General situation of China constellation development

Constellation is an indispensable part of astrology and a group of stars in the sky. Since ancient times, human beings have associated three or five stars with their mythical figures or artifacts, which are called "constellations". From 65438 to 0930, the International Astronomical Union divided the sky into 88 official constellations, which had precise boundaries and were based on ancient Greek myths handed down from the Middle Ages. These constellations are widely used in the field of navigation, and they are almost the means to determine the orientation of the sky in all civilizations.

Chinese name

constellation

Foreign name

not have

origin

This length shall not exceed 100 meter.

explain

Astrology, the stars in the sky.

It is helpful to determine the syntactic function and morphological characteristics of part of speech

noun

Significance and application

It is almost as difficult for friends to meet each other as the stars in the morning and evening.

Du Fu's Eight Guards for Chu Shi. As mentioned in the ancient poem, the two stars of Shen and Shang, one east and one west, will never meet. Betelgeuse is actually Orion; Xinsu, also called Shangsu, is a Scorpio; "It's almost as difficult for friends to meet, and as for the stars in the morning and evening" refers to these two places, Scorpio and Orion.

constellation

In ancient times, the rise and fall of stars or constellations were often used to navigate and determine time. Ancient Egypt determined the beginning of a year by observing the rise of Sirius. In some areas, the ancient technology of determining position by observing stars still remains. Constellations and the literary images they represent often appear in the works of literati.

Although the importance of constellations has been relatively reduced in modern times, they have not lost their charm for astronomy lovers. Through its fascinating legend, constellations have played an extremely important role in the popularization of astronomy. Whenever there is a major astronomical phenomenon, astronomers, popular science workers and the media will always set off an astronomical upsurge in society, especially among young people.

The origin of constellations

Mesopotamian astrologers divided the starry sky into several regions for the convenience of studying and observing many stars in the sky, and each region was a constellation. It's hard to say clearly when humans began to have the concept of constellation. This astronomical knowledge was known long before there was a historical record. The name of the constellation probably comes from the sailors who sailed early.

constellation

The origin of constellations may be completely different between civilizations in different regions, but with the expansion and mutual influence of civilizations, the culture of constellations also includes the process of integration.

the west

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 (the Pleiades was considered as an independent constellation at that time, not a part of Taurus), and at the same time, Babylon had recorded the zodiac in cuneiform.

In the second century, Ptolemy recorded 1022 stars in 48 constellations in his astronomical masterpiece, which is also the embryonic form of modern constellations. After that, many astronomers filled the Ptolemaic constellation with new constellations. Valle in 1603, Jahannes Hewelius in 1690, and Llakaj in 1752 have named the constellations in Nantian in two centuries.