About the Constellation:
(The ram) One of the zodiacal constellations bounded by Pisces, Triangulum, Perseus, Taurus and Cetus. In mythology, it is the ram which carried Phrixus and Helle across the Hellespont and whose fleece became the Golden Fleece of the Argonaut expedition. When the Greeks first put astronomy upon a scientific basis some 2,300 years ago, the sign of Aries was in the constellation Aries, and the Vernal Equinox is still called "The First of Aries." However, due to precession, this point is now in Pisces and will not return to the constellation Aries for 24,000 years, precession being only 50.2" per year. Aries is not a conspicuous constellation containing only one star of 2.23 magnitude and one of 2.72 magnitude, three stars of the fourth magnitude and 43 stars of the fifth and sixth. The star Arietis is a famous double consisting of two 5th magnitude stars 8" apart and with a common proper motion. Their distance from us is about 150 light years. Atietis, also known as Hamal, is about 75 light years distant.
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