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Serpens (Ancient Greek: Ὄφις, romanized: Óphis, lit. '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 Astronomical Union.
Ophiuchus (/ ˌ ɒ f i ˈ juː k ə s /) is a large constellation straddling the celestial equator. Its name comes from the Ancient Greek ὀφιοῦχος (ophioûkhos), meaning "serpent-bearer", and it is commonly represented as a man grasping a snake. The serpent is represented by the constellation Serpens.
The Greek constellation of Hydra is an adaptation of a Babylonian constellation: the MUL.APIN includes a "serpent" constellation (MUL.DINGIR.MUŠ) that loosely corresponds to Hydra. It is one of two Babylonian "serpent" constellations (the other being the origin of the Greek Serpens), a mythological hybrid of serpent, lion and bird. [2]
The constellation Hydra was known in Babylonian astronomical texts as Bašmu, 'the Serpent' (𒀯 𒈲, MUL.d MUŠ). It was depicted as having the torso of a fish, the tail of a snake, the forepaws of a lion, the hind legs of an eagle, wings, and a head comparable to the mušḫuššu. [9] [10]
Each IAU constellation has an official three-letter abbreviation based on the genitive form of the constellation name. As the genitive is similar to the base name, the majority of the abbreviations are just the first three letters of the constellation name: Ori for Orion/Orionis, Ara for Ara/Arae, and Com for Coma Berenices/Comae Berenices.
Eta Serpentis, Latinized from η Serpentis, is a star in the constellation Serpens. In particular, it lies in Serpens Cauda, the snake's tail. The star has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.260, [2] making it visible to the naked eye. Parallax measurements give a distance estimate of 60.5 light-years (18.5 parsecs) from the Earth. [1]
Hydra is the largest constellation, covering more than 1 ⁄ 32 of the night sky and 19 times the area of Crux, the smallest constellation. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) designates 88 constellations of stars. In the table below, they are ranked by the solid angle that they subtend in the sky, measured in square degrees and ...
Depending on context, a zodiac symbol may denote either a constellation, or a point or interval on the ecliptic plane. Lists of astronomical phenomena published by almanacs sometimes included conjunctions of stars and planets or the Moon; rather than print the full name of the star, a Greek letter and the symbol for the constellation of the ...