It is visible at latitudes between 90 degrees and degrees. It is a medium-sized constellation bounded by Taurus, Pisces, and Cetus. It is one of the 48 constellations described by Ptolemy in the second century. Aries is the 39th largest constellation in the night sky, covering an area of square degrees. It is also one of the thirteen constellations of the zodiac.
This means it lies along the path the Sun travels in the sky during the year. It is an ancient constellation which has been known by many forms throughout history. Aries contains six formally named stars. Babylonians identified Aries as the agrarian worker, the last stop on the ecliptic.
The name of the constellation later changed to Ram, but why Babylonians changed it is uncertain. In the 7th century BC, Neo-Babylonians did a revision of the Babylonian zodiac that placed Alpha Arietis, Hamal, very close to the vernal equinox, which is how Aries came to be so prominent among the zodiac signs in astrology.
In those times, Aries contained the equinox, the point at which the Sun crosses the celestial equator from north to south. In BC, however, it was located just south of Gamma Arietis Mesarthim and was taken to be the starting point of the zodiac. In Greek myth, Aries is identified with the golden ram that rescued Phrixus and took him to Colchis, where he sacrificed the ram to the gods.
Phrixus was the son of a Boeotian king. He had a twin sister, Helle. The children had a stepmother, Ino, who did not like them and wanted to get rid of them. She came up with a plan to put the land of the brink of famine by making sure the wheat crops failed.
Phrixus and Helle were saved by a winged ram with golden wool. The ram was sent by their real mother, the cloud nymph Nephele. It took both children and flew east to Colchis. Only Phrixus survived the journey. Helle fell off the ram and drowned in the Dardanelles. The strait was later renamed to Hellespont, or sea of Helle, in her memory. Hamal is the brightest star in the constellation Aries and the 48th brightest star in the night sky. This is considered interesting due to the two depictions that the Aries constellation has been known to represent over time.
It takes up square degrees. It is certainly not one of the largest constellations and measures in as the 39th largest star constellation. The Aries constellation neighbours one of the biggest constellations, which is almost three times bigger than Aries, namely Cetus. It is also close to two other zodiac star constellations known as Pisces and Taurus. The latter has an interesting history dating back to the Bronze Age!
The Aries constellation is best hunted down by stargazers in December, but it can also be spotted in the months on either side. If you do go looking for Aries in December, try to head out at 10pm when the star constellation is easiest seen.
In November and January, the ideal time to look for Aries is 8pm and 6pm, respectively. Aries is not one of the brightest constellations to look for. You will need low light pollution to see it best. Looking for these constellations can be a fun mini-adventure for the family, especially if you name a star after a loved one.
Your head might start to hurt just trying to comprehend the distance between us and those stars. The brightest is the red giant star Alpha Arietis, also known as Hamal. Hamal has a magnitude of 2. The star Beta Arietis, also known as Sheratan, is a blue-white star. Gamma Arietis, also called Mesarthim, is a binary star with two white-hued components.
The Aries constellation also has few significant nebulae or galaxies.
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