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Aries the Ram
Maverick Stoedter
Elementary Astronomy
Constellation Paper
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Stoedter 2
Mythology
The constellation of Aries has been home to many legends. Sumerians in Mesopotamia
were enthralled by a bright star residing in the constellation of Aries known as Hamal. Sumerians
believed that Hamal, which means the lamb, was one of the stars in the Scimitar. They believed
that the Scimitar was a celestial weapon that protected against the Seven Diabolic Spirits of the
Storm[6]. Egyptians were also familiar with the constellation Aries. Egyptians depicted Aries as
Amon-Ra, a man with a ram’s head that represented fertility and creativity. Due to Aries position
on the vernal equinox it was named “Indicator of the Reborn Sun”. Aries stature among
Egyptians rose dramatically during Dionysus campaigns in Africa. His army was suffering from
lack of water and fatigue. Legends say that scouts saw a ram appear before them and led them to
a spring. Dionysus ordered a temple to be built at the position where the spring rose[6]. Statues
of Amon-Ra were a common sight among Egyptian temples. Babylonians thought of Aries as a
agrarian worker, Chinese thought of Aries as twin inspectors. Aries was thought to be a porpoise
by the people in the Marshall Islands. The Greeks thought of Aries as a golden ram that rescued
Phrixus and took him to Colchis, he later sacrificed the ram to the gods. The rams skin was
placed in a temple which later appears in the story of Jason and the Argonauts[5]. Phrixus was
the son of Boeotian king, he had a twin sister named Helle. They had a stepmom named Ino, who
hated them and was looking for ways to make them disappear. Ino made the crops fail and
brought a famine across the land. She sent a man to consult an Oracle and bribed him to lie and
say the Oracle asked for a sacrifice of the children if he didn’t want his people to starve. As the
king was about to slay his own children a flying ram with golden wool saved them. Stories say
that the real mother Nephele sent the ram. They were taken to Colchis, Helle drowned on the
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journey and they later had the river she drowned in Hellespont after her. Phrixus was welcomed
by King Aeetes, Phrixus was offered the golden fleece and married the kings daughter. Despite
its significance to ancient civilizations, Aries wasn’t officially recognized until 1922 by the
International Astronomical Union[4]. Aries boundaries were finally outlined in 1930 by Eugene
Delporte.
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Place Among the Stars
Aries shares it place in the sky
with the constellations Cetus, Perseus,
Pisces, Taurus and Triangulum[8].
The raging bull Taurus and Aries
often are intertwined. You can spot
the Aries constellation between the
latitudes between +90 degrees and -60
degrees. Aries is located in northern hemisphere,
Table #2 [8]
it occupies 441 square degrees and is the 39th brightest constellation in the sky out of 88[8].
Aries is the most visible during the winter sky. The best viewing would be during November and
December. At nightfall, Aries is above the eastern horizon and is visible throughout the night.
Since Aries isn’t known for it’s brightness it is helpful to know that the Ram’s head is midway
between the Pleiades star cluster which lies on the east and the Square of Pegasus which is
west[3]. Table #1 has the top 20 stars ranked by their brightness. Additional information such as
their distance and spectral classification can also be found on this table.
Stoedter 4
Name
RA
DEC
136.5
Spectral
Class
K0
VY Ari
02
+31° 06′ 54.7″ 6.76
52 Ari B
03
+25° 15′ 19.0″ 7.00
ρ1 Ari
02
+17° 44′ 05.3″ 7.01
313
A3
30 Ari B
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02
+24° 38′ 53.1″ 7.09
129
F6V
R Ari
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02
+25° 03′ 23.7″ 7.40
3900
M3-6e
HD 12661
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02
+25° 24′ 51.5″ 7.44
121
K0V
HIP 14810
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03
+21° 05′ 50.5″ 8.52
172
G5V
BD +20°307
"
01
+21° 18′ 22.5″ 9.01
300
G0V
X Ari
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03
+10° 26′ 45.2″ 9.04
3700
F0.5
RX Ari
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02
+22° 34′ 11.1″ 9.41
SS Ari
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02
+24° 00′ 02.2″ 10.15
TT Ari
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02
+15° 17′ 41.8″ 10.2
Bep:
RV Ari
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02
+18° 04′ 27.9″ 11.61
A0
WASP-11/
HAT-P-10
03
+30° 40′ 24.9″ 11.89
408
K3V
L 1159-16
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02
+13° 03′ 11.2″ 12.26
14.5
M4.5
LkHα 264
02
+20° 05′ 37.1″ 12.46
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Vis. Mag.
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Distance (ly)
F2V
692
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G0
K5/6e
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Name
RA
DEC
Vis. Mag.
RW Ari
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02
+17° 31′ 59.0″ 12.51
HAT-P-25
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03
+25° 11′ 51″
WX Ari
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02
+10° 35′ 37.7″ 15.3
Teegarden's
star
02
+16° 52′ 52.7″ 15.40
Distance (ly)
Spectral
Class
B8
969
G5
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13.19
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CV
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12.6
M7.5
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Table #1 [7]
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Primary Stars
Hamal, the 48th brightest star in the night sky is a K-type orange giant over twice the size
of our sun. As previously discussed,
Hamal had great importance to the
Egyptians and the Sumerians due to its
position. It would mark the beginning of
spring and would be a vital tool in
agricultural timings. Hamal is 66 light
years away from earth[5].
Sheratan, Beta Arietis is 59.6 light
years away. It is a white main sequence
star and a spectroscopic binary. It is a G class star
Table #1 [5]
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with a visual magnitude of 2.64. Its name means “the two signs” and is referring to the vernal
equinox with marked together with Gamma Arietis or Hamal, which would mark the beginning
of spring[5].
Mesarthim, Gamma Arietis once was the most visible star in the vernal equinox. It is a
triple star system, it’s referred to as the First Star in Aries. It has an apparent magnitude of 4.75
and 4.83. They are 7.7 arc seconds apart, the third is a magnitude 9.6 K-type star that is about
221 arc seconds away from the other two. It’s about 160 light years away[5].
Objects of Interest
The constellation of Aries has several intriguing objects that have kept scientists busy.
Aries is home to NGC 772 which is a unbarred spiral galaxy. Recently two supernovae were
discovered inside the galaxy. NGC 772 is just less than 130 light years away from earth and has a
apparent magnitude of 11.3. NGC 772 is a satellite galaxy and neighbors with a elliptical galaxy
named NGC 770. This galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 14.2[5].
Aries is most known to astronomers for its meteor showers. The Arietid meteor shower is
the strongest daylight shower of the year. Earth is constantly getting hit by meteoroids that have
originated from Arietid, meteorites can move at speeds up to 87,000 mph in the Earth’s
atmosphere. It lies 30 degrees from the Sun in June. There are several different types of Arietid
meteors. It is thought that the majority of these meteors come from the asteroid 1556 Icarus.
Meteors that come from Aries can also be found from the Aries-Triangulids[9].
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Works Cited
1.) Beim, Margarete. Aries (Super Horoscopes 2013) (Super Horoscopes Aries). United States:
Penguin Group, 2012. Print.
2.) Davison, RC. "Facts on the Aries Constellation: The Brightest star of Aries, Size, Visibility,
Mythology and Astrology." Brighthub. Brighthub. 9 Aug. 2009. Web. 5 Nov. 2014
3.) McClure, Bruce. " Aries? Here's your constellation." EarthSky Constellations. EarthSky. 3
Dec. 2013. Web. 4 Nov. 2014
4.) Zimmerman, Kim. "Aries Constellation: Facts About the Ram." Space. Aug 10. 2012. Web.1
Nov. 2014.
5.) ”Aries Constellation: Facts, Myth, Star Map, Major Stars, Deep sky objects." Constellationguide. Web. 30 Oct. 2014
6.) http://www.crystalinks.com/aries.html
7.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_in_Aries
8.) http://themilkywaywithlily.weebly.com/constellation-and-star-signs.html
9.)http://spaceweather.com/meteors/arietids/arietids.htm
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