New constellations for a new millennium!

If you've ever looked up at the stars and wondered which constellations you are seeing and how they are joined together you will probably have soon given up in disgust. With a few notable exceptions, the great majority of constellations don't resemble their namesake in the slightest: Taurus has horns but forget the rest of the bull. Boötes bears no resemblance to a human. Andromeda and Perseus likewise. Cassiopeia is just a zigzag. Pegasus is a square with a diamond, not a horse! etc etc etc.

As a game of "connect the dots" they are mostly failures. The few that actually work include the scorpion, the big dog and not much else! The western set of constellations are deeply influenced by Greek mythology and I guess they were named by the Greeks to enforce their mythology onto the succeeding generations. They are just propaganda really and here we are 3,000 years later, still using this garbage! Why? Are we not dispassionate, well educated scientists motivated by truth and efficiency? Apparently not...

It is certainly possible, (although not as easy as you might think), to draw new constellations between the dots in the sky that actually look like something and in the absence of competitors; this I have done. Voilà!

I have filled the sky with everyday objects and creatures that most people of today have either seen with their own eyes or have at least seen pictures of. Instead of mythic heroes we now have slugs, dogs, and fish. Instead of animals that don't resemble anything we now have shopping trolleys, desktop mics and mushrooms. I tried to get a wide representation of the modern world so we also have bacteria, spiders and a hat.

I began this project around 17 years ago when I was mastering my father's telescope and most of the work was done at that time but there were some troublesome constellations, (such as Orion), so I just let it marinate over the years and gave it some thought from time to time. I gave myself a kick along a month or so ago when I needed to put a proper graphic of my new constellations in my video of my rewriting of the song: Cassiopeia. Once I had the images properly generated in Illustrator I was able to finish the last part. Thanks to James McComb for suggesting the Book and the Butterfly. They were already there but he just tweaked them over the line.

Clearly, some people will be upset over the death of their favourite asterisms, even though they weren't any good in most cases. In particular the loss of Orion will make some people angry. Too bad! Orion was great but he is dated and doesn't fit my scheme of real world objects and creatures. Also, he doesn't work upside down! Anyway, if you really can't bear to lose him you can just keep using him. I don't care. It won't disturb the other constellations so do what makes you happy.

There are some isolated notable stars that I did not manage to include in my constellations. They will be a work in progress as I, (and others), seek to build stories about what we see. Isolated stars, globular clusters and nebulae will rightly find themselves included in many such stories.

There are even a few patches of stars that I have left out that could have their own asterisms and identities. These include the patch between the Kite and the Lily and that near the Dog's tail. I will be pondering these in the future with a view to inclusion and others may do the same.

So here it is, after 5,000 years: a system for the common person. Something that we can all relate to. I've used it myself under our southern skies and it works well. Give it a go!

Constellations of the far north

These are the constellations within 50° of the North Celestial Pole. The celestial poles are imaginary fixed points in the sky that the entire sky appears to rotate around. In fact they are just extensions of the Earth's axis and it is the Earth that is rotating, not the stars.

The northern hemisphere is fortunate to have a bright star almost exactly on the NCP and that star is the aptly named: Polaris. Due to its position in the sky it is fantastically useful as a navigation tool since anyone can instantly find true north any time they can see the star. This has not always been the case however as due to the Earth's axial precession the celestial poles are slowly changing and in 1,000 years Polaris will be significantly off.

Anyway, the point is that Polaris is tied to the celestial Anchor! You can imagine that the North Celestial Pole is fixed to the firmament of the Universe by this massive anchor, which prevents it from drifting away on the galactic current. Perhaps it would have been nice if the anchor was instead fixed to the Ship but the star trail led to Polaris. Don't blame me! It was "written in the stars" folks. Literally!

Since the stars all appear to rotate about the NCP all of the constellations that are close to it will often appear upside down or sideways in the sky. This is unavoidable. Deal with it!

There are some absolute crackers in the far north constellations. Enjoy!

Name	Description	Location	Main Stars	Comment
The Anchor	An old style Rodgers Anchor with rope or chain tied off at the NCP	Very close to NCP	Polaris (the tie off point), Kochab, Pherkad, Edasich
The Snail	A very fat snail with a tall shell	Body very close to NCP	Alderamin & Kurhah are the eyes, Afkirk, Errai, Navi, Caph, Schedar
The Cog (Small Ship)	A stylised traditional cog with prominent decks fore and aft, one mast and one sail	Keel very close to NCP	Dubhe, Merak, Alioth, Megrez, Alkaid, Alcor, Mizar	A large constellation. It contains the Big Dipper
The Mouse	A stylised mouse with tail and whiskers	Close to NCP	Capella & Menkalinan are the eyes. Elnath is its anus.
The Stingray	An arrow shaped ray, like the southern stingray	Close to NCP	Ruchbah is the nose, Algol is a wingtip, Menkib is the anus and Atik is on the stinger.
The Cleaver	A vicious looking cleaver with a long handle	Close to NCP	Almach and Mirach mark the top of the blade.
The Butterfly	A typical butterfly with wings open but lacking a body	Close to NCP	Deneb, Sadr, Sulafat, Sheliak
The Pterodactyl	A pterodactyl in flight, seen from below	Close to NCP	Vega is its eye, Eltanin, Rastaban, Kornephoros is its tail.
The Shopping Cart	A contracted supermarket wheeled shopping cart	Close to NCP	Muscida is one of the wheels, Talitha is the bottom of the basket, the Tanias are where the handle joins the body.

Constellations of the far south

These are the constellations within 50° of the South Celestial Pole. Unlike the Northern Hemisphere, the south has no star to mark the SCP. To find it, the simplest way is to extend an imaginary line along the major axis of the Kite, (aka the Southern Cross), then superimpose the perpendicular bisector of the Slug's eyes, (aka the Pointers). The intersection point is close to the SCP.

Everyone from the Southern Hemisphere is familiar with the Southern Cross. You can't see it from the Northern Hemisphere but it is always in the sky in the south and we all feel a special link with it. Many citizens of the south foolishly think it defines their country and consequently place it upon their national flag. Australia is a classic case in point. Most Australians know that there's no Southern Cross in the night sky over Europe or North America so they think its theirs. They don't realise that it is also a beautiful fixture in the skies of South Africa, New Zealand, Brazil and Argentina...

The SCP is surrounded by the constellation of the Jellyfish, which is composed of low magnitude stars but it contains the two Magellanic Clouds which may be thought of as organelles of the Jellyfish or perhaps as food that it is in the process of digesting...

As is the case with the Northern Hemisphere: all the constellations close to the Pole rotate around it and consequently will often be upside down or sideways in the sky. This is normal. Relax!

The southern constellations don't have quite the majesty of the Pterodactyl, the Cog or the Shopping Cart but they do have the awesome Slug, the luminous Reindeer, the magic Kite and A'Tuin the Great.

Name	Description	Location	Main Stars	Comment
The Kite	A simple child's kite with a tail of rags	Very close to SCP	Acrux, Mimosa	The astronomical symbol of the Southern Hemisphere as it is always visible throughout the South. Aka the "Southern Cross" but since there is no central join I think it is more accurately a kite.
The Slug	A fat slug with two bright eyes on stalks (the Pointers)	Body is very close to SCP	Alpha Centauri & Hadar are the eyes, Atria
The Lily	A member of the lily family with prominent stamens & pistil, and the petals not yet fully open	Base of the flower is very close to SCP	Aspidiske, Avior, Miaplacidus	There are a bunch of stars between the Lily and the Kite which deserve to be a constellation but I have not found a suitable shape there yet...
The Jellyfish	A large box like jellyfish seen in outline	Very close to SCP	All the stars are of minor magnitude.	Contains the SCP & the Magellanic Clouds
The Hat	A simple flat brimmed hat	Very close to SCP	Peacock
The Reindeer	A reindeer with a short snout and prominent buttocks	Close to SCP	Menkent
The Flies	A couple of large and small flies buzzing around the top of the kite	Close to SCP
The Pram	A child's pram with the hood up but lacking undercarriage and wheels	Close to SCP	Suhail, Regor	Could also be a bobsleigh.
The Turtle (A-Tuin The Great)	A sea turtle with 4 large flippers	Close to SCP	Canopus is the head.	Swimming through space it is.
The Climber	A stick figure climbing up toward the SCP	Close to SCP	Achernar is the climber's head.	The climber is reaching for the globular star cluster NGC 104 with his right hand.
The Triffid	A strong triangular base supports the open petals and long stinger of this fictional plant.	Close to SCP	Al Nair is the tip of one of the petals.	Could also be a radio telescope.
The Tiara	A small diamond tiara	Close to SCP	The stars are all of minor magnitude.

Constellations of the mid-latitudes

Most of the real estate on any sphere may be found around the equator and that is certainly true of imaginary celestial welkin we think we see when we look up at night.

Although the constellations surrounding the Celestial Equator appear to rotate around the celestial poles, unlike the asterisms close to the poles they are not seen inverted and you do not see them all in one night. This is because the observer is always between them and the Pole. They are however inverted when seen from the other hemisphere and this presents a problem for the constellation designer: Some shapes simply don't work when seen upside down. A spider can be ok since we often see them upside down but not a motorcycle or a wheel barrow.

So my challenge was to find candidates that could be inverted, (like a diamond or a donut), or had two valid identities, (like a motorcycle and desktop microphone). Most of my selection were invertable and several had alternate identities but not all, or at least not so far...

Orion was the biggest problem because an inverted wheel barrow is not easy to find a new identity for. The stalk of grain I eventually found was, I admit, a bit of a cludge but I think it is valid! Likewise the crane in flight took a long time to find and part of the reason is that in Australia the belt of Orion is known as "The Saucepan". It really does look like a saucepan and I wanted to include it as such to the very end. In the end I gave in to the idea of bipolar convenience and changed the Saucepan and the Hoe into the Crane which will work in either hemisphere. Australians will probably continue to think of it as the celestial cooking pot and that is fine!

The happy accident for me was the Poodle becoming a leafy Seadragon which worked brilliantly IMO and I thank my friend Mark Rodwell for suggesting that one.

The Chair, the Emu and the Wallaby have no inverted identities as yet but if you have any suggestions go ahead and email them to me and I will consider them. Actually, perhaps it is appropriate that the Wallaby and Emu are inverted to observers in the Northern Hemisphere since they come from A Land Down Under.

Name	Description	Location	Main Stars	Comment
The Snake	A long snake with open jaws and a full belly	North of the celestial equator	Aldebaran is the snake's fang, Menkar, Alrescha, Kaffaljidhma	The Pleiades are just north of its head.
The Wizard's Hat	A stylised wizard's hat with a high conical crown and a wide brim	North of the celestial equator	Mebsuta & Alhena are the brim, Propus is the peak	Perhaps the seal is secretly Gandalf?
The Motorcycle/Desktop Microphone	From the south it is an abstract motorcycle viewed from the front. From the north it is a desktop microphone, magnifier or vanity glass.	North of the celestial equator	Regulus is the motorcycle headlight, Algieba, Adhafera, Rasalas	Used to be Leo
The Gibbet/Hand Trolley	A simple gibbet from the south or a hand trolley from the north	North of the celestial equator	Denebola is the hanging point or toe, Chertan, Zosma & the Alulas
The Phoenix	A stylised phoenix in flight at the downbeat	North of the celestial equator	Arcturus is the eye, Muphrid is the beak tip, Izar is the base of the neck, Alphecca, Nusakan,Seginus, Nekkar	The Phoenix will often be upside down seen from the north as will all the constellations of the far north. Used to be Boötes.
The Video Screen	A large rectangular video screen seen from the side with a diamond shaped remote	North of the celestial equator	Markab, Algenib, Alpheratz & Scheat are the corners of the screen. Matar	Viewed from the north can also be K9 from Dr Who.
The Chair	An armless dining chair seen from the side.	North of the celestial equator	Hamal is join between back and seat, Mesarthim, Sheratan	A place for the Celestial Mechanic to watch the action on his video screen.
The Seal	A cheerful seal twisting in the water of space	On the celestial equator	Castor is its nose, Pollux,Gomeisa, Procyon, Alphard, Alkes, Wasat	The largest constellation of all!
The Crane	A crane in flight (without legs) seen from above or below	Just touching the celestial equator on the south	Saiph is the crane's head, Rigel, Mintaka, Alnilam & Alnitak	Used to be Orion's lower half
The Wheelbarrow/The Grain	Seen from the south it is a wheelbarrow with a small and low bucket. Seen from the north it is a stalk of ripe grain	Just touching the celestial equator on the north	From the south: Betelgeuse is the front of the barrow bucket, Bellatrix is the rear. From the north: Betelgeuse and Bellatrix are nodes on the grass stalk. The smaller stars are grains attached to the stalk.	Used to be Orion's upper half
The Ghost	A white sheet style ghost	On the celestial equator	Sadalmelik, Biham, Homam	Southern edge just crosses the CE.
The Ring	A ring seen from an angle so that it appears oval	Just north celestial equator	Dim stars	One ring to rule them all...
The Spider	A 4 legged spider with its feet in the north	On the celestial equator	Tarazed, Altair & Alshain are its eyes, Rotanev & Sualocin are its left pedipalp, Alya is its right hip, Sadalsuud & Enif are one left leg, Dabih, Algedi, Albali & Kitalpha are its other left leg.	A large constellation!
The Mushroom	A common fungus like Amanita muscaria before the cup is fully open.	On the celestial equator	Unukalhai is on the stalk, Marfik, the Yeds, Sabik, Cebalrai & the Rasals are on the cup.	Large!
The Wallaby	A typical wallaby with its head in the south and one foot on the CE.	On the celestial equator	Zubenelgenabi, Zubeneschamali
The Diamond	A 3D diagram of an elongated octahedron seen from an angle north of its centre line, which lies on the CE.	On the celestial equator	Porrima is on the centreline, Spica is the nearest of the 4 centre corners.	The projection is a little odd seen from the north as Spica is a little too far forward...
The Donut	A slightly misshapen toroid	On the celestial equator	This is a dim constellation. Zaniah & Zavijava are on the outer edge.	The inner ring is just 2 stars, the inner circle must be imagined.
The Dog	A short legged dog with a big round head like the Australian cattle dog	South of the celestial equator	Sirius is the nose of the dog, Wezen is its anus, Aludra is the tip of its tail, Mirzam is its front paw.	Another of the ancient constellations that made the cut.
The Book	A wide open book showing 5 separate pages fanned out.	South of the celestial equator	Nihal, Arneb
The Cone Shell	A member of the Conidae family with a cone shaped shell, two eye tentacles and a siphon at the narrow end.	South of the celestial equator	Acamar is the tip of one of its eye stalks, Zaurak & Azha are on the thick end of the shell.	Remember that coneshells do not stand on their end, they slide along on their side. Probably the eye stalks are too long and bendy...
The Fish	A short asymmetrical fish like a filefish when seen from the north or an emperor when seen from the south.	South of the celestial equator	Diphda, Baten Kaitos	The fish is swimming parallel to the CE.
The Emu	A stylised Emu but could be any bird of similar shape.	South of the celestial equator	Formalhaut is the eye of the emu, Skat
The Bacterium	An irregular bacterium with a flagella	South of the celestial equator	Nashira, Deneb Algedi
The Poodle/The Seadragon	A stylised toy poodle excited to see its master when seen from the south or a Seadragon when seen from the north	South of the celestial equator	Nunki, Ascella, Alnasi & the Kauses	The poodle's back foot, (or the Seadragon's snout), is toward the CE. This used to be Sagittarius...
The Scorpion	A large scorpion with a long tail and stinger	South of the celestial equator	Antares, Shaula, Lesath	One of the few ancient constellations that made the cut
The Fan	An Asian hand fan.	South of the celestial equator	Alchiba, Algorab, Gienah

Warren Mars: December 2024