This means that it lies along the path the Sun travels in the sky during the year. It is also the origin point for the annual Delta Aquarids meteor shower. Aquarius is one of the 48 constellations listed by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century.
It is represented as a man pouring water from a bucket into the mouth of the Southern Fish, depicted by the constellation Piscis Austrinus. This ancient constellation has its roots in a number of cultures. In Babylonian mythology, Aquarius was associated with the god Ea. The ancient Egyptians believed that it represented the god of the Nile. In Greek mythology, Aquarius was Ganymede, a Trojan youth who was carried off to Olympus by Zeus to serve as the cupbearer to the gods.
Aquarius contains several stars brighter than magnitude 4. The brightest and best-known is Sadalsuud with a visual magnitude of 2. It belongs to a rare class of stars known as yellow supergiants. Once you have found Capricornus, simply look around for this group of stars. From there you should be able to trace the rest of Aquarius. The following illustration should help. Since you are already in the area, you can also try to find the Pisces constellation opposite to Capricornus.
The easiest way is to pick up a star map. These are printables with a circular view of the night sky. The position of the stars changes throughout the year, so in order to help you locate the stars you are looking for, the most complete star maps, let you set your current date and show you the position of the constellations at that point in time.
If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, there are equivalent versions. Elena is a Canadian journalist and researcher. She has been looking at the sky for years and hopes to introduce more people to the wonderful hobby that is astronomy.
Finding Aquarius can be tricky for the untrained stargazer because of two reasons: It does not contain any stars that are really bright.
For comparison, the brightest stars like Sirius, or Betelgeuse have a magnitude below 1 Less is better when it comes to magnitude. It is not located near other easily recognizable constellations.
The shape of the constellation is nothing that really stands out. First things first. How to Find the Aquarius Constellation Here comes the tricky part. Find dark skies and clear weather Good sky conditions are going to be key in our quest to find the location of this star group. Find the zodiac ecliptic The ecliptic is the imaginary line the Sun passes by throughout during the course of a year.
The best moment to find it is at sunset. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Carolyn Collins Petersen. Astronomy Expert. Carolyn Collins Petersen is an astronomy expert and the author of seven books on space science. She previously worked on a Hubble Space Telescope instrument team.
Facebook Facebook. Updated December 05, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Petersen, Carolyn Collins. How to Find the Aquarius Constellation. How to Find the Capricornus Constellation. How to Spot the Scorpius Constellation.
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