CONSTELLATION (Lat. con, together, and steno, a star), a group of stars. The stars which stud the firmament have, from a time earlier than authentic records can trace, been formed into artificial groups, which have received names borrowed from fancy or fable. These groups are called consttllations. Though quite devoid of anything like systematic arrangement, this traditional grouping is found a sufficiently convenient classification, and still remains the basis of nomenclature for the stars among astrono mers. Before the invention of almanacs, the risings and settings of the constellations were looked to by husbandmen, shepherds, and sea-faring men as the great landmarks of the seasons, and consequently of the weather which each season was expected to bring with it (see Job xxxvm. 31); and it is not surprising if the storms or calm weather that usually accompanied such seasons were connected, in the popular imagination, with the influence of the stars themselves, or the beings with whom superstition or fable identified them. Thus, the risings and settings of Bootes with the bright star Arcturus, which took place near the equinoxes, portended great tempests. See Virgil's Georgics, i. 204. The great heat in July was ascribed to the rising of Canis the dog, with its bright star Sirius. See CANICULAII DAYS; and HEMACAL RISING. The appearance of the twins, Castor and Pollux, was hailed as the harbinger of fair summer weather.
Almost all nations have, from early times, arranged the stars into constellations, but it is chiefly from the nomenclature of the Greeks and Romans that our own is derived. Eudoxus, a contemporary of Plato, about 370 years m3.c. gave a description of the face of the heavens, containing the names and characters of all the constellations recognized in his time. Though this production is lost, a poetical paraphrase of it, written about a century later by Arians (q.v.), is still extant. • This poem describes twelve zodiacal
constellations (see ZODIAC), with twenty in the northern hemisphere, and thirteen in the southern. The next enumeration occurs in the Almagest of Ptolemy, which includes the preceding, with three additional, one northern and two southern constellations, making in all 48. These are the ancient stellar groups. Large accessions have been made to the nomenclature in modern times, in consequence of maritime discovery hav ing made us acquainted with constellations in the southern hemisphere which never rose upon time world known to our ancient authors. In 1751, Lacaille went to the cape for the purpose of making a catalogue of the southern stars, and forming them into constel lations—an nndertaking which he prosecuted with great ardor for nearly four years at the expense of the French government. Flattery has also contributed towards the stel lar nomenclature. Upon the restoration of Charles II., the evening before his return to London, sir Charles Scarborough, the court physician, was gazing upon a star in the northern heavens, which shone with greater luminosity than usual, as might be expected from a loyal star on such an occasion. This, in connection with a few others, was formed into Cor Caro the heart of Charles II., by Halley, at the doctor's recommenda tion. The chief constellations will be noticed under their several names. See ARIES, URSA MAJOR, etc. The fanciful figures from which the constellations are named, are depicted on celestial globes and maps of the heavens. In the older writers, C. signifies the relative positions of the planets at a given moment. See AsrEcT.