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International Astronomical Center

The Constellations

By Mohammad Odeh


In this page:-


Names of Constellations

#ConstellationGenitiveAbbr.MeaningArea
1 Andromeda Andromedae And Daughter of Cassiopeia 722.278
2 Antlia Antliae Ant The Air Pump 238.901
3 Apus Apodis Aps Bird of Paradise 206.327
4 Aquarius Aquarii Aqr The Water-bearer 979.854
5 Aquila Aquilae Aql The Eagle 652.473
6 Ara Arae Ara The Altar 237.057
7 Aries Arietis Ari The Ram 441.395
8 Auriga Aurigae Aur The Charioteer 657.438
9 Bootes Bootis Boo The Herdsman 906.831
10 Caelum Caeli Cae The Chisel 124.865
11 Camelopardalis Camelopardalis Cam The Giraffe 756.828
12 Cancer Cancri Cnc The Crab 505.872
13 Canes Venatici Canum Venaticorum CVn The Hunting Dogs 465.194
14 Canis Major Canis Majoris CMa The Big Dog 380.118
15 Canis Minor Canis Minoris CMi The Little Dog 183.367
16 Capricornus Capricorni Cap The Goat 413.947
17 Carina Carinae Car The Keel 494.184
18 Cassiopeia Cassiopeiae Cas The Queen 598.407
19 Centaurus Centauri Cen The Centaur 1060.422
20 Cepheus Cephei Cep The King 587.787
21 Cetus Ceti Cet The Whale 1231.411
22 Chamaeleon Chamaeleontis Cha The Chameleon 131.592
23 Circinus Circini Cir The Compasses 93.353
24 Columba Columbae Col The Dove 270.184
25 Coma Berenices Comae Berenices Com Berenice's Hair 386.475
26 Corona Australis Coronae Australis CrA The Southern Crown 127.696
27 Corona Borealis Coronae Borealis CrB The Northern Crown 178.710
28 Corvus Corvi Crv The Crow 183.801
29 Crater Crateris Crt The Cup 282.398
30 Crux Crucis Cru The Cross 68.447
31 Cygnus Cygni Cyg The Swan 803.983
32 Delphinus Delphini Del The Dolphin 188.549
33 Dorado Doradus Dor The Swordfish 179.173
34 Draco Draconis Dra The Dragon 1082.952
35 Equuleus Equulei Equ The Little Horse 71.641
36 Eridanus Eridani Eri The River 1137.919
37 Fornax Fornacis For The Furnace 397.502
38 Gemini Geminorum Gem The Twins 513.761
39 Grus Gruis Gru The Crane (bird) 365.513
40 Hercules Herculis Her The Son of Zeus 1225.148
41 Horologium Horologii Hor The Clock 248.885
42 Hydra Hydrae Hya The Water Snake 1302.844
43 Hydrus Hydri Hyi The Water Snake 243.035
44 Indus Indi Ind The Indian 294.006
45 Lacerta Lacertae Lac The Lizard 200.688
46 Leo Leonis Leo The Lion 946.964
47 Leo Minor Leonis Minoris LMi The Little Lion 231.956
48 Lepus Leporis Lep The Hare 290.291
49 Libra Librae Lib The Balance 538.052
50 Lupus Lupi Lup The Wolf 333.683
51 Lynx Lyncis Lyn The Lynx 545.386
52 Lyra Lyrae Lyr The Lyre 286.476
53 Mensa Mensae Men The Table 153.484
54 Microscopium Microscopii Mic The Microscope 209.513
55 Monoceros Monocerotis Mon The Unicorn 481.569
56 Musca Muscae Mus The Fly 138.355
57 Norma Normae Nor The Square 165.290
58 Octans Octantis Oct The Octant 291.045
59 Ophiuchus Ophiuchi Oph The Serpent-bearer 948.340
60 Orion Orionis Ori The Hunter 594.120
61 Pavo Pavonis Pav The Peacock 377.666
62 Pegasus Pegasi Peg The Winged Horse 1120.794
63 Perseus Persei Per Rescuer of Andromeda 614.997
64 Phoenix Phoenicis Phe The Phoenix 469.319
65 Pictor Pictoris Pic The Painter 246.739
66 Pisces Piscium Psc The Fishes 889.417
67 Piscis Austrinus Piscis Austrini PsA The Southern Fish 245.375
68 Puppis Puppis Pup The Stern 673.434
69 Pyxis Pyxidis Pyx The Compass 220.833
70 Reticulum Reticuli Ret The Reticle 113.936
71 Sagitta Sagittae Sge The Arrow 79.932
72 Sagittarius Sagittarii Sgr The Archer 867.432
73 Scorpius Scorpii Sco The Scorpion 496.783
74 Sculptor Sculptoris Scl The Sculptor 474.764
75 Scutum Scuti Sct The Shield 109.114
76 Serpens Serpentis Ser The Serpent 636.928
77 Sextans Sextantis Sex The Sextant 313.515
78 Taurus Tauri Tau The Bull 797.249
79 Telescopium Telescopii Tel The Telescope 251.512
80 Triangulum Trianguli Tri The Triangle 131.847
81 Triangulum Australe Trianguli Australis TrA The Southern Triangle 109.978
82 Tucana Tucanae Tuc The Toucan 294.557
83 Ursa Major Ursae Majoris UMa The Great Bear 1279.660
84 Ursa Minor Ursae Minoris UMi The Little Bear 255.864
85 Vela Velorum Vel The Sails 499.649
86 Virgo Virginis Vir The Maiden 1294.428
87 Volans Volantis Vol The Flying Fish 141.354
88 Vulpecula Vulpeculae Vul The Fox 268.165

  • The areas of the above constellations adds up to 41,252.961 square degrees, which is in fact the area of the celestial sphere.
  • In terms of area (based on the official IAU boundaries), of the 88 constellations the three largest are Hydra, Virgo, and Ursa Major, while the three smallest are Sagitta, Equuleus, and Crux.
  • The references are:-
    1. The Observer's HandBook.
    2. The Astronomical Companion.


Arabic Constellation Names

ConstellationArabic NameArabic NameArabic MeaningN/SPicture
AndromedaAl-Mara'ah Al-MusalsalahThe Shackled WomanNClick
Antlia Mefraghat Al-Hawa' The Air PumpSClick*
ApusTta'er Al-Ferdaws Bird of ParadiseSClick*
Aquarius Ad-Dalw The Well-bucketSClick
AquilaAl-'Okab The EagleN-SClick
AraAl-Mijmarah The CenserSClick
AriesAl-Hamal The RamNClick
AurigaMomsek Al-A'aennah The Reins-holderNClick
BootesAl-'Awwa'The HowlerNClick
Caelum Aalat An-NaqqashThe Sculptor's ToolSClick*
CamelopardalisAz-ZarafahThe Giraffe NClick*
Cancer As-SarattanThe Crab NClick
Canes VenaticiAs-SloqeyyanThe Two Hunting Dogs N--
Canis Major Al-Kalb Al-A'kbarThe Greater Dog SClick
Canis MinorAl-Kalb Al-A'sghar The Lesser Dog NClick*
CapricornusAl-JadiThe Young Goat SClick
Carina Al-Qa'edahThe Keel SClick
CassiopeiaThat Al-KorsiWho (Lady) Has ChairNClick
Centaurus QanttorusCentaur SClick
CepheusAl-MultahebInflammatusNClick
Cetus QayttasCetusN-SClick
ChamaeleonAl-Hirba'The Chameleon S--
Circinus Al-BikarThe Compasses S--
Columba Al-HamamahThe Dove SClick*
Coma Berenices Al-HulbahBristleN--
Corona AustralisAl-I'klil Al-Janobi The Southern CrownSClick
Corona Borealis Al-I'klil Ash-ShamaliThe Northern Crown NClick
Corvus Al-GhurabThe RavenSClick
Crater Al-BattiyahThe Great Cup SClick
CruxAs-Ssaleeb Al-Janobi The Southern Cross S--
CygnusAd-DajajahThe Hen NClick
DelphinusAd-DulfinThe Dolphin NClick
DoradoAbu-SaifThe SwordfishS--
DracoAt-TinneenThe Dragon NClick
EquuleusQett'at Al-FarasPart of the Horse NClick
EridanusAn-NahrThe River N-SClick
Fornax Al-KoorThe Furnace SClick*
GeminiAt-Tawa'manThe Twins NClick
Grus Al-KurkiThe Crane (bird) SClick*
Hercules Al-JathiThe Kneeling (Man)NClick
Horologium As-Sa'ahThe Clock SClick*
Hydra Ash-Shuja'aThe BraveN-SClick
Hydrus Hayyat Al-Ma'The Water Snake S--
Indus Al-HindiThe Indian S--
LacertaAl-'Adha'ahThe Lizard NClick*
LeoAl-A'sadThe Lion NClick
Leo MinorAl-A'sad Al-A'sgharThe Lesser Lion N--
LepusAl-A'rnabThe Hare SClick*
LibraAl-MizanThe Balance SClick
Lupus As-Sab'aThe Beast of PreySClick
Lynx Al-WashaqThe Lynx NClick*
LyraAl-QitharahThe LyreNClick*
Mensa Al-JabalThe Mountain S--
MicroscopiumAl-MijharThe Microscope SClick*
MonocerosWaheed Al-QarnThe Unicorn N-S--
MuscaAth-ThubabahThe Fly S--
Norma Morabba'a An-NajjarThe Carpenter's Square SClick*
OctansAth-ThomonThe Octant S--
Ophiuchus Al-Hawwa'The Snake CharmerN-SClick
Orion Al-JabbarThe GiantN-SClick*
PavoAtt-TtawoosThe Peacock SClick*
Pegasus Al-Faras Al-A'adhamThe Great Horse NClick
Perseus Hamil Ra's Al-GhulBearer of the Demon's HeadNClick
Phoenix Al-'Anqa'The PhoenixS--
Pictor Aalat Ar-RassamThe Painter's Tool SClick*
Pisces Al-HutThe WhaleNClick
Piscis Austrinus Al-Hut Al-JanubiThe Southern WhaleSClick
PuppisAl-KawthalThe Stern SClick
PyxisBayt Al-EbrahThe Compass SClick
Reticulum Ash-ShabakahThe ReticleS--
SagittaAs-SahmThe Arrow NClick
Sagittarius Ar-RamiThe ArcherSClick
Scorpius Al-'AqrabThe Scorpion SClick
SculptorM'amal An-NahhatThe Sculptor's MillS--
Scutum At-TirsThe Shield S--
SerpensAl-HayyahThe Snake N-SClick
SextansAs-SodosThe Sextant N-SClick*
Taurus Ath-ThawrThe Bull NClick
Telescopium Al-MerqabThe TelescopeSClick*
TriangulumAl-MuthallathThe Triangle NClick
Triangulum AustraleAl-Muthallath Al-JanobiThe Southern TriangleS--
TucanaAtt-TtuqanThe ToucanS--
Ursa MajorAd-Dubb Al-A'kbarThe Greater BearNClick
Ursa MinorAd-Dubb Al-A'sgharThe Lesser BearNClick
VelaAsh-Shera'aThe SailSClick
VirgoAl-'Athra' The MaidenN-SClick
Volans As-Samakah Att-Tta'erahThe Flying Fish S--
VulpeculaAth-Th'alabThe Fox NClick*

  • N/S: Indicates whether the constellation is a Northern or Southern one.
  • The symbol * means that the picture of the constellation is taken from a reference other than Uranometry by Azophi (Suwarul-Kawakib by As-Sufi).

  • Arabic References:-

    1. "Suwarul-Kawakib", by As-Sufi, (Uranometry, by Azophi).
    2. "Encyclopedia of Arab Star Names in Ancient and Modern Astronomy", by Dr. Abdul-Rahim Bader.
    3. "Astronomy", by Prof. Hamid Al-Naimy.

The first reference, which is Suwarul-Kawakib (Uranometry) is one of the greatest Arabic astronomical books, which was written by the great Muslim astronomer As-Sufi (Azophi) about 1000 years ago! All the above pictures of the constellations are taken from that book, unless otherwise mentioned. To know more about Suwarul-Kawakib and As-Sufi, kindly find below the introduction of the book.


Short Note on Suwarul-Kawakib or Uranometry

A SHORT NOTE ON A CRITICAL EDITION
of the Suwarul-Kawakib or Uranometry
of Abu'l-Husayn 'Abdu'r-Rahman as-Sufi,
(Died 376 A.H. / 986 A.D.)

Abu'l Husain 'Abdu'r-Rahman as-Sufi, the author of this unique work, was born in Rayy, S.E. Tehran, Persia, on the 14th of Muharram 291 A.H. / 8th Nov. 903 A.D. and died on 13th Muharram 376 A.H. / 986 A.D. He is one of the famous astronomers of the Medieval ages in whom the Greek astronomy had culminated. The Suwaru'l Kawakib is a complete and elaborate description of the Constellations of the heavens giving both the position of individual stars and their representation in full pictorial arrangement for each of the 48 Constellations. In fact as-Sufi's Uranometry or the Book of Fixed Stars is one of the three great masterpieces of observational Astronomy of the Medieval ages - the other two being Ibn Yunus' Catalogue in the 11th century and that of Ulugh Beg in the 15th century. This work is undoubtedly an advance on the Catalogue of Fixed Stars by Ptolemy known as the Syntax or Almagest. It has influenced several generations of astronomers from the times of as-Sufi down to Knobel, President of the Astronomical Society, London. Three translations of it in Latin, French and Persian and a Spanish commentary of it exist, but the Arabic text had not been published as yet in full as to bring out the real value of as-Sufi's genuine, independent and masterly observations. His other work, a "Treatise on Astrolabe" is a masterpiece of Astronomical Technique as practiced in those days. It has recently been discovered and is being edited and will be published shortly by the Daira.

The Suwaru'l-Kawakib or the Book of Fixed Stars was written for and dedicated to the Buwayhid ruler Azudu'd-Dawla, (949-982 A.D.) who was a great patron of Astronomy and had erected an observatory at Shiraz.

Older astronomers like al-Biruni, Alfonso X, Prince of Castile, Khwaja Nasiru'd-Din Tusi, Prince Ulugh Beg and Jai Singh II based their astronomical Tables for the cataloguing of Constellations on this authentic Catalogue of Stars, Modern scientists and experts like Pocock Steinschneider, Hauber, Dorn, Argelander, Ideler, Schjellerup and Knobel have utilized it extensively. Even Argelander in his monumental work concurs with as-Sufi in his observations, Prof. H.J.J. Winter has also rightly emphasized the importance of the Suwaru'l-Kawakib in the field of astronomy in his own observations.

As-Sufi is the first person to have observed and noticed change of the color of stars, the change in the magnitude of stars, the proper motions of stars, the long period variable stars, the Nebula Andromeda, the Nubecula Major and the Southern Constellations which have now been ascribed by modern astronomers to some later discoverers unknowingly. As-Sufi has not only corrected errors of observations in the work of his predecessors like al-Battani, but exposed many of the faulty observations found in the garbled versions of Ptolemy's Almagest, carefully defined the boundaries of each Constellation and recorded magnitudes and positions of stars by a fresh and independent observation of his own.

Thus Schjellerup, the translator of this work in French in his brilliant 'Introduction' has duly acknowledged the superiority of as-Sufi over the Medieval astronomers and shown the remarkable agreement found between the values of as-Sufi and that of Argelander in cases where Ptolemy's values are divergent. Even the observations of Ideler in his famous work agree mostly with as-Sufi's remarks.

A Critical Edition of this work collated with the oldest extant Mss. e.g. [Marsh 144] Bodleian Library Oxford, written by his son in 400 A.H. and based particularly on the Royal Codex prepared for and autographed by Ulugh Beg, the astronomer Prince himself, now preserved in the Bibliotheque. Nationale, Paris, [Arabe 5036] has for the first time been edited and published along with the Urjuza of Ibnus-Sufi by the Dairat'ul-Ma'arifi'l-Osmania, Hyderabad-Dn. Thus the text of this work is not only nearer to the author by 24 years, but approaches to the original copy of the author as some Mss. that have been utilized are said to have been copied from the author's autograph copies.

The original Arabic text covers 353 printed pages and contains 55 astronomical tables along with illustrations of 48 constellations in 96 diagrams as seen in the heavens and on the celestial globe reproduced in color on finest art paper from the unique Ulugh Beg Ms.

The artistic value of the illustrated Mss. of this work forms an interesting chapter in the history of Persian miniature painting. This has been demonstrated by experts like Blochet, Upton, Dimand and Holter in their studies and art albums profusely.

The Introduction contains a brief survey of the work from technical and artistic points of view and embodies a digest of researches done in these fields by experts and astronomers like Pocock, Knobel, Schjellerup, Hauber, Suter and H.JJ. Winter.


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