Hydrus in Chinese astronomy

The modern constellation Hydrus is not included in the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions system of traditional Chinese uranography because its stars are too far south for observers in China to know about them prior to the introduction of Western star charts. Based on the work of Xu Guangqi and the German Jesuit missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell in the late Ming Dynasty,[1] this constellation has been classified under the 23 Southern Asterisms (近南極星區, Jìnnánjíxīngōu) with the names Snake's Tail (蛇尾, Shéwěi), Snake's Abdomen (蛇腹, Shéfù), Snake's Head (蛇首, Shéshǒu) and White Patched Nearby (附白, Fùbái).

The name of the western constellation in modern Chinese is 水蛇座 (shuǐ shé zuò), which means "the water snake constellation."

Stars

The map of Chinese constellation in constellation Hydrus area consists of:

Four Symbols Mansion (Chinese name) Romanization Translation Asterisms (Chinese name) Romanization Translation Western star name Chinese star name Romanization Translation
- 近南極星區 (non-mansions) Jìnnánjíxīngōu (non-mansions) The Southern Asterisms (non-mansions)
蛇尾ShéwěiSnake's Tailβ Hyi[2]蛇尾一Shéwěiyī1st star
蛇腹 Shéfù Snake's Abdomen
ζ Hyi[2]蛇腹一Shéfùyī1st star
ε Hyi[2]蛇腹二Shéfùèr2nd star
δ Hyi[2]蛇腹三Shéfùsān3rd star
η2 Hyi[2]蛇腹四Shéfùsì4th star
蛇首ShéshǒuSnake's Headα Hyi[2]蛇尾一Shéshǒuyī1st star
附白 Fùbái White Patched Nearby
γ Hyi[2]附白一Fùbáiyī1st star
κ Hyi[2]附白二Fùbáièr2nd star

See also

References
  1. Sun, Xiaochun (1997). Helaine Selin (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 910. ISBN 0-7923-4066-3.
  2. (in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 7 月 27 日
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