Ophiuchus () is a large
constellation straddling the
celestial equator
The celestial equator is the great circle of the imaginary celestial sphere on the same plane as the equator of Earth. This plane of reference bases the equatorial coordinate system. In other words, the celestial equator is an abstract proj ...
. Its name comes from the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
(), meaning "serpent-bearer", and it is commonly represented as a man grasping a snake. The serpent is represented by the constellation
Serpens
Serpens ( grc, , , the Serpent) is a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. One of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, it remains one of the 88 modern constellations designated by the International ...
. Ophiuchus was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...
, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. An old alternative name for the constellation was Serpentarius ().
Location
Ophiuchus lies between
Aquila,
Serpens
Serpens ( grc, , , the Serpent) is a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. One of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, it remains one of the 88 modern constellations designated by the International ...
,
Scorpius
Scorpius is a zodiac constellation located in the Southern celestial hemisphere, where it sits near the center of the Milky Way, between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Scorpius is an ancient constellation that pre-dates the Gr ...
,
Sagittarius, and
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the ...
, northwest of the center of the
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...
. The southern part lies between
Scorpius
Scorpius is a zodiac constellation located in the Southern celestial hemisphere, where it sits near the center of the Milky Way, between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Scorpius is an ancient constellation that pre-dates the Gr ...
to the west and
Sagittarius to the east. In the
northern hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...
, it is best visible in summer. It is opposite of
Orion. Ophiuchus is depicted as a man grasping a
serpent
Serpent or The Serpent may refer to:
* Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes
Mythology and religion
* Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature
* Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts
* Serp ...
; the interposition of his body divides the snake constellation Serpens into two parts,
Serpens Caput
Serpens ( grc, , , the Serpent) is a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. One of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, it remains one of the 88 modern constellations designated by the International ...
and
Serpens Cauda
Serpens ( grc, , , the Serpent) is a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. One of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, it remains one of the 88 modern constellations designated by the Internationa ...
. Ophiuchus straddles the equator with the majority of its
area
Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an ope ...
lying in the southern hemisphere.
Rasalhague
Alpha Ophiuchi (α Ophiuchi, abbreviated Alpha Oph, α Oph), also named Rasalhague , is a binary star and the brightest star in the constellation of Ophiuchus.
Nomenclature
The name Alpha Ophiuchi is a Romanisation of the star's Bay ...
, its brightest star, lies near the northern edge of Ophiuchus at about declination. The constellation extends southward to −30° declination. Segments of the ecliptic within Ophiuchus are south of −20° declination.
In contrast to Orion, from November to January (summer in the Southern Hemisphere, winter in the Northern Hemisphere), Ophiuchus is in the daytime sky and thus not visible at most latitudes. However, for much of the
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle.
The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...
in the Northern Hemisphere's winter months, the Sun is below the horizon even at midday. Stars (and thus parts of Ophiuchus, especially Rasalhague) are then visible at twilight for a few hours around local noon, low in the south. In the Northern Hemisphere's spring and summer months, when Ophiuchus is normally visible in the night sky, the constellation is actually not visible, because the
midnight sun
The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When the midnight sun is seen in the Arctic, t ...
obscures the stars at those times and places in the Arctic. In countries close to the equator, Ophiuchus appears overhead in June around midnight and in the October evening sky.
Features
Stars
The brightest stars in Ophiuchus include
α Ophiuchi, called Rasalhague ("head of the serpent charmer"), at magnitude 2.07, and
η Ophiuchi
Eta Ophiuchi (η Ophiuchi, abbreviated Eta Oph, η Oph) is a binary star in the constellation of Ophiuchus. Based on parallax measurements taken during the Hipparcos mission, it is approximately 88 light-years from the Sun.
Eta Op ...
, known as Sabik ("the preceding one"), at magnitude 2.43.
[ I]
V/50
Alpha Ophiuchi is compposed of an A-type giant star
and a
K-type main sequence star
A K-type main-sequence star, also referred to as a K-type dwarf or an orange dwarf, is a main-sequence (hydrogen-burning) star of spectral type K and luminosity class V. These stars are intermediate in size between red M-type main-sequence star ...
.
The primary is a rapid rotator
with an inclined axis of rotation.
Eta Ophiuchi is a binary system.
Other bright stars in the constellation include
β Ophiuchi, Cebalrai ("dog of the shepherd") and
λ Ophiuchi, or Marfik ("the elbow"). Beta Ophiuchi is an evolved
red giant star that is slightly more massive than the Sun.
Lambda Ophiuchi is a binary star system with the primary being more massive and luminous than the Sun.
RS Ophiuchi
RS Ophiuchi (''RS Oph'') is a recurrent nova system approximately 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus. In its quiet phase it has an apparent magnitude of about 12.5. It has been observed to erupt in 1898, 1933, 1958, 1967 ...
is part of a class called recurrent
novae, whose brightness increase at irregular intervals by hundreds of times in a period of just a few days. It is thought to be at the brink of becoming a type-1a
supernova. It erupts around every 15 years and usually has a magnitude of around 5.0 during eruptions, most recently in 2021.
Barnard's Star
Barnard's Star is a red dwarf about six light-years from Earth in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It is the fourth-nearest-known individual star to the Sun after the three components of the Alpha Centauri system, and the closest star in t ...
, one of the
nearest stars
This list covers all known stars, brown dwarfs, and sub-brown dwarfs within of the Sun. So far, 131 such objects have been found, of which only 22 are bright enough to be visible without a telescope. The visible light needs to reach or exc ...
to the
Solar System
The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...
(the only stars closer are the
Alpha Centauri binary star system and
Proxima Centauri), lies in Ophiuchus. It is located to the left of β and just north of the V-shaped group of stars in an area that was once occupied by the now-obsolete constellation of
Taurus Poniatovii
Taurus Poniatovii (Latin for ''Poniatowski's bull'') was a constellation created by the former rector of Vilnius University, Marcin Odlanicki Poczobutt, in 1777 to honor Stanislaus Poniatowski, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. It cons ...
(Poniatowski's Bull). It is thought that an exoplanet orbits around the star,
but later studies have refuted this claim.
In 1998, an intense flare was observed.
The star has also been a target of plans for interstellar travel such as
Project Daedalus
Project Daedalus (named after Daedalus, the Greek mythological designer who crafted wings for human flight) was a study conducted between 1973 and 1978 by the British Interplanetary Society to design a plausible uncrewed interstellar probe.Pro ...
.
In 2005, astronomers using data from the
Green Bank Telescope
The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in Green Bank, West Virginia, US is the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope, surpassing the Effelsberg 100-m Radio Telescope in Germany. The Green Bank site was part of the National Radi ...
discovered a
superbubble so large that it extends beyond the plane of the galaxy.
It is called the
Ophiuchus Superbubble
The Ophiuchus Superbubble is an astronomical phenomenon located in the Ophiuchus constellation, with a center around ℓ ≈ 30 °. This giant superbubble was first discovered in a 2007 study of extraplanar neutral hydrogen in the disk-halo trans ...
.
In April 2007,
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...
s announced that the
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
-built
Odin satellite had made the first detection of clouds of
molecular oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
in space, following observations in the constellation Ophiuchus. The
supernova of 1604 was first observed on 9 October 1604, near θ Ophiuchi.
Johannes Kepler saw it first on 16 October and studied it so extensively that the
supernova was subsequently called ''Kepler's Supernova''. He published his findings in a book titled ''De stella nova in pede Serpentarii'' (''On the New Star in Ophiuchus's Foot'').
Galileo used its brief appearance to counter the
Aristotelian dogma
Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Isla ...
that the heavens are changeless. It was a Type Ia supernova
and the most recent Milky Way supernova visible to the unaided eye. In 2009 it was announced that
GJ 1214
Extrasolar PlanetsEncyclopaedia
Gliese 1214 is a dim M4.5 red dwarf in the constellation Ophiuchus with an apparent magnitude of 14.7. It is located at a distance of approximately 47 light years from Earth. The star is about one-fifth t ...
, a star in Ophiuchus, undergoes repeated, cyclical dimming with a period of about 1.5 days consistent with the transit of a small orbiting planet. The planet's low density (about 40% that of Earth) suggests that the planet may have a substantial component of low-density gas—possibly
hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...
or
steam. The proximity of this star to Earth (42 light years) makes it a tempting target for further observations. The host star emits X-rays which could have removed mass from the exoplanet.
In April 2010, the naked-eye star
ζ Ophiuchi was occulted by the asteroid
824 Anastasia
824 Anastasia is a main belt asteroid orbiting the Sun. It is approximately 34.14 km in diameter. It was discovered on March 25, 1916, by Grigory Neujmin at Simeiz Observatory in Russian Empire. It is named in memory of Anastasia Semenoff, an ...
.
Image:OphiuchusCC.jpg, The constellation Ophiuchus as it can be seen by naked eye
Image:Kepler Drawing of SN 1604.png, Johannes Kepler's drawing depicting the location of the ''stella nova'' in the foot of Ophiuchus
Image:Stjärnbild på Herkules, 1602 - Skoklosters slott - 102426.tif, Hercules and Ophiuchus, 1602 by Willem Blaeu
Willem Janszoon Blaeu (; 157121 October 1638), also abbreviated to Willem Jansz. Blaeu, was a Dutch cartographer, atlas maker and publisher. Along with his son Johannes Blaeu, Willem is considered one of the notable figures of the Netherlandis ...
Deep-sky objects
Ophiuchus contains several
star clusters, such as
IC 4665,
NGC 6633
NGC 6633 is a large bright open cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus. Discovered in 1745-46 by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux, it was independently rediscovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783 and included in her brother William Herschel, William's cat ...
,
M9,
M10,
M12,
M14,
M19,
M62, and
M107, as well as the
nebula IC 4603-4604.
M9 is a globular cluster which may have an extra-galactic origin.
M10 is a fairly close
globular cluster
A globular cluster is a spheroidal conglomeration of stars. Globular clusters are bound together by gravity, with a higher concentration of stars towards their centers. They can contain anywhere from tens of thousands to many millions of membe ...
, only 20,000 light-years from Earth. It has a magnitude of 6.6 and is a Shapley class VII cluster. This means that it has "intermediate" concentration; it is only somewhat concentrated towards its center. M12 is a globular cluster which is around 5 kiloparsecs from the Solar System.
M14 is another globular cluster which is somewhat farther away.
Globular cluster M19 is
oblate-shaped with multiple different types of variable stars.
M62 is a globular cluster rich in
variable star
A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as e ...
s such as
RR Lyrae variables
RR Lyrae variables are periodic variable stars, commonly found in globular clusters. They are used as standard candles to measure (extra) galactic distances, assisting with the cosmic distance ladder. This class is named after the prototype and ...
and has two generations of stars with different element abundances.
M107 is also rich in variable stars.
The unusual
galaxy merger remnant and
starburst galaxy
A starburst galaxy is one undergoing an exceptionally high rate of star formation, as compared to the long-term average rate of star formation in the galaxy or the star formation rate observed in most other galaxies. For example, the star formatio ...
NGC 6240
NGC 6240, also known as the Starfish Galaxy, is a nearby ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) in the constellation Ophiuchus. The galaxy is the remnant of a merger between three smaller galaxies. The collision between the three progenitor gala ...
is also in Ophiuchus. At a distance of 400 million light-years, this "butterfly-shaped" galaxy has two
supermassive black hole
A supermassive black hole (SMBH or sometimes SBH) is the largest type of black hole, with its mass being on the order of hundreds of thousands, or millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun (). Black holes are a class of astronomical ob ...
s 3,000 light-years apart. Confirmation of the fact that both
nuclei contain black holes was obtained by
spectra from the
Chandra X-ray Observatory
The Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), previously known as the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), is a Flagship-class space telescope launched aboard the during STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999. Chandra is sensitive to X-ray sources 1 ...
. Astronomers estimate that the black holes will
merge
Merge, merging, or merger may refer to:
Concepts
* Merge (traffic), the reduction of the number of lanes on a road
* Merge (linguistics), a basic syntactic operation in generative syntax in the Minimalist Program
* Merger (politics), the comb ...
in another billion years. NGC 6240 also has an unusually high rate of
star formation, classifying it as a
starburst galaxy
A starburst galaxy is one undergoing an exceptionally high rate of star formation, as compared to the long-term average rate of star formation in the galaxy or the star formation rate observed in most other galaxies. For example, the star formatio ...
. This is likely due to the heat generated by the orbiting black holes and the aftermath of the
collision
In physics, a collision is any event in which two or more bodies exert forces on each other in a relatively short time. Although the most common use of the word ''collision'' refers to incidents in which two or more objects collide with great fo ...
.
Both have
active galactic nuclei
An active galactic nucleus (AGN) is a compact region at the center of a galaxy that has a much-higher-than-normal luminosity over at least some portion of the electromagnetic spectrum with characteristics indicating that the luminosity is not prod ...
.
[
]
In 2006, a new nearby
star cluster was discovered associated with the 4th magnitude star
Mu Ophiuchi. The
Mamajek 2 cluster appears to be a poor cluster remnant analogous to the
Ursa Major Moving Group, but 7 times more distant (approximately 170 parsecs away). Mamajek 2 appears to have formed in the same star-forming complex as the
NGC 2516 cluster roughly 135 million years ago.
Barnard 68
Barnard 68 is a molecular cloud, dark absorption nebula or Bok globule, towards the southern constellation Ophiuchus and well within the Milky Way galaxy at a distance of about 500 light-years, so close that not a single star can be seen between ...
is a large
dark nebula
A dark nebula or absorption nebula is a type of interstellar cloud, particularly molecular clouds, that is so dense that it obscures the visible wavelengths of light from objects behind it, such as background stars and emission or reflection nebu ...
, located 410 light-years from Earth. Despite its diameter of 0.4 light-years, Barnard 68 only has twice the mass of the Sun, making it both very diffuse and very cold, with a temperature of about 16
kelvin
The kelvin, symbol K, is the primary unit of temperature in the International System of Units (SI), used alongside its prefixed forms and the degree Celsius. It is named after the Belfast-born and University of Glasgow-based engineer and phy ...
s. Though it is currently stable, Barnard 68 will eventually collapse, inciting the process of
star formation. One unusual feature of Barnard 68 is its vibrations, which have a period of 250,000 years. Astronomers speculate that this phenomenon is caused by the
shock wave
In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...
from a
supernova.
Barnard 68 has blocked thousands of stars visible at other wavelengths and the distribution of dust in Barnard 68 has been mapped.
The space probe
Voyager 1
''Voyager 1'' is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. Launched 16 days after its twin ''Voyager 2'', ''Voya ...
, the furthest man-made object from earth, is traveling in the direction of Ophiuchus. It is located between α Herculis, α and κ Ophiuchi at right ascension 17h 13m and declination +12° 25’ (July 2020).
In November 2022, the USA's
NSF
NSF may stand for:
Political organizations
*National Socialist Front, a Swedish National Socialist party
*NS-Frauenschaft, the women's wing of the former German Nazi party
*National Students Federation, a leftist Pakistani students' political gr ...
NOIRLab (
National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory
The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) was the United States national observatory for ground-based nighttime ultraviolet-optical-infrared (OUVIR) astronomy. The National Science Foundation (NSF) funded NOAO to provide forefront astronom ...
) announced the unambiguous identification of the nearest
stellar black hole orbited by a
G-type main-sequence star, the system identified as
Gaia BH1
Gaia BH1 (Gaia DR3 4373465352415301632) is a binary system consisting of a G-type main-sequence star and a likely stellar-mass black hole, located about away from the Solar System in the constellation of Ophiuchus. , it is the nearest k ...
at around 1,560
light years from the Sun.
[Astronomers Discover Closest Black Hole to Earth Gemini North telescope on Hawai‘i reveals first dormant, stellar-mass black hole in our cosmic backyard](_blank)
Dr Kareem El-Badry et al, USA National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...
NOIRLab (National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory
The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) was the United States national observatory for ground-based nighttime ultraviolet-optical-infrared (OUVIR) astronomy. The National Science Foundation (NSF) funded NOAO to provide forefront astronom ...
), 2022-11-04
History and mythology
There is no evidence of the constellation preceding the
classical era
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
, and in
Babylonian astronomy
Babylonian astronomy was the study or recording of celestial objects during the early history of Mesopotamia.
Babylonian astronomy seemed to have focused on a select group of stars and constellations known as Ziqpu stars. These constellations ...
, a "Sitting Gods" constellation seems to have been located in the general area of Ophiuchus. However, Gavin White proposes that Ophiuchus may in fact be remotely descended from this Babylonian constellation, representing
Nirah
Nirah was a Mesopotamian god who served as the messenger (''šipru'') of Ištaran, the god of Der. He was depicted in the form of a snake.
Name and character
The name Nirah means "little snake" in Sumerian. It could be written with the log ...
, a serpent-god who was sometimes depicted with his upper half human but with serpents for legs.
The earliest mention of the constellation is in
Aratus
Aratus (; grc-gre, Ἄρατος ὁ Σολεύς; c. 315 BC/310 BC240) was a Greek didactic poet. His major extant work is his hexameter poem ''Phenomena'' ( grc-gre, Φαινόμενα, ''Phainómena'', "Appearances"; la, Phaenomena), the ...
, informed by the lost catalogue of
Eudoxus of Cnidus (4th century BCE):
To the
ancient Greeks
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
, the constellation represented the god
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
struggling with a huge snake that guarded the
Oracle of Delphi
Pythia (; grc, Πυθία ) was the name of the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. She specifically served as its oracle and was known as the Oracle of Delphi. Her title was also historically glossed in English as the Pythoness ...
.
Later myths identified Ophiuchus with
Laocoön
Laocoön (; grc, , Laokóōn, , gen.: ), is a figure in Greek and Roman mythology and the Epic Cycle. Laocoon was a Trojan priest. He and his two young sons were attacked by giant serpents, sent by the gods. The story of Laocoön has been the su ...
, the
Trojan
Trojan or Trojans may refer to:
* Of or from the ancient city of Troy
* Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...
priest of
Poseidon
Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ...
, who warned his fellow Trojans about the
Trojan Horse
The Trojan Horse was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending before the war is concluded, ...
and was later slain by a pair of sea serpents sent by the gods to punish him.
According to
Roman era
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
mythography, the figure represents the healer
Asclepius
Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis, or Arsinoe, or of Apollo alone. Asclepius represe ...
, who learned the secrets of keeping death at bay after observing one serpent bringing another healing herbs. To prevent the entire human race from becoming
immortal
Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life.
Immortal or Immortality may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film
* ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film ''The Wisdom of ...
under Asclepius' care,
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...
killed him with a bolt of
lightning
Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...
, but later placed his image in the heavens to honor his good works. In medieval
Islamic astronomy
Islamic astronomy comprises the astronomical developments made in the Islamic world, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age (9th–13th centuries), and mostly written in the Arabic language. These developments mostly took place in the Middle ...
(
Azophi
ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Sufi ( fa, عبدالرحمن صوفی; December 7, 903 – May 25, 986) was an iranianRobert Harry van Gent. Biography of al-Sūfī'. "The Persian astronomer Abū al-Husayn ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Umar al-Sūfī was born in ...
's ''
Uranometry'', 10th century), the constellation was known as ''Al-Ḥawwa, "the snake-charmer".
Aratus
Aratus (; grc-gre, Ἄρατος ὁ Σολεύς; c. 315 BC/310 BC240) was a Greek didactic poet. His major extant work is his hexameter poem ''Phenomena'' ( grc-gre, Φαινόμενα, ''Phainómena'', "Appearances"; la, Phaenomena), the ...
describes Ophiuchus as trampling on
Scorpius
Scorpius is a zodiac constellation located in the Southern celestial hemisphere, where it sits near the center of the Milky Way, between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Scorpius is an ancient constellation that pre-dates the Gr ...
with his feet. This is depicted in Renaissance to Early Modern
star charts, beginning with
Albrecht Dürer in 1515; in some depictions (such as that of
Johannes Kepler in ''
De Stella Nova
''De Stella Nova in Pede Serpentarii'' (On the New Star in the Foot of the Serpent Handler), generally known as ''De Stella Nova'' was a book written by Johannes Kepler between 1605 and 1606, when the book was published in Prague.
Kepler wrote th ...
'', 1606), Scorpius also seems to threaten to sting Serpentarius in the foot. This is consistent with
Azophi
ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Sufi ( fa, عبدالرحمن صوفی; December 7, 903 – May 25, 986) was an iranianRobert Harry van Gent. Biography of al-Sūfī'. "The Persian astronomer Abū al-Husayn ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Umar al-Sūfī was born in ...
, who already included
ψ Oph and
ω Oph as the snake-charmer's "left foot", and
θ Oph and
ο Oph as his "right foot", making Ophiuchus a
zodiacal constellation
The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The paths ...
at least as regards his feet. This arrangement has been taken as symbolic in later literature and placed in relation to the words spoken by God to the serpent in the
Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15).
File:Azophi Ophiuchus.jpg, Ophiuchus in a manuscript copy of Azophi
ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Sufi ( fa, عبدالرحمن صوفی; December 7, 903 – May 25, 986) was an iranianRobert Harry van Gent. Biography of al-Sūfī'. "The Persian astronomer Abū al-Husayn ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Umar al-Sūfī was born in ...
's ''Uranometry'', 18th century copy of a manuscript prepared for Ulugh Beg
Mīrzā Muhammad Tāraghay bin Shāhrukh ( chg, میرزا محمد طارق بن شاہ رخ, fa, میرزا محمد تراغای بن شاہ رخ), better known as Ulugh Beg () (22 March 1394 – 27 October 1449), was a Timurid sultan, as ...
in 1417 (note that as in all pre-modern star charts, the constellation is mirrored, with Serpens Caput
Serpens ( grc, , , the Serpent) is a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. One of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, it remains one of the 88 modern constellations designated by the International ...
on the left and Serpens Cauda
Serpens ( grc, , , the Serpent) is a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. One of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, it remains one of the 88 modern constellations designated by the Internationa ...
on the right).
File:Sidney Hall - Urania's Mirror - Taurus Poniatowski, Serpentarius, Scutum Sobiesky, and Serpens.jpg, Ophiuchus holding the serpent, Serpens, as depicted in ''Urania's Mirror
''Urania's Mirror; or, a view of the Heavens'' is a set of 32 astronomical star chart cards, first published in November 1824. They are illustrations based on Alexander Jamieson's ''A Celestial Atlas'', but the addition of holes punched in them ...
'', a set of constellation cards published in London c. 1825. Above the tail of the serpent is the now-obsolete constellation Taurus Poniatovii
Taurus Poniatovii (Latin for ''Poniatowski's bull'') was a constellation created by the former rector of Vilnius University, Marcin Odlanicki Poczobutt, in 1777 to honor Stanislaus Poniatowski, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. It cons ...
while below it is Scutum
The ''scutum'' (; plural ''scuta'') was a type of shield used among Italic peoples in antiquity, most notably by the army of ancient Rome starting about the fourth century BC.
The Romans adopted it when they switched from the military formati ...
.
Zodiac
Ophiuchus is one of the thirteen constellations that cross the
ecliptic
The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of the Earth around the Sun. From the perspective of an observer on Earth, the Sun's movement around the celestial sphere over the course of a year traces out a path along the ecliptic agains ...
. It has sometimes been suggested as the "13th sign of the
zodiac
The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pat ...
". However, this confuses
zodiac or astrological signs with
constellations
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The origins of the earliest constellation ...
. The signs of the zodiac are a twelve-fold division of the ecliptic, so that each sign spans 30° of celestial longitude, approximately the distance the Sun travels in a month, and (in the Western tradition) are aligned with the seasons so that the
March equinox
The March equinox or northward equinox is the equinox on the Earth when the subsolar point appears to leave the Southern Hemisphere and cross the celestial equator, heading northward as seen from Earth. The March equinox is known as the ve ...
always falls on the boundary between Pisces and Aries. Constellations, on the other hand, are unequal in size and are based on the positions of the stars. The
constellations of the zodiac have only a loose association with the signs of the zodiac, and do not in general coincide with them. In Western astrology the constellation of Aquarius, for example, largely corresponds to the sign of Pisces. Similarly, the constellation of Ophiuchus occupies most (29 November – 18 December) of the sign of Sagittarius (23 November – 21 December). The differences are due to the fact that the time of year that the Sun passes through a particular zodiac constellation's position has slowly changed (because of the
precession of the equinoxes
In astronomy, axial precession is a gravity-induced, slow, and continuous change in the orientation of an astronomical body's rotational axis. In the absence of precession, the astronomical body's orbit would show axial parallelism. In partic ...
) over the centuries from when the
Babylonians
Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. 1 ...
originally developed the Zodiac.
Citations
See also
*
Ophiuchus (Chinese astronomy)
References
*
* Ridpath, Ian; and Tirion, Wil; (2007) ''Stars and Planets Guide'', Collins, London; , Princeton University Press, Princeton;
External links
The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: OphiuchusWarburg Institute Iconographic Database (medieval and early modern images of Ophiuchus under the name Serpentarius)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ophiuchus
Constellations
Equatorial constellations
Constellations listed by Ptolemy
Asclepius in mythology