Serpens Constellation Meaning

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Serpens Constellation [Stellarium]

Constellation Serpens the Serpent is a northern constellation in the arms of Ophiuchus, bordering Libra, Sagittarius, Aquila, Hercules and the obsolete constellations Antinous and Taurus Poniatovii.

Serpens is one of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy in the 2nd century and remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It spans 60 degrees of the zodiac in the Signs of Scorpio, Sagittarius and Capricorn.

This constellation is split into two non-contiguous parts, Serpens Caput (Serpent’s Head) to the west and Serpens Cauda (Serpent’s Tail) to the east. Between these two halves lies Ophiuchus.

Abbreviation: Ser
Genitive: Serpentis

Serpens Constellation Stars

2000	2050	Star	Name	Sp. Class	Mag.	Orb
17♏10	17♏53	ι Ser		A1	4.51	1°10′
18♏20	29♏02	δ Ser	Nasak Yamani I	F0	3.80	1°30′
19♏46	20♏29	κ Ser	Gudja	M1	4.09	1°20′
19♏57	20♏39	β Ser	Zhou	A3	3.65	1°40′
22♏04	22♏47	α Ser	Unukalhai	K2	2.63	2°00′
22♏47	23♏30	γ Ser	Nasak Shamiya II	F6	3.85	1°00′
24♏20	25♏02	ε Ser	Nasak Yamani II	A2	3.71	1°30′
25♏56	26♏38	μ Ser	Tiānrǔ	A0	3.54	1°40′
03♐24	04♐06	σ Ser	Lee Sze	F0	4.82	1°00′
20♐18	21♐00	ν Ser		A0	4.32	1°10′
24♐32	25♐15	ξ Ser	Nanhai	F0	3.54	1°40′
25♐23	26♐05	ο Ser		A2	4.24	1°20′
00♑07	00♑50	ζ Ser		F3	4.62	1°00′
05♑40	06♑22	η Ser	Alava	K0	3.23	1°50′
15♑45	16♑27	θ¹ Ser	Alya	A5	4.62	1°00′

β Ser is officially named Zhou, from the Chinese Zhōu (周), ^[1] representing the royal dynasty of Zhou, the longest-lasting dynasty in Chinese history.
β Ser is also named Nasak Shamiya I, from the indigenous Arabic asterism al-nasaq al-sha’āmī, “the Northern Line” of al-Nasaqān “the Two Lines [of stars]”. al-Nasaqān originally marked the boundaries of the Indigenous Arabs’ al-raunda, “the Pasture.” These boundaries were “the Northern Line,” al-nasaq al-sha’āmī (including κ, γ, β, δ, λ, μ, ο, ν, and ξ Her; β and γ Lyr; and β and γ Ser), and “the Southern Line,” al-nasaq al-yamānī (including δ, λ, α, and ε Ser; δ, ε, υ, η, ζ, and ξ Oph). ^[2]

γ Ser is named Nasak Shamiya II, from the indigenous Arabic asterism al-nasaq al-sha’āmī, “the Northern Line” of al-Nasaqān “the Two Lines [of stars]” (see β Ser). ^[2]
γ Ser was later given the proper name Ainalhai, from the Arabic عين الحية ‘Ayn al-Ḥayyah “the Serpent’s Eye”. ^[3]
γ Ser is also known as Zheng, derived from the Chinese Zhèng (鄭), ^[1] which represents the vassal state of Zheng during the Zhou dynasty, located in the center of ancient China in modern-day Henan Province.

δ Ser is named Nasak Yamani I, from the indigenous Arabic asterism al-nasaq al-yamānī, “the Southern Line” of al-Nasaqān “the Two Lines [of stars]” (see β Ser). ^[2]
δ Ser is also known as Qin, derived from the Chinese Qín (秦), ^[1] which represents an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty.

ε Ser is named Nasak Yamani II, from the indigenous Arabic asterism al-nasaq al-yamānī, “the Southern Line” of al-Nasaqān “the Two Lines [of stars]” (see β Ser). ^[2]
ε Ser is also known as Ba, derived from the Chinese Bā (巴), ^[1] which represents an ancient state in eastern Sichuan.
ε Ser was also known as Nulla Pambu, Sanskrit for “Snake Charmer.” ^[4]

η Ser is named Alava in Stellarium, but I cannot find any source. It could be from the Hinhu Alāva (अलाव), a bonfire or campfire.
η Ser is also known as Donghai, derived from the Chinese Dōnghǎi (東海), ^[1] which represents the Eastern Sea, one of the Four Seas, a literary name for the boundaries of China.

θ¹ Ser is officially named Alya. From the Arabic word alya, meaning the fatty tail of a breed of Eastern sheep. In Renaissance times, this word was erroneously proposed as the origin of Alioth, a Medieval Latin name for ε UMa. The erroneous Alya was applied as a star name to Ser in recent times. ^[2]
θ¹ Ser is also known as Xu, derived from the Chinese Xú (徐), ^[1] which represents an independent Huaiyi state of the Chinese Bronze Age.

κ Ser is officially named Gudja, after the Aboriginal Wardaman people in modern-day Northern Territory, Australia. Gudja refers to “Water Goanna” in Wardaman astronomy. ^[5] The star named Gudja is a transcription error of the name Judja. ^[6]

μ Ser is named Tiānrǔ, from the Chinese Tiānrǔ (天乳), “Celestial Milk.” ^[7]
μ Ser is also known as Leiolepis or Leiolepidotus, ^[4]Greek for “Soft Scales.”

ξ Ser is named Nanhai, derived from the Chinese 南海 Nánhǎi (南海), ^[1] which represents the Southern Sea, one of the Four Seas, a literary name for the boundaries of China.
ξ Ser is also known as Nehushtan, ^[4] Hebrew for “Bronze Serpent.”

σ Ser is named Lee Sze, derived from the Chinese Lièsìyī (列肆一), “1st star of the Jewel Market.” The Jewel Market asterism, Lièsì (列肆), contains σ Ser and λ Oph. ^[7]

Serpens Astrology

Manilius

One called Ophiuchus holds apart the serpent which with its mighty spirals and twisted body encircles his own, that so he may untie its knots and back that winds in loops. But, bending its supple neck, the serpent looks back and returns; and the other’s hands slide over the loosened coils. The struggle will last for ever, since they wage it on level terms with equal powers. ^[8]

Robson

Legend. When Glaucus, son of Minos, King of Crete, was drowned in a barrel of red honey, Æsculapius was sent for to restore him to life and was shut in a secret chamber with the body. While he stood wondering what to do a serpent entered, which he slew. Thereupon another serpent came in bearing a herb which it placed on the head of the dead serpent, thereby restoring it to life, and Æasculapius, using the same herb, succeeded in restoring Glaucus. The serpent was placed in heaven and for this reason certain writers have identified Ophiuchus with Æsculapius. According to other accounts the serpent is one of those that would have slain Hercules in his cradle (see OPHIUCHUS).

Influences. According to Ptolemy, Serpens is like Saturn and Mars. It is said to give wisdom, craft, deceit, malice, a feeble will and danger of poison. ^[9]

Serpens Constellation [Urania’s Mirror]

Allen

Serpens, probably is very ancient, and always has been shown as grasped by the hands of Ophiuchus at its pair of stars δ, ε, and at ν, τ Ophiuchi. The head is marked by the noticeable group ι, κ, γ, φ, υ, ρ, and the eight little stars all lettered τ, and consecutively numbered, 10° south from the Crown and 20° due east from Arcturus; the figure line thence winding southwards 15° to Libra, and turning to the southeast and northeast along the western edge of the Milky Way, terminating at its star θ, 8° south of the tail of the Eagle and west of that constellation’s δ.

Of the four stellar Snakes this preëminently is the Serpent, its stars originally being combined with those of Ophiuchus, but it now is catalogued separately, and occasionally divided into Caput and Cauda on either side of the Serpent-holder.

In the astronomy of Arabia it was Al Ḥayyah, the Snake; but before that country was influenced by Greece there was a very different constellation here, Al Rauḍah, the Pasture; the stars β and γ, p375 with γ and β Herculis, forming the Nasaḳ Shāmiyy, the Northern Boundary; while δ, α, and ε Serpentis, with δ, ε, ζ, and η Ophiuchi, were the Nasaḳ Yamāniyy, the Southern Boundary. The enclosed sheep were shown by the stars now in the Club of Hercules, guarded on the west by the Shepherd and his Dog, the stars α in Ophiuchus and Hercules.

Serpens shared with Ophiuchus the Euphratean title of Nu‑tsir‑da, the Image of the Serpent; and is supposed to have been one of the representatives of divinity to the Ophites, the Hivites of Old Testament times.

The comparatively void space between ν and ε was the Chinese Tien Shi Yuen, the Enclosure of the Heavenly Market.

Argelander counts 51 stars within the constellation boundaries, and Heis 82. In its cluster NGC 5904, 5 M., Bailey has discovered 85 variables.

α, 3, pale yellow.
Unuk⁠1 al Hay, — or Unukalhai, — is from ʽUnḳ al Ḥayyah, the Neck of the Snake, the later Arabic name for this star; the Uunk al Hay of the Standard Dictionary is erroneous, — a type error perhaps for Unuk. It was also Alioth, Alyah, and Alyat, often considered as terms for the broad and fat tail of the Eastern sheep that may have been at some early day figured here in the Orientals’ sky; but we know nothing of this, and these are not Arabic words, so that their origin in Al Ḥayyah of the constellation is more probable. Smyth somewhat indefinitely states that Alangue and Ras Alangue appear in the Alfonsine Tables, presumably for this star.

α may have been the lucidus anguis of Ovid and Vergil, as it certainly was the Cor Serpentis of astrology.

With λ it was known as Shuh of certain territory in China; and Edkins rather unsatisfactorily writes:

The twenty-two stars in the Serpent are named after the states into which China was formerly divided.

As their radiant point it has given name to the Alpha Serpentids of the 15th of February.

It is of Secchi’s 2d type of spectra, and receding from us about 14 miles a second. It culminates on the 28th of July; and a 12th‑magnitude blue companion is 58″ distant.

β, Double, 3 and 9.2, both pale blue.
This was Chow with the Chinese, the title of one of their imperial dynasties; but it does not seem to have been named by any other nation. The components are 30″.6 apart, at a position angle of 265°.

Near it is the radiant point of the Beta Serpentids, a minor stream of meteors visible from the 18th to the 20th of April.

γ, a 4th‑magnitude, was Ching, and δ, Tsin, in Chinese lists.

This last, a white and bluish 4th- and 5th‑magnitude double, was first noted as a binary by Sir William Herschel. The components are 3″.6 apart, with a position angle at present of about 185°.

ε, of 3.7 magnitude, was Pa, the name of a certain territory in China.

ζ, a 4½‑magnitude, and η were Tung Hae, the heavenly Eastern Sea of that country; the latter star being a golden-yellow 3.3‑magnitude with a small, pale lilac companion.

θ, Binary and perhaps slightly variable, 4 and 4.5, pale yellow and gold yellow.
Alya, of the Palermo Catalogue and others (sometimes, but erroneously, Alga), probably is from the same source as the similar title of the lucida.

The Chinese knew it as Sen, one of their districts.

It is the terminal star in the Serpent; and lies southwest of Aquila, in a comparatively starless region between the two branches of the Milky Way. The components are 21″ apart, at a position angle of 104°.

ξ, 3.7, on the lower part of the body, was Nan Hae, the Southern Sea; and ν, 5.3, on the back of the head, was Cha Sze, a Carriage-shop. ^[10]

Serpens Constellation [Bullinger]

Bullinger

Here, Serpens, the serpent, is seen struggling vainly in the powerful grasp of the man who is named O-phi-u-chus. In Latin he is called Serpentarius. He is at one and the same moment shown to be seizing the serpent with his two hands, and treading on the very heart of the scorpion, marked by the deep red star Antares (wounding).

Just as we read the first constellation of the woman and child Coma, as expounding the first sign VIRGO, so we have to read this first constellation as expounding the second sign LIBRA. Hence, we have here a further picture, showing the object of this conflict on the part of the scorpion.

In Scorpio we see merely the effort to wound Ophiuchus in the heel; but here we see the effort of the serpent to seize THE CROWN, which is situated immediately over the serpent’s head, and to which he is looking up and reaching forth. The contest is for Dominion! It was the Devil, in the form of a serpent, that robbed the first man of his crown; but in vain he struggled to wrest it from the sure possession of the Second Man. Not only does he fail in the attempt, but is himself utterly defeated and trodden under foot. ^[11]