Aries


A nice constellation of the autumn and winter sky. The sun passes through it from late April to mid-May. Although there are not many objects to observe in Aries this constellation is important to astronomers. In former times the vernal equinox (i.e. the point where the Sun crosses the celestial equator when moving from the south to the north) lies within Aries, but due to the effect of procession this point is nowadays located in the western neighbour Pisces. For historical reasons the vernal equinox is still referred as the First Point of Aries. The meaning of this point is equal to the meaning of the null meridian at Greenwich: it is the zero point of the right ascension.
This constellation can be found between DECL=+10 degrees and DECL=+30 degrees and between RA=1h 40m and RA=3h 30m, respectively.
Over the body of Aries another asterism is located: the Northern Fly hovers over Aries.

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