Argo Navis

Argo Navis is known from Greek texts, which derived it from Egypt around 1000 BC.{{cite book |last=Barentine |first=John |title=A History of Obsolete, Extinct, or Forgotten Star Lore |date=2015 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-22795-5 |pages=72–73 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u_7NCgAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |ref=Barentine}} Plutarch attributed it to the Egyptian "Boat of Osiris." Some academics theorized a Sumerian origin related to the Epic of Gilgamesh, a hypothesis rejected for lack of evidence that Mesopotamian cultures considered these stars, or any portion of them, to form a boat.

Over time, Argo became identified exclusively with ancient Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts. In Ptolemy's Almagest, Argo Navis occupies the portion of the Milky Way between Canis Major and Centaurus, with stars marking such details as the "little shield", the "steering-oar", the "mast-holder", and the "stern-ornament",{{cite book |last=Toomer |first=G.J. |title=Ptolemy's Almagest |date=1984 |publisher=Duckworth & Co. Ltd. |isbn=0715615882 |page=403 |url=https://isidore.co/calibre/get/pdf/Ptolemy%26%2339%3Bs%20Almagest%20-%20Ptolemy%2C%20Claudius%20%26amp%3B%20Toomer%2C%20G.%20J__5114.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://isidore.co/calibre/get/pdf/Ptolemy%26%2339%3Bs%20Almagest%20-%20Ptolemy%2C%20Claudius%20%26amp%3B%20Toomer%2C%20G.%20J__5114.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}} which continued to be reflected in cartographic representations in celestial atlases into the nineteenth century (see below). The ship appeared to rotate about the pole sternwards, so nautically in reverse. Aratus, the Greek poet / historian living in the third century BCE, noted this backward progression writing, "Argo by the Great Dog's [Canis Major's] tail is drawn; for hers is not a usual course, but backward turned she comes ...".{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Robert Jr. |title=The Phainomena, or the Heavenly Display of Aratos, done into English Verse |date=1885 |publisher=Longmans, Green |location=Oxford University |page=40}}

In modern times, Argo Navis was considered unwieldy due to its enormous size (28% larger than Hydra, the largest modern constellation). In his 1763 star catalogue, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille explained that there were more than a hundred and sixty stars clearly visible to the naked eye in Navis. So he used the set of lowercase and uppercase Latin letters three times on portions of the constellation referred to as "Argûs in carina" (Carina, the keel), "Argûs in puppi" (Puppis, the poop deck or stern), and "Argûs in velis" (Vela, the sails).{{cite book |author-link=Nicolas Louis de Lacaille |first=Nicolas-Louis de |last=Lacaille |year=1763 |title=Coelum Australe Stelliferum}} Lacaille replaced Bayer's designations with new ones that followed stellar magnitudes more closely, but used only a single Greek-letter sequence and described the constellation for those stars as "Argûs". Similarly, faint unlettered stars were listed only as in "Argûs".

The final breakup and abolition of Argo Navis was proposed by Sir John Herschel in 1841 and again in 1844.{{cite journal |last=Herschel |first=John F. W. |year=1844 |title=Further remarks on the revision of the constellations |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |volume=6 |issue=5 |page=60 |bibcode=1844MNRAS...6...60H |doi=10.1093/mnras/6.5.60|doi-access=free }} Despite this, the constellation remained in use in parallel with its constituent parts into the 20th century. In 1922, along with the other constellations, it received a three-letter abbreviation: Arg.{{cite journal |bibcode=1922PA.....30..469R |title=The New International Symbols for the Constellations |journal=Popular Astronomy |volume=30 |pages=469 |author=Russell |first1=Henry Norris |year=1922}} The breakup and relegation to a former constellation occurred in 1930 when the IAU defined the 88 modern constellations, formally instituting Carina, Puppis, and Vela, and declaring Argo obsolete.{{cite book |last=Delporte |first=E. |year=1930 |title=Delimitation scientifique des constellations (tables et cartes) |bibcode=1930dsct.book.....D |publisher=Cambridge University Press}} Lacaille's designations were kept in the offspring, so Carina has α, β, and ε; Vela has γ and δ; Puppis has ζ; and so on.{{cite book |last=Wagman |first=M. |year=2003 |title=Lost Stars: Lost, missing, and troublesome stars from the catalogues of Johannes Bayer, Nicholas-Louis de Lacaille, John Flamsteed, and sundry others |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TYLvAAAAMAAJ |publisher=McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-939923-78-6}}{{rp|82}} As a result of this breakup, Argo Navis is the only one of Ptolemy's 48 constellations that is no longer officially recognized as a single constellation.{{cite magazine |last=Ley |first=Willy |date=December 1963 |title=The Names of the Constellations |url=https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v22n02_1963-12#page/n46/mode/1up |department=For Your Information |magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction |pages=90–99}}

In addition, the constellation Pyxis (the mariner's compass) occupies an area near what in antiquity was considered part of Argo's mast. Some recent authors state that the compass was part of the ship,{{cite book |author=Scalzi, John |title=Rough Guide to the Universe |url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetouniv0000scal |url-access=registration |date=1 May 2008 |publisher=Rough Guides Limited |isbn=978-1-84353-800-4}}{{cite book |author1=Kelley, David H. |author2=Milone, Eugene F. |title=Exploring Ancient Skies: A survey of ancient and cultural astronomy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ILBuYcGASxcC |date=16 February 2011 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-4419-7624-6}} but magnetic compasses were unknown in ancient Greek times. Lacaille considered it a separate constellation representing a modern scientific instrument (like Microscopium and Telescopium), that he created for maps of the stars of the southern hemisphere. Pyxis was listed among his 14 new constellations.{{efn|Lacaille assigned Bayer designations to Pyxis separate from those of Argo, and his illustration shows an isolated instrument not related to the figure of the ship.{{cite book |last=Lacaille |first=N.L. de|year=1763 |title=Coelum australe stelliferum |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LIo_AAAAcAAJ&pg=PP7 |publisher=H.L. Guerin & L.F. Delatour |pages=7ff}}}}{{rp|262}} In 1844, John Herschel suggested formalizing the mast as a new constellation, Malus, to replace Lacaille's Pyxis, but the idea did not catch on.{{cite web |url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/argo.html |title=Argo Navis |author=Ridpath, Ian |author-link=Ian Ridpath |website=Star Tales |access-date=14 Mar 2019}} Similarly, an effort by Edmond Halley to detach the "cloud of mist" at the prow of Argo Navis to form a new constellation named Robur Carolinum (Charles' Oak) in honor of King Charles II, his patron, was unsuccessful.{{cite book |last=Barentine |first=John C. |title=The Lost Constellations: A history of obsolete, extinct, or forgotten star lore |date=2015 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-22795-5 |page=73 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u_7NCgAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |ref=Barentine}}

In Vedic period astronomy, which drew its zodiac signs and many constellations from the period of the Indo-Greek Kingdom, Indian observers saw the asterism as a boat.{{cite book |last=Selin |first=Helaine |title=Astronomy Across Cultures: The history of non-western astronomy |date=6 December 2012 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-94-011-4179-6 |page=308 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vRHvCAAAQBAJ |via=Google Books}}

The Māori had several names for the constellation, including Te Waka-o-Tamarereti (the canoe of Tamarereti),{{cite book |last1=Robertson |first1=Margaret |last2=Po Eung |first2=Eric |title=Everyday Knowledge, Education, and Sustainable Futures: Transdisciplinary approaches in the Asia-Pacific region |date=June 1, 2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-9811002168 |page=63}} Te Kohi-a-Autahi (an expression meaning "cold of autumn settling down on land and water"),{{cite journal |last=Best |first=Elsdon |title=Food Products of Tuhoeland: being notes on the food-supplies of non-agricultural tribes of the natives of New Zealand; together with some account of various customs, superstitions, &c., pertaining to foods |journal=Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand |date=July 1903 |volume=35 |page=78}} and Te Kohi.{{cite book |author=Maud Worcester Makemson |title=The Morning Star Rises: An account of Polynesian astronomy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pj0eAAAAIAAJ |via=Google Books |year=1941 |publisher=Yale University Press|bibcode=1941msra.book.....M }}

• Asterism (astronomy)
• List of stars in Argo Navis

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{{Commonscat|Argo Navis}}

• [http://www.starrynightphotos.com/constellations/argo_navis.htm Starry Night Photography : Argo Navis Image]
• [http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/argo.html Ian Ridpath's Star Tales – Argo Navis]
• [https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-017083 Warburg Institute Iconographic Database – Argo (Navis)] (medieval and early modern images of Argo Navis)

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{{Stars of Argo Navis}}

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