317
ASTRONOMY.
(203.) The ancients divided the starry sphere into particular jconstellations, or clusters of stars, according as they lay near one ianother, so as to occupy those spaces, winch the figures of different :sorts of animals or things would takeup, ifthey were there delineated. ;And those stars, which could not be brought into any particularconstellation, were called unformed stars. By this division, thestars are so distinguished from one another, that any particular starmay be readily found in the heavens, by means of a celestialglobe ; on which the constellations are so delineated, that the !most remarkable stars are placed in such parts of the figures, asare most easily distinguished. 'Hie number of the ancient con-stellations is 48, and upon our present globes about 70. , The starsin each are distinguished, according to Mr. Bayer’s method, bv theletters of the Greek alphabet, a, /S, y, &c. the largest star being I
marked with the first letter, the next in magnitude with the second,and so on. When the Greek alphabet is finished the Roman let-ters, a, b, c, &c. are used, and modern astronomers add the num-bers 1, 2, 3, &c. when the constellation contains more stars thancan be marked by both the alphabets. The starrv heavens arealso divided into three parts: viz. I. The Zodiac , which extendsquite round the heavens ; and is about 18 degrees broad, so that ittakes in the orbits of all the planets, as well as that of the Moon ;and along the middle of which is the ecliptic. II. All that regionof the heavens which is on the north side of the zodiac, containing21 constellations: And, III. That on the south side, containing15. The following tables exhibit the names of the ancient andmodern constellations, and the number of stars observed in eachof them by different astronomers.
(204.) TABLE I. THE ANCIENT CONSTELLATIONS.
Ursa Major.......The Great Bear.
Cepheus.Cepheus.
Corona Borealis.The Northern Crown .
Hercules, or Engonasin.Hercules kneeling.
Lvra.The Ilarp.
Cygmis, or Gallina.The Swan...
Cassiopeia.The Lady in her Chair.
Auriga.The Waggoner...
Serpentarius , or Ophiuchus.Serpentarius.
Serpens.The Serpent.
Sagitta...The Arrow.
Aquiia, or Yultur.The Eagle )
Deiphinus....The Dolphin...
Equuleus, or Equi Sectio.The Horse’s Head.
Pegasus, or Equus.The Flying Horse.
Andromeda.Andromeda.
Triangulum.The Triangle.
Aries...The Ram.
Taurus.The Bull...
Cancer.The Crab.
Leo.The Lion )
Coma Berenices.Berenice’s Hair) .
Libra, or Chela:.The Scales..
Scorpio.The Scorpion.
Sagittarius.4 he Archer.
Aquarius.'The Water-bearer.
Pisces.The Fishes.
Cetus.The Whale.
Orion.Orion.
Eridanus, or Fluvius.Eridanus , or the River.
Lepus.The Hare.
Argo Navis.The Ship.
Hydra.The Hydra.
Crater.The Cup..
Corvus...The Crow.
C’entaurus.1 he Centaur..
Lupus.The Wolf..
Corona Australis.The Southern Crown .
Piscis Australis..The Southern I ish...
Number of Stars in each, according to
3 A
29
39
t 3 A
9 3
18
s
8
OQ
28
in
11
in
18
n ....
26
9Q
29
1.1
9
on
15
1R
13
*>
5
12
15
3
10
10
4
4
on
IQ
23
A .
4
IS
21
44
43
95
25
23
15
30
OJ
14
39
33
17
10
BA
10
31
14
98
28
A 5
41
38
30
99
21
38
42
3A
10
1 9
13
90
13
9
2
3
97
19
7
3
7
A
37
1°
7
1 ^
-18 —
IIevelius.— 12 —
— 73 —
— 40 —
— 51 —
— 52 —
— 8 —
— 45 —
— 17 —
— 47 —
— 37 —
— 46 —_ 40 —
— 40 —
— 22 —
— 5 —
— 23 —
— iy _
— 14 _
— 6 —
— 38 —
— 47 —
— 12 —
— 27 —
— 51 —
— 38 —
— 29 —
— 49 _
— 21 —
— 50 —
— 20 —— 20 —— 22
— 29 —-47 —-39 —-45 —
- 62 -
- 27 —-16 —
— 21 —-13 —-4 —-31 —-10 —
Flamsteed.
- 24
- 87
- 80
-■ 35
— 54- 21
— 113
- 21
- 81
- 55
— 59
— 66
— 74
— 64
— 18
~ 71
— 18_ 10
— 89
— 66— 16— 66
— 141
— 85
— 83
— 95
— 43
— 110
— 51
— 44—- 69
— 51
— 103
— 1 13_ 97
— 78
— 84
— 1931
— 14
— 64
— 60
— 31
— 9
— 35
— 24
— 9
— 12— 24
4 M
VOL. I.—NO. 20,
(505.) Table II-