Libra - Revision history

Sushoff: /* Setting (Lib II Cap VI §10) */

2026-02-27T18:26:17Z

Setting (Lib II Cap VI §10)

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:26, 27 February 2026
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	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|
	\|		\|Lib 16
	\|		\|Vir 6
	\|		\|Cnc 18
	\|		\|Leo 11
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|
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	\|-		\|-
	\|star		\|star
	\|		\|the southern one of the bright ones at the end of the claws
	\|		\|the southern one of those in the forehead of the Scorpion
	\|		\|
	\|		\|
	\|-		\|-
	\|duration		\|duration
	\| colspan="4" \|2 1/8 hours = ~~127.5~~ min = ~~31 7/8~~ degree		\| colspan="4" \|1 3/5 hours = 96 min = 24 degree
	\|}		\|}

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	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|
	\|		\|Lib 16 1/2
	\|		\|Sco 15
	\|		\|Cap 10
	\|		\|Cap 27 1/2
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|
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	\|-		\|-
	\|star		\|star
	\|		\|the bright one at the tip of the southern claw
	\|		\|the one in the middle of the northern claw
	\|		\|
	\|		\|
	\|-		\|-
	\|duration		\|duration
	\| colspan="4" \|~~2 2~~/3 hours = ~~160~~ min = ~~40°~~		\| colspan="4" \|1 1/4 hours = 75 min = 18 3/4°
	\|}		\|}

Sushoff at 12:33, 27 February 2026

2026-02-27T12:33:02Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:33, 27 February 2026
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	Aratos, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, and Ptolemy did not know the constellation Libra: for them, this area was named the scorpion's claws. The reason for this is probably a change in the constellation Virgo: in Mesopotamia, there were two variants of the constellation Virgo (the Virgin), both of which occupy a small space of about 30° along the ecliptic. However, today's constellation Virgo is approximately 43° long along the ecliptic, and today's constellation is based on the Greek one.		Aratos, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, and Ptolemy did not know the constellation Libra: for them, this area was named the scorpion's claws. The reason for this is probably a change in the constellation Virgo: in Mesopotamia, there were two variants of the constellation Virgo (the Virgin), both of which occupy a small space of about 30° along the ecliptic. However, today's constellation Virgo is approximately 43° long along the ecliptic, and today's constellation is based on the Greek one.

	If you draw the Greek Virgo on a star map and next to it a giant scorpion, for which the tips of the claws are marked by the stars α and β Librae, then there is no room left in between for another figure, e.g., a scale. On the globe of the Farnese Atlas, the scorpion holds the scales in its claws, i.e., anyone who wanted to imagine a set of scales in Greek superimposed them on the claws of the scorpion.		If you draw the Greek [[Virgo]] on a star map and next to it a giant scorpion, for which the tips of the claws are marked by the stars α and β Librae, then there is no room left in between for another figure, e.g., a scale. On the globe of the Farnese Atlas, the scorpion holds the scales in its claws, i.e., anyone who wanted to imagine a set of scales in Greek superimposed them on the claws of the scorpion.

	==== Roman Renaissance ====		==== Roman Renaissance ====

Sushoff at 12:32, 27 February 2026

2026-02-27T12:32:14Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:32, 27 February 2026
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	==Etymology and History==		==Etymology and History==
	===Origin of Constellation===		===Origin of Constellation===
	The constellation name is attested at least since MUL.APIN (around 1000 BCE). However the shape of the image and the exact identification with stars was occasionally varied over time.		<ref>Hoffmann, Susanne M. Wie der Löwe an den Himmel kam. Franckh Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2021</ref>The constellation name is attested at least since MUL.APIN (around 1000 BCE). However the shape of the image and the exact identification with stars was occasionally varied over time.

	If you draw the Babylonian equivalent of the constellation [[Virgo]], [[Spica]] is the easternmost star. Between this and the stars at the tips of the Scorpion's claws (α and β Lib), there is about 20° of space where you can draw a set of scales. The scales then lie towards [[Virgo]] and not towards [[Scorpius]] as in today's/Greek image. Perhaps this was the original image, which first had to give way to the enlarged Greek Virgo before the Babylonian roots were revisited in Roman times. In the 1st century, Libra appears in astrological literature, for example in Geminos and Manilius, and is thus drawn again – but then in the scissors of Scorpio: on the Farnese Globe, Scorpius “holds” Libra with the tips of its scissors, so that the scales dangle in its face.		If you draw the Babylonian equivalent of the constellation [[Virgo]], [[Spica]] is the easternmost star. Between this and the stars at the tips of the Scorpion's claws (α and β Lib), there is about 20° of space where you can draw a set of scales. The scales then lie towards [[Virgo]] and not towards [[Scorpius]] as in today's/Greek image. Perhaps this was the original image, which first had to give way to the enlarged Greek Virgo before the Babylonian roots were revisited in Roman times. In the 1st century, Libra appears in astrological literature, for example in Geminos and Manilius, and is thus drawn again – but then in the scissors of Scorpio: on the Farnese Globe, Scorpius “holds” Libra with the tips of its scissors, so that the scales dangle in its face.

Sushoff at 19:21, 24 February 2026

2026-02-24T19:21:09Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:21, 24 February 2026
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	----		----
	[[File:Libra (lib).tiff\|alt=star chart\|thumb\|Lib star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg).]]		[[File:Libra (lib).tiff\|alt=star chart\|thumb\|Lib star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg).]]
	One of the [[:Category:88_IAU-Constellations\|88 IAU constellations]].		One of the [[:Category:88_IAU-Constellations\|88 IAU constellations]]. The constellation Libra is Babylonian—like all constellations of the zodiac. What is special about this constellation is that it was initially lost in Greek times and returned in Roman times. The fact that Libra is the only instrument in the zodiac today is rather coincidental: we could just as well count the sextant in the zodiac in addition to [[Orion]]'s club, because stars in this constellation are sometimes covered by the moon, and then we would have another inanimate object. So it is rather coincidental that Libra ended up in the zodiac and other instruments did not.

	==Etymology and History==		==Etymology and History==
	The Greek constellation ...		===Origin of Constellation===
			The constellation name is attested at least since MUL.APIN (around 1000 BCE). However the shape of the image and the exact identification with stars was occasionally varied over time.

			If you draw the Babylonian equivalent of the constellation [[Virgo]], [[Spica]] is the easternmost star. Between this and the stars at the tips of the Scorpion's claws (α and β Lib), there is about 20° of space where you can draw a set of scales. The scales then lie towards [[Virgo]] and not towards [[Scorpius]] as in today's/Greek image. Perhaps this was the original image, which first had to give way to the enlarged Greek Virgo before the Babylonian roots were revisited in Roman times. In the 1st century, Libra appears in astrological literature, for example in Geminos and Manilius, and is thus drawn again – but then in the scissors of Scorpio: on the Farnese Globe, Scorpius “holds” Libra with the tips of its scissors, so that the scales dangle in its face.

			==== Greek Absence ====
			Aratos, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, and Ptolemy did not know the constellation Libra: for them, this area was named the scorpion's claws. The reason for this is probably a change in the constellation Virgo: in Mesopotamia, there were two variants of the constellation Virgo (the Virgin), both of which occupy a small space of about 30° along the ecliptic. However, today's constellation Virgo is approximately 43° long along the ecliptic, and today's constellation is based on the Greek one.

			If you draw the Greek Virgo on a star map and next to it a giant scorpion, for which the tips of the claws are marked by the stars α and β Librae, then there is no room left in between for another figure, e.g., a scale. On the globe of the Farnese Atlas, the scorpion holds the scales in its claws, i.e., anyone who wanted to imagine a set of scales in Greek superimposed them on the claws of the scorpion.

			==== Roman Renaissance ====
			Manilius passed down the mnemonic rule that day and night “keep the scales balanced” in the constellation. He cannot have meant that the sun is in Libra at the equinox, because that was no longer the case in his era. The equinox was located next to α Lib around 1250 BC, which fits the date of MUL.APIN. Heliocentric risings of the Libra stars α and β Lib in the morning sky thus took place in the 2nd millennium at the equinox and no longer in Roman times. Manilius can therefore only have referred to heliocentric settings in the evening, i.e., observations at a time when people could comfortably observe the sky and could use this as a farmer's rule. In his time, the stars of Libra were just visible in the evening sky around the equinox and set quickly after the sun.

			Manilius was best known for his astrology and was not read in mathematical astronomy. Astronomy in the Arabic and Latin Middle Ages refers primarily to Aratus and Ptolemy, neither of whom knew the constellation Libra. That is why the two brightest stars in Libra are still called by their Arabic names “northern scissors” and “southern scissors” today; they are direct translations from the Almagest. In modern star charts, Libra is consistently depicted again – at least since it was drawn in the Uranometria in 1603, it has become an integral part of uraniumography.

	~~===Origin~~ of ~~Constellation===~~		Modern authors sometimes wonder why Libra is the only inanimate object in the zodiac. This was by no means always the case: the Mesopotamian precursor to the zodiac was the moon's path. The “path of the moon” is the area in which the moon can cover stars. Today, as in MUL.APIN, it consists of 17 constellations. Among them are several “devices”; for example, the stars of Auriga once formed a throwing stick, i.e., a weapon—a kind of Babylonian boomerang. Orion holds up a club (or, in modern terms, sometimes a sword) or, in Babylonian terms, a shepherd's crook. Whatever he holds in his northward-facing hand is an object whose tip lies in the zodiac. This is also already mentioned in MUL.APIN.

	==== Babylonian ====		==== Babylonian ====
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	==Mythology==		==Mythology==
			For the Babylonians, Libra was located next to Spica, the ear of corn, and was therefore probably an instrument for weighing the harvest. The Babylonian equivalent of the constellation Virgo was associated with the goddess Shala. Although there was no constellation called Shala, this goddess is sometimes depicted holding the ear of corn in her hand instead of lying in a furrow. This pragmatic proximity of the ear of corn and the scales is thus documented from the 2nd millennium BCE to Greek times. There is no story behind it; rather, it seems to be a mnemonic device for the farmers' calendar.

			When the Romans reintroduced the constellation Libra, however, it was an instrument or symbol of justice for them. It is said to be the scales of the goddess Justicia (Greek Dike), which is one of the possible interpretations of the Greek Virgin.

			There is therefore no specific myth associated with Libra, only various ideas in ancient religions or as a farmer's rule for determining the calendar: day and night are in balance, the world experiences justice, or the harvest is weighed.

	==Weblinks==		==Weblinks==

Sushoff: /* Hipparchus */

2026-02-22T17:47:03Z

Hipparchus

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:47, 22 February 2026
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	===== Hipparchus =====		===== Hipparchus =====

			====== Rising (Lib II Cap V §10) ======
			<blockquote>The Rising of ...</blockquote>
			{\| class="wikitable"
			\|+
			!
			! colspan="2" \|east
			! colspan="2" \|south
			\|-
			!
			!lam1
			!lam2
			!lam1
			!lam2
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|star
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|duration
			\| colspan="4" \|2 1/8 hours = 127.5 min = 31 7/8 degree
			\|}

			====== Setting (Lib II Cap VI §10) ======
			{\| class="wikitable"
			!
			! colspan="2" \|west
			! colspan="2" \|south
			\|-
			!
			!lam1
			!lam2
			!lam1
			!lam2
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|star
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|duration
			\| colspan="4" \|2 2/3 hours = 160 min = 40°
			\|}

			====== Stars Mentioned ======
			{\| class="wikitable"
			\|+
			!
			!Greek
			!German
			!English
			!ident.
			!src
			!
			!lam_culm
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|Lib II Cap V §10
			\|rising, east, first
			\|
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|Lib II Cap V §10
			\|rising, east, last
			\|
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|Lib II Cap VI §2
			\|setting CrB, south, last
			\|Psc 13.5
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|Lib II Cap VI §13
			\|setting Aql, south, first
			\|Ari 2
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|Lib III Cap I §9
			\|rising Ori, south, last
			\|Psc 13
			\|}

	===== Geminos =====		===== Geminos =====

YoulaAzkarrula: /* Almagest Χηλαί. */

2026-02-06T10:21:50Z

Almagest Χηλαί.

@@ Line 151: / Line 151: @@
+|
 |}
 ===Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation===
 <gallery>

Sushoff at 13:26, 20 January 2026

2026-01-20T13:26:02Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:26, 20 January 2026
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			Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
			----
	[[File:Libra (lib).tiff\|alt=star chart\|thumb\|Lib star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg).]]		[[File:Libra (lib).tiff\|alt=star chart\|thumb\|Lib star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg).]]
	One of the [[:Category:88_IAU-Constellations\|88 IAU constellations]].		One of the [[:Category:88_IAU-Constellations\|88 IAU constellations]].

Sushoff at 13:25, 5 September 2025

2025-09-05T13:25:44Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:25, 5 September 2025
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	[[Category:88 IAU-Constellations]]		[[Category:88 IAU-Constellations]]
	[[Category:European]]		[[Category:European]]
			[[Category:Zodiac]]
	[[Category:4work]]		[[Category:4work]]

Sushoff: /* Almagest Χηλαί. */

2025-04-26T09:17:12Z

Almagest Χηλαί.

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:17, 26 April 2025
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	\|nu Lib		\|nu Lib
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|7
	\|ὁ ἐν μέσῃ τῇ βορεύῳ χηλῇ.		\|ὁ ἐν μέσῃ τῇ βορεύῳ χηλῇ.
	\|The star in the middle of the northern claw		\|The star in the middle of the northern claw
	\|gam Lib		\|gam Lib
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|9
	\|ὁ ἑπόμενος αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς χηλῆς		\|ὁ ἑπόμενος αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς χηλῆς
	\|The one to the rear of this on the same daw		\|The one to the rear of this on the same daw
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	!		!
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|10
	\|τῶν βορειοτέρων τῆς βορείου χηλῆς β' ὁ προηγούμενος		\|τῶν βορειοτέρων τῆς βορείου χηλῆς β' ὁ προηγούμενος
	\|The most advanced of the 3 stars north of the northern claw		\|The most advanced of the 3 stars north of the northern claw
	\|37 Lib		\|37 Lib
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|11
	\|τῶν ἐπομένων β ὁ νοτιώτερος		\|τῶν ἐπομένων β ὁ νοτιώτερος
	\|The southernmost of the rearmost 2 [ of these]		\|The southernmost of the rearmost 2 [ of these]
	\|48 Lib		\|48 Lib
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|12
	\|ὁ βόρειος αὐτῶν		\|ὁ βόρειος αὐτῶν
	\|The northernmost of them		\|The northernmost of them
	\|xi Lib		\|xi Lib
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|13
	\|τῶν μεταξὺ τῶν χηλῶν » ὁ ἐπόμευος		\|τῶν μεταξὺ τῶν χηλῶν » ὁ ἐπόμευος
	\|The rearmost of the 3 stars between the claws		\|The rearmost of the 3 stars between the claws
	\|lam Lib		\|lam Lib
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|14
	\|τῶν λοιπῶν β καὶ προηγουμένων ὁ βόρειος.		\|τῶν λοιπῶν β καὶ προηγουμένων ὁ βόρειος.
	\|The northernmost of the other 2 in advance f of the lauer 1		\|The northernmost of the other 2 in advance f of the lauer 1
	\|41 Lib		\|41 Lib
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|15
	\|ὁ νότιος αὐτῶν		\|ὁ νότιος αὐτῶν
	\|The southernmost of them		\|The southernmost of them
	\|HR 5810		\|HR 5810
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|16
	\|τῶν νοτιωτέρου τῆς νοτίου χηλῆς 7 ὁ προηγούμενος.		\|τῶν νοτιωτέρου τῆς νοτίου χηλῆς 7 ὁ προηγούμενος.
	\|The most advanced of the 3 stars south of the southern claw		\|The most advanced of the 3 stars south of the southern claw
	\|20 Lib		\|20 Lib
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|17
	\|τῶν λοιπῶν καὶ ἐπομένωυ β ὁ βορειότερος.		\|τῶν λοιπῶν καὶ ἐπομένωυ β ὁ βορειότερος.
	\|The northernmost of the other, rear 2		\|The northernmost of the other, rear 2
	\|39 Lib		\|39 Lib
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|18
	\|ὁ νοτιώτερος αὐτῶν		\|ὁ νοτιώτερος αὐτῶν
	\|The southernmost of them		\|The southernmost of them

Sushoff: /* Almagest */ added

2025-04-26T09:16:39Z

Almagest: added

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 ===== Geminos =====
-==== Almagest ====
+==== Almagest Χηλαί. ====
 {| class="wikitable"
 !id
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 (Toomer 1984)
 !ident.
 |-
 |1
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 |2
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 |-
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 |-
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 |}