquila represents the eagle that snatched the young boy. Aquarius is the Zodiac constellation. The Sun transits the area between January 21 and February 18.
Description: According to one of the myths, Capricornus is a creature that is a blend of a fish and a goat; the name means "goat horn" in Latin. The story develops as follows. Bacchus - the god of wine was feasting on the banks of the river Nile, and jumped into the river. The underwater part of him was transformed into a fish, while his upper body became that of a goat. Here goes the first moral - don't drink too much. The silver lining is that from his position Bacchus saw the giant Typhoeus coming to kill Jupiter. So Capricornus blew his pipes and Typhoeus fled. Here goes the second moral. First study music, then play the trumpet or you can scare everyone. Jupiter, also known as Zeus, placed the new shape of Bacchus in the sky by way of a thank you.
Description: Ophiuchus, the snake bearer, is associated with the Greek legendary doctor Asclepius, son of the god Apollo, who was said to be able to bring people back from the dead with his healing powers. Asclepius learned how to do this after seeing one snake bringing healing herbs to another. According to other reliable ancient sources, Asclepius was raised by Chiron, the centaur (Centaurus constellation), who taught him the art of healing. Ophiuchus is considered to be the thirteenth sign in addition to the twelve signs of the tropical Zodiac. The Sun transits the area between November 30 and December 18.
Description: According to Greek mythology, Orion boasted to goddess Artemis that he would kill every animal on the Earth. Artemis decided to protect animals. She and her mother Leto sent a scorpion to deal with Orion. The scorpion killed Orion in a battle. Zeus, who watched the lively performance, raised the scorpion to heaven and did the same for Orion as a reminder for mortals to curb their pride. Scorpius is a zodiac constellation. The Sun transits this area between October 23 and November 21.
Description: The constellation’s name means “the weighing scales” in Latin. Libra is usually depicted as the scales held by the Greek goddess of justice, represented by the neighboring Virgo constellation. Three stars in the constellation are known to have planets. Libra is a zodiac constellation. The Sun transits the area between September 23 and October 22.
Description: Virgo, Virgin, is the second largest constellation in the sky. It belongs to the Zodiac family of constellations. The Sun transits the area between August 23 and September 22. There are 35 verified exoplanets orbiting 29 stars in Virgo. Maybe we shall say Hello! to their inhabitants every time, we look at the constellation. Greeks associated Virgo with the goddess of wheat and agriculture, Demeter. Sometimes Virgo is identified as the virgin goddess Iustitia, who holds the scales of justice in her hand (the constellation Libra).
