After seeing Aquarius drawn in a way that makes sense, I thought if people were given freedom to try and discover the original ancient sky drawings, perhaps they would come up with some things better than the current drawings.
The website would show the originals, the context in Babylonian Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures and ancient drawings of the gods and signs.
(and perhaps Jewish as well - they may have an input, as the Jewish calendar had taken from the Babylonian via the names of the months, the Egyptian beliefs - incorporated in the biblical texts, the Ancient Canaanite and Phoenician culture - listed in the book of Job and in Psalms, and the Hellenistic culture as well, as incorporated in the Talmudic writings. )
You could also try and explain your depictions.
And of course a place to vote and annotate.-- pashute, Jun 24 2013 Water bucket? http://www.rocketmi...riusCapricornus.gifA drawing of anything but that [pashute, Jun 24 2013, last modified Jun 26 2013] Maybe... http://www.yournews...-final-Acuarius.jpg [pashute, Jun 24 2013] This one simply makes sense http://marianneohag...constellation20.jpgMan standing over well, holding pail with handles and pouring water [pashute, Jun 24 2013, last modified Jun 26 2013] And then you have these http://prof77.files...2/02/18aquarius.gifooh do they aggravate [pashute, Jun 24 2013] I couldn't get past the first one! http://www.kidsastr...stellation_hunt.htm [xandram, Jun 25 2013] Well, they must have drawn.. http://i.ebayimg.co...ZNOzw7dQ~~60_12.JPG...their own Constellation.. [not_morrison_rm, Jun 26 2013] Sadly, they got the wrong constellation http://en.wikipedia...ki/El_Al_Flight_402 [pashute, Jun 26 2013] That's Duckie, this one is Horsey and that constellation over there is Mr Angry.-- not_morrison_rm, Jun 24 2013 I think I'd go with the modern or post modern approach:
This constellation is lines and points #1, that one is lines and points #2...
Of course there's always the dadaist approach, where none of the lines actually connect to any stars.-- MechE, Jun 24 2013 What most people don't appreciate is that things were a lot simpler back in the days of the Greeks.
Bears, for example, were much less evolved in those days, and consisted of only a handful of dots connected by straight lines. Crabs, to pick another example, had far fewer legs at that time.
Evolution has, of course, made bears and crabs more complex; the constellations, needless to say, have not kept pace.
The only two constellations to have retained their accuracy are "Punctum" - The Point - consisting of the fourth magnitude blue-white star Alpha Puncti; and "Graphium Major" - the Great Pencil - consisting of the red giant Alpha Magni Graphium and its distant yellow companion Beta Magni Graphium.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 24 2013 Also, are you going to have light haze filters, so you can specify whether your constellations should be viewed from a field in the middle of nowhere, or whether they are designed for a NYC rooftop?
Or, even better, also viewing restrictions, so you can have ones designed for NYC street level.-- MechE, Jun 24 2013 Obviously none of you ever appreciated the Cygnus (Swan) constellation and explained it to boy scouts.
Anyway, with dots only, you can do some amazing accomplishments.
See the three links: The first is Aquarius, (In Hebrew translated as: Water bucket) looking like anything but. The second shows something that could be explained as a water bearer. The third simply makes sense. It shows a man leaning over a well, HOLDING A PAIL with handles, and pouring water. Simple as that. And all with connect-the-dots.
[This anno has been edited from the use of the word BUCKET, which may have unintended connotations by some of the readers]-- pashute, Jun 24 2013 ^ All you need now is a walrus.-- FlyingToaster, Jun 24 2013 [+] A way to learn the sky and to hear about hippo-lizard-ducks from Babylonia at the same time.-- 4and20, Jun 25 2013 walrus?-- pashute, Jun 25 2013 [Maxwell] actually made me laugh! I see that Leo looks like a remote-controlled mouse. [see link for kid's astronomy]-- xandram, Jun 25 2013 //walrus ?// internet meme. walrus - bucket.-- FlyingToaster, Jun 25 2013 If one were to be uber-pedantic, this has already been done, in a manner of speaking..see linky-- not_morrison_rm, Jun 26 2013 OK. Sorry. I changed the words. It used to be the problem of the Russian language.
I once was at the dining room at IBM Haifa Research and a few Russian Jews who had recently immigrated (following the Chernobylska Katastrofa) were talking to each other. After listening, I asked my giant friend: Alex, what does "Pashli" mean?
He replied in his bellowing voice: Masheh! Never say a word in Russian out loud, if you don't know what it means!-- pashute, Jun 26 2013 I found that out myself at Kibbutz Meuhad (sp?) 1994...no one died, so that was ok.
Dammit, I want to do "rub your own Constellations " now, but it would be an echo. You sneak up on the Constellation in the museum and break out the paper and crayon.
Handy for industrial espionage as well, "Oh, is this a stealth bomber, I thought it was a Sopwith Camel...." then walk off with rubbing paper, no one will suspect.-- not_morrison_rm, Jun 26 2013 Thanks! BTW who IS morrison?
And how can someone leave a personal note in hb? wait! next idea (probably thought of already) [edit: yup]
And [Xandra], thanks too. Its because the sky in the picture isn't the way it really looks, much easier in the real world, where you see less stars, with a bigger contrast.
AND they get the constellations all wrong (no W in Cassiopeia) and don't "explain" what you should be looking for.
The game is a good idea, but needs some sharpening.-- pashute, Jun 26 2013 random, halfbakery