The constellation Aquarius and surrounding stars, from A celestial atlas: comprising a systematic display of the heavens in a series of thirty maps (plate 21)
Norma Nilotica (Genitive Normae Nilotica, Abbreviation NoN)[2] is an obsolete constellation, or asterism, no longer in use by astronomers. Its name means "The Nile's Ruler" in Latin. It was created by Alexander Jamieson and first appeared in his book A Celestial Atlas, published in 1822.[3][1] It subsequently appeared in Urania's Mirror (1824) and Elijah Hinsdale Burritt's 1835 book Atlas Designed to Illustrate the Geography of the Heavens.[4][2] The constellation is depicted as a measuring rod (or nilometer) held in the left hand of the water carrier Aquarius. Depicting Aquarius with a nilometer references the ancient Egyptian association of Aquarius with the flooding of the Nile river.[5]
Up until 1928, when the IAU set boundaries for the constellations which covered the entire celestial sphere,[6] stars which were not included within a constellation listed by Ptolemy were sometimes used for creating new constellations.[2] Norma Nilotica was essentially a line extending from 9 Aquarii (just north of Capricornus) northwest to 3 Aquarii. Today, all of its stars fall within the modern boundaries of Aquarius.
Norma Nilotica is mentioned in Henry Melville's 1874 book Veritas. Revelation of mysteries, biblical, historical and social, by means of the Median and Persian laws which contains a multipage prose description of the constellations including:
Then comes the left hand of Aquarius, or the Greek Neptune or Hebrew Moses. In his hand is the celebrated rod: it is the 24-inch gauge of the masons, and on it are marked or notched the twenty-four hours. The present name is Norma Nilotica.[7]
Charles Augustus Young mentioned the constellation in very briefly in his 1903 book Lessons in Astronomy, Including Uranography wherein he wrote:
Norma Nilotica, the rule with which the height of the Nile was measured, lies west of Scorpio, while Ara lies due south of Eta and Theta. Both are old Ptolemaic constellations, but are small and of little importance, at least to observers in our latitudes.[8]
Note that this passage contains two errors: Norma Nilotica is not west of Scorpio and is not a Ptolemaic constellation.
Gallery
A detail from plate 21 of A Celestial Atlas, showing Norma Nilotica
Norma Nilotica depicted on Plate 26 of Urania's Mirror
A detail from the July–September plate of Atlas Designed to Illustrate the Geography of the Heavens, showing Norma Nilotica near the left edge
Aquarius is an equatorial constellation of the zodiac, between Capricornus and Pisces. Its name is Latin for "water-carrier" or "cup-carrier", and its old astronomical symbol is (♒︎), a representation of water. Aquarius is one of the oldest of the recognized constellations along the zodiac. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It is found in a region often called the Sea due to its profusion of constellations with watery associations such as Cetus the whale, Pisces the fish, and Eridanus the river.
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
Celestial globes show the apparent positions of the stars in the sky. They omit the Sun, Moon, and planets because the positions of these bodies vary relative to those of the stars, but the ecliptic, along which the Sun moves, is indicated.
The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Also within this zodiac belt appear the Moon and the brightest planets, along their orbital planes. The zodiac is divided along the ecliptic into 12 equal parts ("signs"), each occupying 30° of celestial longitude. These signs roughly correspond to the astronomical constellations with the following modern names: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.
Mirach, Bayer designation Beta Andromedae, Latinized from β Andromedae, is a prominent star in the northern constellation of Andromeda. It is northeast of the Great Square of Pegasus and is potentially visible to all observers north of latitude 54° S. It is commonly used by stargazers to find the Andromeda Galaxy. The galaxy NGC 404, also known as Mirach's Ghost, is seven arcminutes away from Mirach.
An asterism is an observed pattern or group of stars in the sky. Asterisms can be any identified pattern or group of stars, and therefore are a more general concept than the 88 formally defined constellations. Constellations are based on asterisms, but unlike asterisms, constellations outline and today completely divide the sky and all its celestial objects into regions around their central asterisms. For example, the asterism known as the Big Dipper or the Plough comprises the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major. Another asterism is the triangle, within the constellation of Capricornus.
Uranometria is a star atlas produced by Johann Bayer. It was published in Augsburg in 1603 by Christoph Mang under the full title Uranometria: omnium asterismorum continens schemata, nova methodo delineata, aereis laminis expressa. The word "uranometria", from Ancient Greek οὐρανός (ouranós) 'sky, heavens' and μέτρον (metron) 'measure', literally translates to "measuring the heavens".
Noctua was a constellation near the tail of Hydra in the southern celestial hemisphere, but is no longer recognized. It was introduced by Alexander Jamieson in his 1822 work, A Celestial Atlas, and appeared in a derived collection of illustrated cards, Urania's Mirror. Now designated Asterism a, the owl was composed of the stars Sigma Librae, 4 Librae and 54–57 Hydrae, which range from 3rd to 6th magnitude.
Alpha Aquarii, officially named Sadalmelik, is a single yellow supergiant star in the constellation of Aquarius. The apparent visual magnitude of 2.94 makes this the second-brightest star in Aquarius. Based upon parallax measurements made by the Gaia spacecraft, it is located at a distance of roughly 690 light-years from the Sun. It is drifting further away from the Sun with a radial velocity of 7.5 km/s.
Beta Aquarii is a single yellow supergiant star in the constellation of Aquarius. It has the official name Sadalsuud and the Bayer designation β Aquarii, abbreviated Beta Aqr or β Aqr. Based upon parallax measurements obtained during the Hipparcos mission, this component is located at a distance of approximately 540 light years (165 parsecs) from the Sun. It is drifting further away with a radial velocity of 6.5 km/s. The star serves as an IAU radial velocity standard.
The Catasterismi or Catasterisms is a lost work by Eratosthenes of Cyrene. It was a comprehensive compendium of astral mythology including origin myths of the stars and constellations. Only a summary of the original work survives, called the Epitome Catasterismorum, by an unknown author sometimes referred to as pseudo-Eratosthenes.
Hebrew astronomy refers to any astronomy written in Hebrew or by Hebrew speakers, or translated into Hebrew, or written by Jews in Judeo-Arabic. It includes a range of genres from the earliest astronomy and cosmology contained in the Bible, mainly the Tanakh, to Jewish religious works like the Talmud and very technical works.
Nu Aquarii is the Bayer designation for a star in the equatorial constellation of Aquarius.
A star chart is a celestial map of the night sky with astronomical objects laid out on a grid system. They are used to identify and locate constellations, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and planets. They have been used for human navigation since time immemorial. Note that a star chart differs from an astronomical catalog, which is a listing or tabulation of astronomical objects for a particular purpose. Tools using a star chart include the astrolabe and planisphere.
Libra (♎︎) is the seventh astrological sign in the zodiac. It spans 180°–210° celestial longitude. The Sun transits this sign on average between September 22 and October 23. The symbol of the scales is based on the Scales of Justice held by Themis, the Greek personification of divine law and custom. She became the inspiration for modern depictions of Lady Justice. The ruling planet of Libra is Venus along with Taurus. Libra is the only zodiac sign that is represented by an object; the other eleven signs are represented by either an animal or a mythological character though some depictions feature a man holding the scales with his hands.
Celestial cartography, uranography, astrography or star cartography is the aspect of astronomy and branch of cartography concerned with mapping stars, galaxies, and other astronomical objects on the celestial sphere. Measuring the position and light of charted objects requires a variety of instruments and techniques. These techniques have developed from angle measurements with quadrants and the unaided eye, through sextants combined with lenses for light magnification, up to current methods which include computer-automated space telescopes. Uranographers have historically produced planetary position tables, star tables, and star maps for use by both amateur and professional astronomers. More recently, computerized star maps have been compiled, and automated positioning of telescopes uses databases of stars and of other astronomical objects.
A Celestial Atlas, full title: A Celestial Atlas: Comprising A Systematic Display of the Heavens in a Series of Thirty Maps Illustrated by Scientific Description of their Contents, And accompanied by Catalogues of the Stars and Astronomical Exercises is a star atlas by British author Alexander Jamieson, published in 1822. The atlas includes 30 plates, 26 of which are constellation maps with a sinusoidal projection. In some editions the plates are hand-colored. The atlas includes three new constellations invented by Jamieson: Noctua, Norma Nilotica, and Solarium. Two celestial hemispheres of the atlas are centered on the equatorial poles via polar projection and geocentric alignment. The atlas comprises stars visible only to the naked eye, making it less cluttered.
Urania's Mirror; or, a view of the Heavens is a set of 32 astronomical star chart cards, first published in November 1824. They are illustrations based on Alexander Jamieson's A Celestial Atlas, but the addition of holes punched in them allow them to be held up to a light to see a depiction of the constellation's stars. They were engraved by Sidney Hall, and were said to be designed by "a lady", but have since been identified as the work of the Reverend Richard Rouse Bloxam, an assistant master at Rugby School.
Siming refers to a Chinese deity or deified functionary of that title who makes fine adjustments to human fate, with various English translations. Siming is both an abstract deity and a celestial asterism.
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