The origin of constellations

In 270 BC, the Greek poet Aratus wrote Things, in which 47 constellations were mentioned. According to the star regions recorded in Celestial Bodies, due to precession, the Antarctic in the period described in the book is not consistent with the current Antarctic, so it can be inferred that the starry sky recorded in the book is before 2000 BC; At the same time, the blank area of the starry sky record indicates that the observer should be near 35 to 36 north latitude. So some people think that the practice of dividing the starry sky into constellations originated from Babylon and Sumer in Mesopotamia, and the constellations of Greece and Egypt may have been introduced from this area.

In the Book of Job, several constellations such as Bear and Orion are mentioned. In the12nd century BC, the land landmarks built in the era of Nebuchadnezzar I were engraved with designs of Sagittarius, Scorpio and Ophiuchus. The ancient Greek poets Homer and hesiod also mentioned Ursa major, Orion and the Pleiades (at that time, the Pleiades was considered as an independent constellation, not a part of Taurus).