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In Greek mythology Aquarius was Ganymede, "cup-bearer to the gods". Ganymede's story is told in "Aquila". His position was essentially to pour wine for all the gods on Olympus, a function far removed from the initial importance of the Water Bearer, as it first rose in Babylonia. In fact, the constellation seems to have represented water in a number of ancient cultures. In Egypt, for instance, the constellation was thought to cause the Nile to give forth its annual floods. The waters of the Nile, far to the south, would start to rise in June as the rains from the Ethiopian highlands began to run off into the Blue Nile. The night sky, in June, would show Aquarius at its zenith: the bringer of water. Even if alpha Aquarii is a supergiant, perhaps a hundred times the size of the Sun, since it's a thousand light years away it only shines with a 2.96 visual magnitude. Alpha Aquarii ("Sadalmelik") and beta Aquarii ("Sadalsuud") are twin supergiants with nearly identical names. The names mean, respectively, "The Lucky One of the King" and "The Luckiest of the Lucky". Gamma Aquarii shares in the good fortune: "Sadachbia": "The Lucky Star of Hidden Things". "Why is so much luck found in Aquarius", you may ask. When the sun entered Aquarius the new year was about to begin, Spring was on the horizon and the watery season would assure abundant crops. One can therefore appreciate the importance of the Water Bearer. Incidentally, if the "Age of Aquarius" was celebrated in the 1960s, the real event is still some 600 years off: at that time Aquarius will contain the vernal equinox, marking the return of the Sun into the northern celestial hemisphere.
Aquarius has a few nice binaries, a unique variable, and a few deep sky objects of some interest (but the Messiers here are generally sub-par). The stars are generally fourth magnitude. The most notable asterism is of the water jug itself, tipped and pouring water. This small asterism, which fits nicely into a binocular field of view, is just west of alpha Aquarii and made up of zeta Aqr and three other stars.
Double stars in Aquarius:Zeta2 Aquarii and zeta1 Aquarii form a binary of two equal white stars with an orbit of 760 years.
Struve 2944 is a nice triple system, with all three in a neat line.
Struve 2988 is a very attractive pair of equal stars: 7.2, 7.2; PA 101º, separation 3.5".
Variable stars in Aquarius:The most remarkable variable in the constellation is R Aquarii, usually listed as a "Mira variable". Yet this red giant isn't your normal long-period variable; it is a 'symbiotic star', resembling Z Andromedae.
Deep Sky Objects in Aquarius:M2 (NGC 7089) is a globular cluster, compact and bright, about 50,000 light years away.
M73 (NGC 6994) is another uninteresting Messier, a ‘cluster’ comprised of four unrelated stars about 1.5º east of M 72. NGC 7009, "Saturn Nebula" is a planetary nebula quite spectacular in large instruments. It has ‘rays’ which extend from both sides of the main disc.
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© 2000 by Richard Dibon-Smith.
