What is the origin of the constellation _ What does the origin of the constellation mean?

What is the origin of the constellation?

The origin of constellations

In ancient times, people had to know the seasonal changes in detail for animal husbandry and agriculture. They noticed that the arrangement of stars in the sky is different in different seasons. In order to facilitate the memory and dissemination of this knowledge, they use their imagination to connect the chaotic stars in the sky, which is the origin of the constellation.

Western constellation

Western constellations originated in ancient Greece, and the earliest mention of constellations was in a poem Phaenomena written by the Greek poet Aratus in 270 BC. As can be seen from this poem, the word constellation was known to mankind before Aratus.

The constellation mentioned by Aratus has no stars at all near the south celestial pole. This may be because these stars are all below the horizon of the region where the constellation name is located. From these unmeasurable horizons, we can infer that the people who named the constellations probably lived at about 36 north latitude, that is, south of Greece and north of Egypt, where Babylon and Sumer were located.

Due to the precession of the earth's rotation, the north and south poles of the earth will deviate periodically with time. According to calculations, this unexplored celestial sphere was just above the south celestial pole in 2000 BC, which was also the time when ancient Babylonians and Sumerians lived.

Based on this, we have great reasons to believe that Greek constellations originated in ancient Babylon and Sumer. The knowledge about constellations later spread to Egypt and was known by some Greek scholars who lived there at that time.

Christian era

In 150, Ptolemy, a Greek scientist, compiled a book called "Astronomical Table", summarizing the astronomical knowledge of the Greeks at that time, including listing the names of 48 constellations and 1022 stars, and estimating their luminosity. Everyone has everyone's constellation, each constellation has the characteristics of each constellation, and the origin of each constellation has a beautiful myth.

The origin of constellation classification is very early. Here is just a brief introduction to some common classification methods.

1. The internal logic of astrology

Astrology has its own logic, and the classification of constellations is the embodiment of this logic. The following classification methods are based on Aries. The zodiac animals are divided into various categories on average, and each category represents its own point of view and forms its own complete system.

2. Memory and understanding

For a beginner in astrology, the classification of constellations is a good way to remember and understand the characteristics of constellations; We can not only memorize the characteristics of constellations logically, but also have a deeper understanding of the theory of constellations and the relationship between constellations.