A faint constellation between Aquila and Serpens, introduced in the 1680s by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius under the title Scutum Sobieski. This was to honour King John Sobieski of Poland who defeated the Ottoman army at the battle of Vienna in 1683. Today we just call it it Scutum.

One of the faint and half forgotten constellations introduced in the 1750s by Lacaille to fill in the southern celestial hemisphere. Originally called Apparatus Sculptoris. This constellation represents a sculptor’s workshop, why he put this in the sky is unknown. Its stars are of little interest.

A resplendent constellation lying in a rich area of the Milky Way, and packed with exciting objects for users of binoculars and small telescopes. In mythology, Scorpius was the scorpion whose sting killed Orion. And in the sky Orion still flees from the scorpion, for Orion sets below the horizon as the scorpion rises.

An ancient constellation depicting a centaur, half man, half beast with a raised bow and arrow. Sagittarius has been visualised this way since at least ancient Greek times. It probably originated with the Sumerian civilization around the river Euphrates who saw him as Nergal, their archer god of war.

Despite its small size Sagitta is the 3rd smallest constellation in the sky this arrow shaped constellation as known to the ancient Greeks. In the sky the arrow seems to be flying between Cygnus and Aquila. One legend says the arrow was shot by Hercules. Sagitta lies in a very river part of the galaxy.

The Romans built their Watling Street, but is it possible that the name used for this Roman road was based on an earlier Celtic myth based on the path of the Waetlings the sons of King Waetla?

A small and very inconspicuous constellation introduced in the 1750s by Lacaille to commemorate the instrument known as the reticule which he used for measuring star positions on his surveys of the southern skies. The best example of a reticule is if you look through a telescope and you see lines that help you target the star you are looking for.

The smallest and least impressive of the four parts into which the constellation Argo Navis the ship was divided into in the 1750s by Lacaille. The other sections Carina the keel , Puppis the poop and Vela the sails.

This is the largest of the four sections into which the ancient constellation of Argo Navis, the ship of the Argonauts, the constellation was dismembered in the 1750s by the French astronomer Nicolas Lacaille. The other sections are Carina the Keel, Pyxis the compass and Vela the sails.

This constellation has been known since ancient times and is often represented as a fish drinking the flow of water from the urn of the neighbouring Aquarius the water bearer. The fish has been identified with the Babylonian fish god Oannes and is said to be the parent of the zodiacal fish Pisces.