Aquarius is a southern zodiacal constellation that lies between Capricornus and Pisces on the ecliptic. Hold your mouse cursor over the image to see constellation figures, boundaries, and star identifications. Aquarius is the Latin name for the "Water Bearer" or the "Water Carrier". It is one of the oldest constellations with many cultures associating it with water in some way. It lies in a area of sky with many other water-related constellations, such as Cetus (the Whale), Pisces (the Fishes), Eridanus (the River), Capricornus (the Sea Goat), and Piscis Austrinus (the Southern Fish). The mythology of Aquarius goes back to the Babylonians who identified the constellation with the god Ea, who was depicted holding an overflowing vase. The constellation was associated with floods in both Babylon and ancient Egypt. The "Water Jar" is a distinctive asterism in the constellation of Aquarius. It is comprised of Gamma, Pi, Eta and Zeta Aquarii. A stream of stars flows south from the Water Jar to Fomalhaut. Alpha Aquarii is Sadalmelik, a yellow-giant G2 spectral-class star that shines with an apparent magnitude of 2.93 and is located 759 light-years away. In Arabic its name means the "Lucky Stars of the King." Beta Aquarii is Sadalsuud, a yellow-giant G0 spectral-class star that shines at magnitude 2.9 and is located 612 light-years distant. Its name in Arabic means the "Luckiest of the Lucky Stars." Gamma Aquarii is Sadachbia, a blue-white A0 spectral-class star that shines at magnitude 3.83 and is located 158 light-years away. Its name in Arabic means "Lucky Stars of the Tents." Aquarius contains three Messier objects: globular clusters M2 and M72, and the 4-star asterism M73. Aquarius also contains two spectacular planetary nebulae: NGC 7009, the Saturn Nebula, and NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula. The Sun is located in the constellation of Aquarius from February 16 to March 12. Aquarius was cataloged by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century C.E. (Common Era). It is the 10th largest of today's 88 modern constellations, covering 980 square degrees of sky. North is to the bottom in the above image.
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