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The Raven
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Taurus
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Tucana
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Solitaire
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Solitaire 2
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Aquila the Eagle
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Columba
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Lacerta
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Lepus
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Lynx
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Pavo
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Bird of Paradise
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Camelopardalis and Draco
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Canis Major
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Cetus
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Apis
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Aries
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Ursa Major
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Hummingbird 2
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Hummingbird 3
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Snowy Owl
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The Tychonian System
Artist statement, Celestial Menagerie
Constellations are an invention of the human imagination. They are an expression of a desire to order the chaos of the night sky. For farmers who wanted an agricultural calendar, for shepherds who needed a nightly clock, for navigators and explorers dividing the sky into recognizable groupings, constellations were a practical necessity.
The constellation figures are symbolic, celestial allegories in which humans can honor and recognize sacred animals, deities, and moral tales. Throughout the centuries artists have depicted these groupings of stars. The images of these groupings and creatures have been created and recreated with various similarities and differences. Much artistic license is taken in this body of work. They are not all accurate in terms of their star’s mathematical proportions and distances but they do carry on an age-old tradition of storytelling that started with the Babylonians and Sumerians, passed on to the Egyptians and later to the Greeks and Romans.
About some of the constellations in this series
Solitaire
Astronomer Pierre-Charles Le Monnier added a few constellations to the southern sky between 1776 and 1792. He published a paper containing amongst others a constellation of a bird resembling a rock thrush known as the solitaire of the Philippines. Historian R.H. Allen disputes the identity of the bird, claiming it is similar to a Dodo. To confuse the bird’s identity further the British scientist Thomas Young renamed the constellation the Mockingbird on his star map of 1806 and on other maps astronomer Alexander Jamieson changed it in 1822 into Noctua, the Night Owl.
Taurus
Taurus is one of the most ancient of the constellations. In the zodiac, Taurus symbolizes strength of will, determination, balance and practicality. In ancient Egypt, Taurus represents both Osirus and his sister Isis who were a bull-god and a cow-goddess. In Greek mythology Taurus is said to represent Zeus in disguise, so to carry on one of his extramarital affairs. In this particular story Taurus kidnaps Europa, a Phoenician princess, and carries her on his back through the water to Crete. The bull wades up to shore and there Zeus reveals his true identity and seduces Europa.
Tucana
The identification of Tucana was collaboration between Dutch Navigators, de Houtman and Keyser, who charted the southern skies on a voyage to the East Indies, and Johanne Bayer, an astronomer who cataloged and published the newly discovered groupings of star patterns in his 1603 sky atlas entitled Uranometria. The shape of this constellation looks like the large bill of the brightly colored South American bird. Astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler who formulated the three laws of planetary motion called it Anser Americanus, the American Goose.
Lepus
Lepus the Hare is among the 48 star groupings listed by Ptolemy in Greece during the second century AD. There is a popular moral tale about a man bringing a pregnant hare to the island of Leros. Until this time Leros’s hare population was zero. The island’s hare population grew rapidly and completely out of control. The landscape was overrun and the crops were destroyed. With a united community effort the citizens drove the hares out. The hare’s image was put into the sky as a remembrance of how one can have too much of a good thing. In some Chinese myths the hare is associated with the moon. Instead of the man in the moon, a rabbit is seen. It is associated with personality traits of kindness, graciousness, generosity, amiability and artistic sensitivity in the Chinese zodiac.
Lynx
The constellation Lynx is formed by a very weak group of stars, therefore hard to see. Johannes Hevelius named this star-grouping Lynx for one needed to have eyes of a Lynx to see it. There are no legends associated with this constellation.
Pavo
Pavo represents the exotic peacock of India. In Greek Mythology Pavo was the sacred bird of Hera who drove through the air in a chariot drawn by peacocks. According to the myth Zeus involved himself in an extra-marital affair with Io and disguised her from Hera as a heifer. Hera was not fooled and put the heifer tethered to an olive tree under the guard of the one hundred eyed Argus. Zeus sent his son Hermes to tell him stories and put him to sleep in order to cut off his head and release Io. Hera placed the eyes of Argus on the tail of the Peacock.
Columba
Astronomer Petrus Plancius formed Columba the dove in 1592. It is supposed to represent Noah’s dove, sent to find dry land. There is also the story of the dove sent by Jason and the Argonauts between the clashing rocks to ensure a safe voyage.
Lacerta
Latin for lizard, Lacerta is a small and inconspicuous constellation that lies on the edge of the Milky Way. It is one of the many constellations introduced by the Dutch astronomer Johannes Hevelius. There are no known legends associated with it.
Bird of Paradise
A southern constellation also referred to as Apus Indica was identified by Pieter Keyser and Friedrich Houtmann during the 1595 Dutch East India Company expedition. This recorded 196 star constellation near the south celestial pole had previously been unseen by northern astronomers. Astronomer Johanne Bayer named this constellation Apus Indica, Bird of India, in reference to earlier Dutch explorers who had received gifts of exotic birds from natives of India.
Canis Major
Latin for great dog, Canis Major is also known as Orion’s guard dog. Canis Major contains Sirius, which is the brightest star in the night sky of the Northern Hemisphere, and is the Greek word meaning ‘scorching’. Sirius is located at the point of the dog’s nose. In ancient Greece the dawn rising of this brilliant star just before the sun marked the beginning of the hottest period of summer, a time which came to be known as the Dog Days.
Cetus
This constellation is the fourth largest constellation and is commonly identified as a sea monster. Cetus is also known as a whale or dragon fish and also by the Greeks as a hybrid land animal-serpent. In ancient Mesopotamia this grouping of stars symbolizing chaos was known as Tiamat, the cosmic dragon, who was slain by the hero Marduk. In Greek mythology Cetus, who was portrayed as a sea monster, was sent to Ethiopia to ravage the shores as punishment for the boasting of Queen Cassiopeia. The monster nearly kills Andromeda, daughter of Cassiopeia, but instead Perseus kills it.