Page:Field Book of Stars.djvu/106

 ARIES (ā'-ri-ēz)—THE RAM. (Face Southeast.)

—The star (α) in Aries, known as Hamal, and sometimes as Arietis, a star of the second magnitude, is about 7 degrees south of (α) Triangulæ. A line drawn from the Pole Star to (y) Andromedæ, and prolonged about 20 degrees, ends at Hamal.

Aries contains three principal stars, forming a characteristic obtuse-angled triangle.

The star (γ) Mesarthim was the first double star ever discovered. A telescope is required to split it. Hamal lies near the path of the moon, and is one of the stars from which longitude is reckoned.

Below Aries may be seen the characteristic pentagon in the head of Cetus, the Whale.

More than two thousand years ago Aries was the leading constellation of the Zodiac, and now stands first in the list of Zodiacal signs.

The Arabians knew this constellation as Al Hamal, the Ship. 84