Constellacions           Dates                  days

Sagittarius         Dic 18 - Ene 18            32

capricornus       Ene 19 - Feb 15           28

Aquarius           Feb 16 - Mar 11           24

Pisces                Mar 12 - Abr 18           38

Aries                 Abr 19 - May 13           25

Taurus              May 14 - Jun 19           37

Gemini               Jun 20 - Jul 20              31

Cancer               Jul 21 - Ago 9              20

Leo                    Ago 10 - Sep 15           37

Virgo                 Sep 16 - Oct 30            45

Libra                 Oct 31 - Nov 22            23

Scorpius           Nov 23 - Nov 29           7

Ophiuchus       Nov 30 - Dic 17            18

Ophiuchus (Serpent Holder)

is one of the signs of the Zodiac in sidereal astrology since 2011, includes the period between November 30th to December 17th.
Located between the signs of Scorpio and Sagittarius, tha IAU –International Astronomical Union- fiexed its position as a constellation en zodiacal line in 1930, though it is not openly acknowledged by Babilonian base astrology.
In 2011, Ophiuchus zodiacal status debate was revived given to the declarations of Parke Kunkle, from Minnesota Planetarium Society.
In Greek mythology, Ophiuchus correspond to Asclepius, son of Apollo and the human Coronis. He developed such skills in medicine, stating that he could even raise the dead. Insulted, Hades asked Zeus to kill him for violating the natural order of things, to which Zeus agreed. However, as a tribute of his worth, Zeus decided to place him in the sky surrounded by the serpent as a symbol of renewed life.
Its symbol is the rod of Asclepius, which is also medicine’s in west.

It is located in the sky very close to the core of Milky Way and in the opposite area to Orion. It is easily observable from April to October in both hemispheres.
The thing about Ophiuchus is that the ecliptic crosses the constellation by the south during the first half of December, therefore, it is actually a zodiac constellation but not acknowledged as such given his south limit was initially assigned to Scorpius. In addition, the entire constellation is approximately 10° north to the galactic equator, so we can see a large number of stars and star clusters.
Ophiuchus limits to the north with Serpens, Libra and Scorpius; to the west with Sagittarius, Aquila and again Serpens. Finally to the south with Hercules.
It has many important nebulae, as: M10, M12, M14, M107 and M9.

Capricornus (The Goat-Fish)

Capricorn is associated with the Greek god Pan, known by his lewd behavior and the invention of the pan flute. Some say he was a satyr, a man with goat legs, cloven hooves and horns.
He received honors when Rhea sent the sea monster Typhon to destroy the gods of Olympus. Pan plunged into a river and tried to become a fish to escape, but he only managed to get a failed transformation. When he got to land again, Typhon had already dismembered Zeus. To scare the monster, Pan made a shriek which allowed Hermes –the Messenger of the gods- get the members of Zeus again. Together, Hermes and Pan reassembled Zeus, whom rewarded Pan with a place among the stars.

Capricornus is located in southern hemisphere between the parallels 10° and 30°. The sun crosses this constellation during the end of January and the firsts days of February. It is visible from May to October in both hemispheres culminating in the meridian in the end of July and the beginning of August, lower and closer to the horizon from the northern hemisphere and almost in the zenith in the south. It is located 40° south the celestial equator.
This constellation doesn’t stand out precisely because of the bright stars, it has some of them and some globuslar cluster.
It limits to the north with the constellation of Aquarius and Aquila; to the east with Sagittarius; to the south with Microscopium and Pisces Austrinus; and to the west again with the constellation of Aquarius.


The main stars forming Capricornus are:
• Algedi: or Alpha Capricorni. Its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “goat”.
• Dabih: or Beta Capricorni. Its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “killer”, which refers to the old Arab tradition where a goat was sacrificed.
• Nashira: or Gamma Capricorni. Its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “bearer of good news”.

• Deneb Algedi: or Delta Capricorni. Its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “the tail of the goat”.

Sagittarius (The Archer)

Sagittarius, or the arch man from mythology, this constellation is the image of the centaur Chiron, a being who distinguished of the others by his wisdom and knowledge. It was born of the affairs between Cronus and the Phylira nymph, and had the strange form of half man, half horse, because his father had to become horse to generate it. According to the legend, her mother when seeing that she had generated a monster requested the Gods that transformed it, being turned into a linden tree.

Chiron was taught by Apolo and Artemis in the art of medicine and hunting, establishing a consultation in a grotto. His disciples were numerous: Castor, Pollux, Ulysses, etc. In the course of a combat, he was hurt by an arrow soaked in the blood of Hydra of Lerna, which produced terrible pain to him. Since he was inmortal, he did not want to continue living with a perpetual agony, reason why with the consent of the Gods, he shortly after offered his immortality to Prometheus, expiring. Zeus put him between the stars of the sky constituting the constellation of Sagittarius (the arch man).

Sagittarius, or the arch man, is a spectacular constellation of 700 square degrees located in southern hemisphere and observable from almost all the planet, but logically in in the South hemisphere we can contemplate it in its maximum splendor. In southern hemisphere it’s observable during the months of autumn, winter and spring; however for the inhabitants of the northern hemisphere is observable during the warm nights of summer at low height on the horizon.

The main stars forming this constellation are:
Rukbat: its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “knee”.
Kaus Australis: along with Kaus Borealis and Kaus Meridionalis they form the bow (kaus).
Alnast: its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “tip (of the arrow)”.
Ascella: its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “armpit”.
Nunki: its name comes from the Assyrian, meaning “star announced by the sea”, refering a zone in the sky with aquatic constellation (Aquarius, Psices, Piscis austrinus, etc.).
Arkat: its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “tendon”.

Other objects

M 20, a spectacular cluster with nebula of denominated emission including popularly known like leaves, of magnitude 6.3, very easy to locate. It is located closely together of M8, has an angular diameter of 28' of arc and it’s 5,200 light years away from Earth.
M 8, a precious cluster with associated nebula, of magnitude 5.0, it has an angular diameter of 80'x60 ' of arc popularly denominated “the cloudy Lagoon”.
M 21, a precious cluster of magnitude 5.9, 13' of arc of angular diameter. It is 4,200 light years away from Earth. It has a considered age of 4.5 million years, is formed by stars from the eighth magnitude.
M 23, a cluster of magnitude 5.5 located to the north of the constellation, it has an angular diameter of 27' of arc and it is 2,200 light years away from Earth. It has a considered age of 220 million years; it is a relatively old stellar cluster.
M 17, denominated “the swan”, it has an associated nebula to the north of the constellation closely together with Ophiuchus. It has an angular diameter of 11' of arc, and it’s 4,800 light years away from Earth.
M 18, a cluster located to the south of the previous one, of magnitude 6.9 of 9' of arc of angular diameter. It is 3,900 light years away from Earth. It has a considered age of 31 million years.
M 28, a precious globular cluster of magnitude 6.9 located in the center of the constellation. It has an angular diameter of 15' of arc, and it is 18,900 light years away from Earth.
M 22, a globular cluster next to the previous one, of magnitude 5.1 with an angular diameter of 17' of arc. It is 10,000 light years away from Earth.
M 54, a globular cluster located to the south of the constellation, of magnitude 7.7 of 5,5' of angular diameter. It is 70,000 light years away from Eartht, much farther that the nucleus of our galaxy that is 30,000 light years away from Earth, therefore, is in the other part of our galaxy.
M 69, a precious and small globular cluster located to the south of the constellation, of magnitude 7.7 and 3,8' of angular diameter. It is 33,000 light years away from Earth.
M 55, a globular cluster located to the southwest of the constellation, with a 7.0 of magnitude and an angular diameter of 15' of arc. It is 16,600 light years away from Earth.

Scorpius (The Scorpion)

Scorpuis is a beautiful constellation of southern hemisphere with the exact form of a Scorpion fit between parallels 10° and 45°. It is observable in northern hemisphere from April to September and in the southern hemisphere in Autumn, Winter and Spring. Its shape is easy to identify. We can highlight the star Antares, which is also known as the heart of the scorpion, the brightest and the redder star of the constellation.

It limits to the north with Ophiuchus, to the east with Libra and Lupus, to the south with Ara and Norma, and to the west with Corona Australis, Sagittarius and again Ophiuchus.

The myth of Scorpio comes from an old Greek legend related to the attempted rape of Artemis (the Moon) by the giant Orion.

In the legend it is said that Artemis fell at the feet of his father (Zeus) and, hugging his knees, asked for a short tunic, a jacket shoes, a quiver of arrows and a bow; just as his brother, Apollo, had. In classical mythology, Artemis is the goddess of hunting and forest and is symbolized by a bear.

Orion was a giant, famous because of its beauty and strength, the son of the Earth and Poseidon. His stature allowed him to walk on the sea floor keeping his head over the water. They say that one day, Artemis was hunting when Orion appeared. He saw her young and beautiful and tried to seduce her –it is said that the giant tried to rape her. But Artemis was a caste divinity to defend herself from Orion, she requested the help of a scorpion. This deadly scorpion, stung the giant and released her.

To reward the scorpion, the goddess placed it in the sky, just on the opposite side of the constellation of Orion.

Other objects

           M 4, a spectacular globular cluster located to less of 1º of arc of Antares and very easy to identify. Its magnitude is of 5.90, is located 6,800 light years away from Earth, it has an angular diameter of 26', therefore, it is enormous compared with other globular clusters.

            M 80, a precious globular cluster located at the north of the constellation, its magnitude is 7.2 and it has 8,9' of angular diameter, it’s located 26,000 light years away from Earth.

           M 7, a cluster located at the south of the constellation, closely together of Sagittarius, of magnitude 3.3 formed by more than 80 stars. It has 80' arc of angular diameter, it’s located 780 light years away from Earth. It has a considered age of 220 million years.

           M 6, a cluster located in the southwest of the constellation near M7 and next to Sagittarius, of magnitude 4.2 and angular diameter of 14' of arc, is 2,000 light years away from Earth. It has a considered age of 51 million years.

Libra(The Scales)

It’s not a very bright constellation, nor easy to distinct, located between Virgo –to the west– and Scorpio –to the east. Due to its low visual appeal, it results easier to find it starting with Scorpio. To do this, we must extend the Scorpion claws in order to form bigger claws. The “fulcrum” of the scales –Zuben Elgenubi– lies almost exactly on the ecliptic, midway and a few degrees north of a line extending between Spica (Virgo) and Antares (Scorpius).
The scales symbolized the identic length of day and night during equinoxes: two thousand years ago, the sun crossing Libra marked September equinox. Roman astrologers interpreted these scales as The Justice, held by Astrea, the goddess of justice. It is also said that Libra represents the Golden chariot of Hades (Pluto).
Libra limits to the north with the constellation of Serpens, Cauda and Virgo –which also limits with Libra in the east-, to the south with Hydra and Lupus, and to the west with Scorpius and Ophiuchus.

The main stars forming Libra are:

Alpha Librae, ; called Zuben Elgenubi (southern claw), of magnitude 2,73 and White colored. It is located 77 light years away from Earth.
Beta Librae, ; called Zuben Elschemali (northern claw), of magnitude 2,61 and blue colored. It is located 160 light years away from Earth.
Gamma Librae, ; called Zuben Elakrab, of magnitude 3,92 and orange colored. It is located 152 light years away from Earth.

Other objects

NGC 5897, a precious globular accumulation of magnitude 8.60, 9' diameter arc, it is located 38,000 light years away from Earth.

Virgo (The Virgin)

Virgo, also known as Astrea –the daughter of Zeus and Themis, therefore, a titan- personified along with her mother the justice. According to other sources, she was the daughter of Astraeus and Eos.
She was the last inmortal who lived amog the humans during Cronus Golden Age, leaving in last place when it became the Age of Bronze. Zeus lifted her to the sky as a constellation, and the scale of justice in her hands became the constellation of Libra.
The reward for her loyalty may have been she was allowed to keep her virginity (she’s the only virgin amog the titans) and her place in the stars.


Virgo is one of the biggest constellation in the sky with almost 1300 square degrees, only surpassed by the constellation of Hydra with 1303 square degrees. It’s located in celestial equator ans it is visible in both hemispheres for more tan six months from February to August. In addition, it’s the biggest zodiacal constellation, therefore, the sun remains on it for more tan 40 days (concretely 45 days) making it the longest solar month.
It limits to the north with Boötes and Coma Berenices; to the east with Leo; to the south with Crater, Corvus and Hydra; and finally to the west with Libra and Serpens Caput.


The main stars forming Virgo are:
• Spica: or Alpha Virginis. Its name comes from the Latin, meaning “the spike”. It refers to the spike the virgin holds in her hand.
• Zavijavh: or Beta Virginis. Its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “the corner”.
• Vindemiatrix: or Epsilon Virginis. Its name comes from the Latin, meaning “the grape-harvestress”.

Other objects

M61; precious spiral galaxy Sb located in the center of the constellation of magnitude 9.6, 6,6'x6 ' of angular diameter.

M49; elliptical very shining galaxy, E; of located magnitude 8.4 near the previous one of 8'x7 ' of angular diameter.

M86; elliptical galaxy of magnitude 8.90 of 12'x9 ' located in the north of the constellation near Comma in the accumulation of Virgo of galaxies.

M87; elliptical galaxy of magnitude 8.60 of 7'x7 ' of diameter arc, is in the same accumulation of Virgo of galaxies.

M98; elliptical galaxy of magnitude 9.80 of 3,4'x3 ' of diameter arc, is in the same accumulation of Virgo of galaxies.

M60; elliptical galaxy of magnitude 8.8 of 3'x2 ' of arc located in the accumulation of Virgo of galaxies.

M49; elliptical galaxy of magnitude 8.4 of 8'x7 ' of arc located in the accumulation of Virgo of galaxies.

M104; precious denominated galaxy the one of the hat by its almost perfect form to a hat whose Vista from the Earth is almost of profile. One is closely together located to the south of the constellation of Corvus. It has a magnitude of 8,0, has an angular diameter of 8,9'x4'.

Leo (The Lion)

Leo corresponds to the Lion of Nemea, son of Typhon and Echidna. He wandered the fields devouring people and animals, he was invulnerable. The first task of Hercules was to kill him. The lion’s home was a cave with two entrances, so Hercules blocked one of them and got inside by the other one to catch the beast.
Hercules surprised the beast and strangulated it, then peles it with its own claws and takes the head as a helmet. Zeus gave the lion a place in the sky to honor hi son.

Leo is a beautiful constellation visible from December to May in northern hemisphere and in Autumn in the southern hemisphere. The sun crosses this constellation from the middle of August to middle of September. In it we can highlight the star Regulus as the heart of the beast. On the other hand, this constellation does not cross the celestial equator and it’s located 50° to the north of Milky Way’s equator.
It limits to the north with Ursa Major and Leo Minor; to the east with Cancer; to the south with Hydra, Sextans and Crater; and finally to the west with Coma Berenices and Virgo.


The main stars forming Leo are:
• Regulus: or Alpha Leonis. Its name comes from the Latin, meaning “the little king”. It is one of the four mesopotamian royal stars along with Aldebaran in Taurus, Antares in Scorpius and Fomalhaut in southern Fish.

• Denebola: or Beta Leonis. Its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “the tail of the lion”.
• Algieba: or Gamma Leonis. Its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “the forehead (of the lion)”.
Other objects

M 65; precious galaxy of the Sa type, magnitude and 9.3 diameter 9'x2 ' of arc; located in the tail of I read close with the constellation of Virgo.

M 66; precious galaxy of the Sb type of magnitude 8.9, diameter 9'x4 ' of arc located next to M65.

M 95, galaxy located in the center of the constellation, magnitude 9.7 and the SBb type, of diameter 8,5'x5 ' of arc.

M 96, galaxy stuck to the previous one of magnitude 9.30 and the type Sa or Sb, has an angular diameter of 7,5x5'.

Cancer (The Crab)

The story of the celestial Crab named Cancer brings us to the adventures of Hercules and his twelve ardous labors. The heroic Hercules was another son of Zeus, born illegitimately of a mortal mother.
Hera, wife of Zeus, jealous of this divine infidelity, decided to take revenge on the boy and invoked many terrible punishments against the young hero, including madness; finally, she made him a slave of a Greek King who imposed him 12 jobs. If he managed to accomplish them all, he would be free.
The second job was to kill Hydra of Lerna, hideous swamp creature whose breath was poisonous, huge body and 8 or 9 snake heads. If the center head was cut, it immediately grows back twice as big.
Hera, watching the fight between Hercules and Hydra, decided to intervene in favor of Hydra and sent a giant hero to distract the hero with his pincers. Cancer, the Crab, was rewarded for this action despite it was useless, and Hera gave him a place among the stars close to another victim of Hercules: the Lion.


Cancer is a constellation lacking of bright stars. Cancer’s sky area extends major part of the line that ties Geminorum with Regulus or Leonis. It limits to the north with Lynx; to the east with Gemini and Canis Minor; to the south with Hydra and to the west with Leo. It lies between parallels 10° and 30°, therefore, visible from November to April in northern hemisphere and during the austral summer in southern hemisphere. The ecliptic crosses the constellation in the end of July and the first days of August.


The main stars forming this constellation are:
• Acubens: or Alpha Cancri. Its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “the claw”.
• Al Tarf: or Beta Cancri. Its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “the eye” or “the glance (of Leo)”.
• Ascellus Borealis: or Gamma Cancri. Its name comes from the Latin, meaning “northern donkey”. This name refer to the proximity of an open cluster which name is “the manger”.
• Ascellus Australis: or Delta Cancri. Its name comes from the Latin, meaning “southern donkey”.


Other objets

M 44 or the Praesebre, wonderful cluster of 3.10 magnitude combine at first visible. The ass of north or g and the ass of the south or d are between . Bayer astronomer observed it as a star and catalogued as and Cancri whose star is immersed in the cluster. Galileo solved this agglomeration contanto 36 stars. But already he was famous in the antiquity, in fact, Pliny the Old one mentions it like trustworthy indicator of the metereológico time. It is a physical system distributed on a relatively great zone 95' of arc. Light of us is to 590 years and moves to todsas stars of the accumulation to a 27 speed of km/s. Tiene an age of 660 million years.

M 67, another precious cluster located to the south of the constellation, formed by five hundred stars that are to 2400 years light of us. He is much more old that the Manger, its age is considered in 3.900 million years. It has an angular diameter of 30' of arc.

Gemini (The Twins)

It can be seen during the autumn and winter in the northern hemisphere, and in summer in the southern hemisphere. It limits to the north with Lynx and Auriga; to the east with Taurus and Orion; to the south to the constellations of Monoceros and Canis Minor; and to the west with Cancer. The planets Neptune and Pluto were discovered while passing through this constellation.
Mythological story of the constellation.
In classical Greece, the constellation represents Leda's twins born of different fathers. One mortal and one immortal (son of Zeus), who shared everything except death. Pollux, seeing his brother Castor threatened with death, asked Zeus to also take away his life in order to not separate from his brother. Finally, Zeus gave them both immortality, with the condition that thw two brothers together descended to Hades (to death) the first part of the year and the second half to come back to life in Olympus.

1-    Castor (alpha)
2-    Pollux (beta)
3-    Wasat (delta)
4-    Mebsuta (epsilon)
5-    Mekbuda (zeta)
6-    Propus (eta)
7-    Iota
8-    Tejat Posterior (mu)
9-    Alzirr (xi)
10- Alhena (gamma)
11- Theta
12- Upsilon
13- Kappa
14- Nu

Other objects

M35; precious rich stellar accumulation and partially concentrated of 28' of diameter arc, that is in the limit with the constellation of Taurus. Of magnitude 5.10, Earth light is to 2,800 years. It has an age of about 100 million years, the most shining star has a magnitude of 8,0.

Taurus (the Bull)

It is one of the most impressive constellations in the northern sky because of the large number of stars that compose it, among which are the Pleiades and the Hyades.
It is located at the northwest of the giant Orion and southwest of Auriga. The brightest star, Aldebaran (also called “red eye of the bull”), makes it immediately identifiable.
Our conventional view of Taurus is incomplete a figure that includes only the anterior half of the animal, facing the east with a head crowned by excessively long horns pointing to Orion. The higher horn tip touches the heel of Auriga, and this star had been shared by both constellations.
The position of Taurus, near the celestial equator, allows its observation from anywhere in the world, except from the Antarctic region, where it partially hides. In Winter from the northern hemisphere and in the tropics, is shown in its most magnificent.
Its highest point is between late November and early December.

Mythological story of the constellation
Like other constellations, Taurus has a different mythological story depending on the civilization. In Egypt, Taurus is associated with the god Osiris, who was represented by a bull-god, and his sister Isis, represented by a cow. When the crescent moon crossed this constellation, it formed the horns of the bull.
In Greece, this constellation contains two stories that tell the amorous adventures of Zeus in which intervenes this symbolism. First, Io, transformed into a cow by Hera; and second, Europe a maiden which is seduced by Zeus, then taken by him to Crete where he possesses her. (Remember that Io and Europa are two of the major Jupiter satellites.)
The Romans identified the bull with Bacchus. During the Bacchanalia, a bull got covered with flowers recieved the escort of young dancers representing the clusters of the Pleiades and the Hyades.

Main stars

Alpha, a; denominated Aldebarán, of magnitude 0.99 and visible orange color at first. Earth light is to 65 years and is a star 150 times more luminous than our Sun Form leaves from the cluster of the Hyades but like optical effect since it is to half of distance of the stellar cluster. One is located in the center of the constellation.

Beta, b; denominated the Nath or Alnath, one is in the limit with Auriga and also g Aurigae is denominated. Of magnitude 1.68 and blue color Earth light is to 131 years, it is a giant 294 times more luminous than our Sun formed in the M45 cluster or the one of the Pleyades.

Gamma, g; denominated Hyadum I, it comprises of the vertex of the cluster of the Hyades, of magnitude 3.65 and of orange color Earth light is to 154 years, is 64 times more luminous than our Sun Form leaves from the cluster of the Hyades like main component.

Other objects

M45, denominated Pleyades, wonderful stellar cluster formed by blue stars located to 368 years Earth light, is formed by blue giant stars whose original nebula can be observed with great telescopes.

M 1; planetary nebula of magnitude 8.4 of angular diameter 6'x4', in her is observable the star that in 1054 exploded becoming pressing denominated 3C144. it is located closely together of z Tauri in the western sector of Taurus.

NGC 1807; precious stellar cluster of magnitude 7.0, 17' of arc of diameter angular and formed by stars of ninth magnitude. One is in the south of the constellation.

NGC 1817; pretty stellar cluster located to only 20' of NGC 1807, magnitude 7.7, has an angular diameter of 16', is formed by fifty stars that oscillate between tenth and décimocuarta magnitude. Earth light is to 5,700 years and has a considered age of 790 million years

Aries (The Ram)

It is located in the northern hemisphere between the zodiacal constellations of Pisces and Taurus. The Sun crosses this constellation from late April to early May. The ecliptic crosses Aries by the lower part of the constellation, near the constellation of Cetus. This is a small constellation of about 400 square degrees.
It limits to the north with Andromeda and Triangulum; to the east with Pisces; to thw south with Cetus and to the west with Taurus. It is located about 40° latitude south of Milky Way’s equator and, therefore, in a poor area of ​​the sky of stars, star clusters and globular clusters, and somewhat richer in galaxies.

The star most shining of Aries, a arietis of second magnitude has like name to Hamal or head of the sheep, is a giant star that stands out more within the celestial desert of the zone, seems to be that many temples of the antiquity were oriented towards her, specially the dedicated ones to Zeus & his Athenian divine daughter.

stars
Gamma Arietis is a well-known binary of similar stars: 4.8, 4.8; PA 360º, separation 7.8".

Lambda Arietis is a wide binary: 4.9, 7.7; PA 46º, separation 37.4".

Epsilon Arietis is a closer binary of nearly equal stars: 5.2, 5.5; PA 203º, separation 1.4".

30 Ari is a fixed binary with wide component: 6.6, 7.4; PA 274º and separation 38.6".

33 Ari is also fixed, with a faint component: 5.5, 8.4; PA 360º, separation 28.6".

Sky Objects: NGC 772: Striped galaxy of the Sb type, spiral that is observed of profile, brilliant of magnitude 10.

Pisces(The Fish)

Aphrodite and Eros –mother and son, respectively-, these two mythological figures were surprised by the monster Typhon, but Aphrodite knew they could escape by the sea. They took Cupid with them into the sea, and both were transformed into fish. They tied themselves with a rope, so in the sky we can see mother and son tied by a rope.
Aphrodite and Eros –mother and son, respectively-, these two mythological figures were surprised by the monster Typhon, but Aphrodite knew they could escape by the sea. They took Cupid with them into the sea, and both were transformed into fish. They tied themselves with a rope, so in the sky we can see mother and son tied by a rope.

The main stars forming Pisces are:
• Al Rischa: or Alpha Piscium. Its name comes from the persian word ‘risku’, which the Arabs transformed in the Arabic word Rischa, meaning “rope”. This may
 refer to the unión of two fish.
• Fum Al Samakah: or Beta Piscium. Its name comes from the Arabic,
 meaning “the mouth of the fish”
Pisces represents two fish tied by a rope.

Aquarius (Water Carrier)

Ganymede, the son of the King Tros of Troy, was the most beautiful of the young men on Earth. Thus, the gods chose him to be the carrier of the golden goblet of the holy nectar of the gods, and also gave him the gift of eternal youth.

In later versions, Zeus –the king of the gods- fell in love with Ganymede, therefore he sequestered the boy and took him to the Olympus to make him his personal drink pourer. The kidnapping of Ganymede had a lot of repercussions in Mount Olympus. His arrival brought the displacement of Hebe –goddess of youth- and the rage of her mother Hera, who felt insulted and ashamed to know the feeling Zeus had for Ganymede. Hera’s reaction angered Zeus, who glorified Ganymede and gave him a place in the stars.

Aquarius is the eleventh zodiac asterism. The sun crosses this constellation during the months of February and March. It is a rather modest and inconspicuous constellation located at the south celestial Equator about 1000 squared degrees. It’s easy to locate because is between Fomalhaut at the south and the Great Quadrangle of Pegasus at the north. It limits to the north with Pisces, Pegasus, Equuleus and Delphinus; to the east with Aquila; to the south with Capricornus, Pisces Austrinus and Sculptor; and to the west with the constellation of Cetus.

Aquarius is situated 50° south to the galactic equator –close the the galactic south pole, where the constellation of Sculptor is located. We can see a low density of bright stars and star clusters, but it is posible to see globular clusters and galaxies.

We can see Aquarius by 9 p.m. in September and October.

The main stars forming Aquarius are:

• Sadalmelik: or Alpha Aquarii. Its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “luck of the king” (Al Sa'd al Malik).

• Sadalsuud: or Beta Aquarii. Its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “the luckiest of the lucky” or “luck of lucks”.

• Sadachbia: or Gamma Aquarii. Its name comes from the Arabic, meaning “luck of the homes (tents)”.

Aquarius represents a person pouring water from a jug.