Virgo Constellation, Zodiac Sign
by Science Source
Title
Virgo Constellation, Zodiac Sign
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Science Source
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Photograph - Photograph
Description
Virgo constellation from Johannes Hevelius' Prodromus astronomiae, Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive Uranographia, 1687. Virgo is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for virgin. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. Lying between Leo to the west and Libra to the east, it is the second largest constellation in the sky (after Hydra). The Greeks and Romans associated Virgo with their goddess of wheat/agriculture, Demeter-Ceres. Alternatively, she was sometimes identified as the virgin goddess Iustitia or Astraea, holding the scales of justice in her hand as the constellation Libra. Virgo is often portrayed carrying two sheaves of wheat. Virgo is the sixth astrological sign in the Zodiac. It spans the 150-180th degree of the zodiac, between 152.75 and 180 degree of celestial longitude, which the Tropical zodiac the Sun transits this area on average between August 23 to September 22 each year. The Hevelius Firmamentum was the first star atlas to rival Bayer's Uranometria in accuracy, utility, innovation, and influence. Hevelius was perhaps the most active observational astronomer of the last half of the seventeenth century. His star atlas is notable for many reasons. It contains 56 large, double page engraved star maps. The star positions for the charts were derived from his own star catalog, based on his own observations, which was first published along with the atlas. It is unique among the Grand Atlases in choosing to depict the constellations as they would appear on a globe, that is, from the outside looking in, rather than from a geocentric point of view, as Bayer and most others adopted.
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July 7th, 2014
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