in order to provide those who come after us with a means of comparison.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
Stars in Aries<\/strong>. The two northernmost [\u03b1 and \u03b2 Ari] of the three stars in the head of Aries [\u03b1, \u03b2, and \u03b3 Ari] and the bright star in the southern knee of Perseus [\u03b5 Per] and the star called Capella [\u03b1 Aur] lie on a straight line.<\/p>\n
[Stars in Taurus.]<\/strong> The line drawn through the star Capella [\u03b1 Aur] and the bright star in the Hyades [\u03b1 Tau] cuts off the star in the advance leg of Auriga [\u03b9 Aur] a little to the east. Also, the star called Capella [\u03b1 Aur], the star which is common to the rearmost foot of Auriga and the tip of the northern horn of Taurus [\u03b2 Tau], and the star in the advance shoulder of Orion [\u03b3 Ori] lie on a straight line.<\/p>\n
[Stars in Gemini.]<\/strong>\u00a0Furthermore, the [two] bright stars in the heads of Gemini [\u03b1 and \u03b2 Gem] and the bright star in the neck of Hydra [\u03b8 Hya] lie very nearly on a straight line.<\/p>\n
[Stars in Cancer.]<\/strong> Furthermore, the two stars close together in the front leg of Ursa Major [\u03b9 and \u03ba UMa], the star on the tip of the northern claw of Cancer [\u03b9 Cnc], and the northernmost of the [two] ‘Aselli’<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> [\u03b3 Cnc] lie on a straight line. Similarly, the southern Asellus [\u03b4 Cnc], the bright star Procyon [\u03b1 CMi], and the bright star between them (which is advance of the head of Hydra) [\u03b2 Cnc], lie almost on a straight line.<\/p>\n
[Stars in Leo.]\u00a0<\/strong>Furthermore, the straight line drawn from the midmost star [\u03b3 Leo] of the [three] bright stars in the neck of Leo [\u03b6, \u03b3, and \u03b7 Leo] to the bright star in Hydra [\u03b1 Hya] cuts off the star on the heart of Leo [\u03b1 Leo] a little to the east. The [line] from the bright star in the rump of Leo [\u03b4 Leo] to the bright star [\u03b3 UMa] in the back thigh of Ursa Major (which is the southernmost star on the rear side of the quadrilateral), cuts off, a little to the west, the two stars which are close together in the rear paw of Ursa Major [\u03bd and \u03be UMa].<\/p>\n
[Stars in Virgo.]\u00a0<\/strong>Furthermore, the line from the star in the back of the thigh of Virgo [\u03b6 Vir] to the second star from the tip of Hydra’s tail [\u03b3 Hya]cuts off the star called Spica [\u03b1 Vir] a little to the west. The line from Spica to the star in the head of Bootes [\u03b2 Boo] cuts off Arcturus [\u03b1 Boo] a little to the east. Spica and the [two] stars on the wings of Corvus [\u03b4 and \u03b3 Crv] lie on a straight line. Spica, the star in the back of Virgo’s thigh [\u03b6 Vir], and the northernmost, bright star [\u03b7 Boo] of the three in the advance knee of Bootes [\u03b7, \u03c4, and \u03bd Boo] lie on a straight line.<\/p>\n
[Stars in Libra.]\u00a0<\/strong>Furthermore, the [two] bright stars in the claws [\u03b1 and \u03b2 Lib] and the star on the tip of Hydra’s tail [\u03c0 Hya] are very nearly on a straight line. The bright star in the southern claw [\u03b1 Lib], Arcturus [\u03b1 Boo], and the midmost [\u03b6 UMa] of the three stars in the tail of Ursa Major [\u03b5, \u03b6, and \u03b7 UMa] lie on a straight line. The bright star in the back of the thigh of Ursa Major [\u03b3 UMa] lie on a straight line.<\/p>\n
[Stars in Scorpius.]\u00a0<\/strong>Furthermore, the star on the rear shin of Ophiuchus [\u03be Oph], the star in the fifth tail-joint of Scorpius [\u03b8 Sco], and the more advanced [\u03bd Sco] of the two stars close together in its sting [\u03bb and \u03bd Sco] lie on a straight line. The most advanced [\u03c3 Sco] of the three stars in the breast of Scorpius [\u03c3, \u03b1, and \u03c4 Sco], and the two stars in the knees of Ophiuchus [\u03b7 and \u03b6 Oph], form an isoceles triangle, the apex of which is the most advanced of the three stars int he breast [\u03c3 Sco].<\/p>\n
[Stars in Sagittarius.]\u00a0<\/strong>Furthermore, the star on the front, southern hock of Sagittarius (which is of second magnitude) [\u03b2 Sgr], the star on the arrow-head [\u03b3 Sgr], and the star in the rear knee of Ophiuchus [\u03b7 Oph] lie on a straight line. The star [\u03b1 Sgr] in the knee of the same [front] leg of Sagittarius (which lies near Corona [Australis]), the star on the arrow-head [\u03b3 Sgr], and the star in the advance knee of Ophiuchus [\u03b6 Oph] lie on a straight line.<\/p>\n
[Stars in Capricorn.]\u00a0<\/strong>Furthermore, the line drawn from the bright star in Lyra [\u03b1 Lyr] to the stars in the horns of Capricorn [\u03b1, \u03b2, \u03bd, and \u03be Cap] cuts off the bright star in Aquila [\u03b1 Aql] a little to the east. The line from the bright star in Aquila to the first-magnitude star int he mouth of Piscis Austrinus [\u03b1 PsA] bisects, approximately, the interval between the two bright stars on the tail of Capricorn [\u03b3 and \u03b4 Cap].<\/p>\n
[Stars in Aquarius.]\u00a0<\/strong>Furthermore, the line from the first-magnitude star in the mouth of Piscis Austrinus [\u03b1 PsA] to the star in the muzzle of Pegasus [\u03b5 Peg] cuts off the bright star in the rear shoulder of Aquarius [\u03b1 Aqr], a little to the east.<\/p>\n
[Stars in Pisces.]\u00a0<\/strong>Furthermore, the stars in the mouths of Piscis Austrinus [\u03b1 PsA] and the southern fish [of Pisces] [\u03b2 Psc] and the [two] advance stars of the quadrilateral in Pegasus [\u03b1 and \u03b2 Peg] lie on a straight line.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
While the above alignments were all ones first reported by Ptolemy, he does note that he was able to check them in a limited extent against observations from Hipparchus because a<\/p>\n
globe resulting from the observations made [in Hipparchus’ time]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
was available to Ptolemy, presumably at the Musaeum of Alexandria<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. Using this, he found that these alignments matched Hipparchus’ celestial globe quite well further strengthening his argument that the stars did not appear to change positions.<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n