Seema's blog

  The nakshatras are small constellations of stars that the moon travels through as it orbits Earth.  In English, nakshatras are known as “lunar mansions.” Revati is the last of 27 nakshatras situated in Meen  Rashi,the  Pisces Constellation.  The star denoted by red color is Revati.  रेवती  (Revati) comes from the Sanskrit word  रेवत्   (wealth and prosperity).  Revati indicates a person who is blessed, beautiful, and prosperous. Zeta piscum is the astronomical name . The  story of Revati is  given in number of Puranic texts such as Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana.  Vishnu Purana narrates the tale of Revati as follows,  King Kakudmi (sometimes also called Kakudmin, or Raivata, son of Revata) was the King of Kusasthali.    Revati was the only daughter of Kakudmi.  Feeling that no human could prove to be good enough to marry his lovely and talented daughter, Kakudmi took Revati with him to Brahmaloka—ab...

The Great Fish  Piscis Austrinus is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere.  The name is Latin for " the southern fish ", in contrast with the larger constellation Pisces, which represents a pair of fishes. The Latin word for fish is piscis  & for  south is austral from which  we get the  title ‘Pisces Australis'.    The stars of the modern constellation Grus once formed the "tail" of Piscis Austrinus.  In 1597 (or 1598), Petrus Plancius carved out a separate constellation and named it after the crane. Piscis Austrinus is a constellation bordered by Capricornus to the northwest, Microscopium to the southwest, Grus to the south, Sculptor to the east, and Aquarius to the north. In Greek mythology, this constellation is known as the Great Fish and it is portrayed as swallowing the water being poured out by Aquarius, the water-bearer constellation.           The two fish of the constellation...

  The constellations  Grus, Pavo, Phoenix and Tucana  are collectively known as the "Southern Birds".  Grus is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for the crane, a type of bird. Grus is bordered by Piscis Austrinus to the north, Sculptor to the northeast, Phoenix to the east, Tucana to the south, Indus to the southwest, and Microscopium to the west.  There are no myths associated with the constellation.  Grus was one of the 12 constellations created by Dutch explorers in the late 16th century.  The only connection the crane has with mythology lies in the fact that it was a sacred bird to the god Hermes. Pavo is a constellation in the southern sky whose name is Latin for  "peacock" "In Greek myth the stars that are now the Peacock , were Argos [or Argus], builder of the ship Argo.  He was changed by the goddess Juno into a peacock and placed in the sky along with his ship. "Indeed, the peacock "symboliz[ed] the starry firmam...

  Today we will see Scutum-the Smallest Constellation with Biggest Stars. Its name in Latin is for shield. The neighboring constellations are Aquila, Sagittarius and Serpens Cauda. The constellation boundaries are defined by a quadrilateral,diamond shaped. A scute or scutum is a bony external plate or scale overlaid with horn, as on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodilians, and the feet of birds. Scutum is depicted as a shield , whose corners are marked by its four brightest stars, though these are of only fourth and fifth magnitude. Despite its small size and faintness, Scutum does have several deep sky objects of interest. ... Scutum contains the following Messier objects: M11, M26. Scutum constellation is not associated with any myths. It is the only constellation associated with a non-classical historical figure, the Polish King John III Sobieski. The Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius, who created the constellation in 1684, named it Scutum Sobiescianum, or Shield of...