I was looking west after the sunset last week and almost at 45-degree angle, to the left of Taurus or slightly south, I noticed a set of stars I never noticed before. There’s an arc that reminds me of the Sagittarius arc. I discovered it’s called Corvus. It’s pretty small, especially when compared with Taurus and Virgo, some neighboring constellations.
According to constellation-guide.com, its name means “crow” or “raven” in Latin. Corvus constellation represents Apollo’s sacred bird in Greek mythology. It was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century. According to the myth, the raven originally had white feathers. In one story, Apollo told the bird to watch over Coronis, one of his lovers, who was pregnant at the time.
Coronis gradually lost interest in Apollo and fell in love with a mortal man, Ischys. When the raven informed Apollo about the affair, the god was so enraged that the bird did nothing to prevent it that he placed a curse on it, scorching the raven’s feathers. That is why all ravens are black, as the legend goes. Apollo then sent his sister Artemis to kill Coronis. Before Coronis’ body was burned, the unborn child, Asclepius, was cut out of her womb and given to the centaur Chiron, who raised him. Asclepius grew up to be a famous healer and is represented by the constellation Ophiuchus, the serpent bearer.
The Greek Corvus was borrowed from the mythical Babylonian raven, MUL.UGA.MUSHEN, which was usually depicted perched on the tail of a serpent. Babylonians associated the constellation with Adad, the god of rain and storm, because its stars would rise before the rainy season and in the fall.
Look Up appears in the weekend edition. If you have any astronomical questions or facts you’d like to share email news@smdailyjournal.com with the subject line “Look Up.”
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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