Boötes

Uncommon card · No. 111875

Boötes ( boh-OH-teez) is a constellation in the northern sky, located between 0° and +60° declination, and 13 and 16 hours of right ascension on the celestial sphere. The name comes from Latin: Boōtēs, which comes from Ancient Greek: Βοώτης, romanized: Boṓtēs 'herdsman' or 'plowman' (literally, 'ox-driver'; from βοῦς boûs 'cow'). One of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, Boötes is now one of the 88 modern constellations. It contains the fourth-brightest star in the night sky, the orange giant Arcturus, which is also the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere. Epsilon Boötis, or Izar, is a colourful multiple star popular with amateur astronomers. Boötes is home to many other bright stars, including eight above the fourth magnitude and an additional 21 above the fifth magnitude, making a total of 29 stars easily visible to the naked eye.

Read on Wikipedia · Image IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine (Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg), CC BY 3.0