Hyades: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Pleiades and Hyades in Stellarium.jpg|thumb|Pleiades and Hyades in Stellarium (date -300 but this view is independent of the historical epoch on human scales).]] | [[File:Pleiades and Hyades in Stellarium.jpg|thumb|Pleiades and Hyades in Stellarium (date -300 but this view is independent of the historical epoch on human scales).]] | ||
The Hyades are a significant pattern of stars in the sky that has been recognized as an asterism or constellation by almost all cultures. They form part of the modern constellation of [[Taurus]]. | [[File:Plej+hyad smh2025 4gif.gif|thumb|Hyades and Pleiades as observed in central Europe (photo and animation SMH)]] | ||
The Hyades (Ὑας, Ὑαδες) are a significant pattern of stars in the sky that has been recognized as an asterism or constellation by almost all cultures. They form part of the modern constellation of [[Taurus]]. | |||
==Etymology and History== | ==Etymology and History== | ||
==== Name Variants: ==== | |||
* Suculae (Latin) | * Suculae (Latin) | ||
* Rainy Ones (''hyô, hyetos'') | |||
* Regengestirn (German) | |||
* ‘jaws of Taurus’ ([[Is le10|''is-lê'']]) | |||
* [[AGA A-nim]], the Crown of the sky god Anu | |||
===Origin of Constellation=== | ===Origin of Constellation=== | ||
The V-shaped Hyades appear more scattered in the sky; in Mesopotamia they were regarded as the | [[File:Fig1 taurus tablet 150dpi sciLogs.jpg|thumb|Taurus sign with drawings of Pleiades (Bristle), Hyades (Chariot), Bull, and the Moon during a total lunar eclipse in the Moon's hypsoma; drawing by Hoffmann (2025)<ref name=":0">Hoffmann, S.M. (2025). Image Analysis of VAT 7851, [https://orientalistik.univie.ac.at/publikationen/afo/ Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO)] 56, 45-53</ref>.]] | ||
[[File:Hyaden+plejaden_smh2025_isle.JPG|thumb|Hyades (photograph) and The Jaw of the Bull from a claytablet (CC BY SMH 2024).]] | |||
The V-shaped Hyades appear more scattered in the sky; in Mesopotamia they were regarded as [[AGA A-nim]], the Crown of the sky god Anu, or the ‘Jaw of The Bull’ ([[Is le10|''is-lê'']]) and are interpreted in Greek as its face. The bright star [[Aldebaran]], which physically does not belong to the star cluster but is (coincidentally) seen standing in the foreground in the same direction in the sky, had no proper name - neither in Mesopotamia nor in mathematical Greek astronomy. Only in his astrological work Tetrabiblos does Ptolemy give a name for the star: the torch. The modern name, Aldebaran, is Arabic and alludes to its position in the sky. The Pleiades rise first, followed by Aldebaran and the Hyades. Ad-Dabaran means ‘the following one’. | |||
The star cluster seems to be also part of Late Babylonian constellation of The Chariot, GIGIR.<ref name=":0" /> | |||
===Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation=== | ===Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation=== | ||
==Mythology== | ==Mythology== | ||
In Greek mythology, both the names of the sisters and their parents vary.<ref>Hyades in [https://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NymphaiHyades.html THEOI online] </ref> | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
!parents | |||
!sisters | |||
|- | |||
| | |||
* ATLAS & PLEIONE ''(Hyginus Fabulae 192)'' | |||
* ATLAS & AITHRA ''(Musaeus Frag, Hyginus Astronomica 2.21, Ovid Fasti 5.164)'' | |||
* HYAS & BOIOTIA ''(Hyginus Astronomica 2.21)'' | |||
| | |||
* PHAISYLE, KORONIS, KLEEIA, PHAIO, EUDORE ''(Hesiod Astronomy 2)'' | |||
* PHAESYLA, KORONIS, AMBROSIA, POLYXO, EUDORA ''(Hyginus Fabulae 192)'' | |||
* AMBROSIA, EUDORA, AESYLE ''(Eustathius on Homer's Iliad 1156)'' | |||
|} | |||
==Weblinks== | ==Weblinks== | ||
| Line 24: | Line 48: | ||
[[Category:Star Cluster]] | [[Category:Star Cluster]] | ||
[[Category:Tau]] | [[Category:Tau]] | ||
[[Category:Hyades]] | |||
Latest revision as of 18:17, 12 April 2026


The Hyades (Ὑας, Ὑαδες) are a significant pattern of stars in the sky that has been recognized as an asterism or constellation by almost all cultures. They form part of the modern constellation of Taurus.
Etymology and History
Name Variants:
- Suculae (Latin)
- Rainy Ones (hyô, hyetos)
- Regengestirn (German)
- ‘jaws of Taurus’ (is-lê)
- AGA A-nim, the Crown of the sky god Anu
Origin of Constellation

The V-shaped Hyades appear more scattered in the sky; in Mesopotamia they were regarded as AGA A-nim, the Crown of the sky god Anu, or the ‘Jaw of The Bull’ (is-lê) and are interpreted in Greek as its face. The bright star Aldebaran, which physically does not belong to the star cluster but is (coincidentally) seen standing in the foreground in the same direction in the sky, had no proper name - neither in Mesopotamia nor in mathematical Greek astronomy. Only in his astrological work Tetrabiblos does Ptolemy give a name for the star: the torch. The modern name, Aldebaran, is Arabic and alludes to its position in the sky. The Pleiades rise first, followed by Aldebaran and the Hyades. Ad-Dabaran means ‘the following one’.
The star cluster seems to be also part of Late Babylonian constellation of The Chariot, GIGIR.[1]
Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation
Mythology
In Greek mythology, both the names of the sisters and their parents vary.[2]
| parents | sisters |
|---|---|
|
|
Weblinks
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hoffmann, S.M. (2025). Image Analysis of VAT 7851, Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO) 56, 45-53
- ↑ Hyades in THEOI online





