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Musca Borealis

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The Lost Constellations

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Abstract

The group of four bright stars most commonly identified on historic charts as Musca Borealis has a complex history in which both of two competing representations were ultimately discarded. The representations are here considered separately (Fig. 16.1).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Over the back of the Ram” (Allen, 1899); “Between Aries and Perseus” (Kendall, 1845); “Directly north of Aries” (Bouvier, 1858); “Four stars north of Aries” (Bakich, 1995).

  2. 2.

    Jean-Charles Houzeau de Lehaie (1820–1888) was a Belgian astronomer and journalist known for his travels in the United States during the mid-nineteenth century.

  3. 3.

    Isaac (II) Habrecht (1589–1633) was an astronomer, physician and cartographer at Strasbourg.

  4. 4.

    Jakob Bartsch (c. 1600–1633) was a German astronomer and cartographer from Lubań, now in Poland.

  5. 5.

    XXVII. APES olium ad (Aries) informes pertinebant: jam informam redactae. Mihi vel Vespa Beelzebub, deum muscarum notet, Luc. II. v. 15. &c. vel Apes significent eas, quae ex Leonis a Simsone trucidati cadavere, Jud 14. v. 8. provenere (p. 88).

  6. 6.

    “But some of them said, ‘By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons'”. (NIV)

  7. 7.

    “Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey.” (NIV)

  8. 8.

    2 Kings 1:1–4 (NIV).

  9. 9.

    2 Kings 1:16–17 (NIV).

  10. 10.

    Testament of Solomon, 6.2.

  11. 11.

    Testament of Solomon, 6.7.

  12. 12.

    Saint Remigius of Reims (ad 437–533) was Bishop of Reims and Apostle of the Franks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tucson, AZ, USA

    John C. Barentine

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Barentine, J.C. (2016). Musca Borealis. In: The Lost Constellations. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22795-5_16

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