History and mythology Aquarius (constellation)

a representation of aquarius printed in 1825 part of urania s mirror (including now-obsolete constellation, ballon aerostatique south of it)

in first century, ptolemy s almagest established common western depiction of aquarius. water jar, asterism itself, consists of gamma, pi, eta, , zeta aquarii; pours water in stream of more 20 stars terminating fomalhaut, assigned solely piscis austrinus. water bearer s head represented 5th magnitude 25 aquarii while left shoulder beta aquarii; right shoulder , forearm represented alpha , gamma aquarii respectively.

in eastern astronomy

in chinese astronomy, stream of water flowing water jar depicted army of yu-lin (yu-lin-kiun or yulinjun). name yu-lin means feathers , forests , referring numerous light-footed soldiers northern reaches of empire represented these faint stars. constellation s stars numerous of chinese constellation, numbering 45, majority of located in modern aquarius. celestial army protected wall leibizhen, counted iota, lambda, phi, , sigma aquarii among 12 stars. 88, 89, , 98 aquarii represent fou-youe, axes used weapons , hostage executions. in aquarius loui-pi-tchin, ramparts stretch 29 , 27 piscium , 33 , 30 aquarii through phi, lambda, sigma, , iota aquarii delta, gamma, kappa, , epsilon capricorni.

near border cetus, axe fuyue represented 3 stars; position disputed , may have instead been located in sculptor. tienliecheng has disputed position; 13-star castle replete ramparts may have possessed nu , xi aquarii may instead have been located south in piscis austrinus. water jar asterism seen ancient chinese tomb, fenmu. nearby, emperors mausoleum xiuliang stood, demarcated kappa aquarii , 3 other collinear stars. ku ( crying ) , qi ( weeping ), each composed of 2 stars, located in same region.

three of chinese lunar mansions shared name constellations. nu, name 10th lunar mansion, handmaiden represented epsilon, mu, 3, , 4 aquarii. 11th lunar mansion shared name constellation xu ( emptiness ), formed beta aquarii , alpha equulei; represented bleak place associated death , funerals. wei, rooftop , 12th lunar mansion, v-shaped constellation formed alpha aquarii, theta pegasi, , epsilon pegasi; shared name 2 other chinese constellations, in modern-day scorpius , aries.