A retelling of the classic myths and timeless stories by bestselling author Annette Giesecke, highlighting the 88 named constellations in the night sky—from Andromeda to Orion and the Great Bear.

The Classic Constellation Myths is a guide for stargazers about the wonderful stories of gods, heroes, and monsters that fill the night sky. Since the dawn of humanity, people have gazed at the starry sky with fascination and wonder. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, the Sun, Moon, and Earth were gods. The stars beyond our Solar System, however, represented heroes, animals, and monsters that the gods placed in the sky after their death.

These include the great hunter Orion and the Scorpion that killed him with its sting, the beautiful maiden Callisto who was transformed into a bear (Big Bear) by the goddess Artemis, Perseus, the slayer of Medusa, and many others.

In this beautifully illustrated work, which has been stunningly illustrated by Jim Tierney, Giesecke narrates the origin stories of the 48 constellations, first recorded by the astronomer Ptolemy in the 1st century AD. A final section covers the names, locations, and brief descriptions of the remaining 40 constellations catalogued by astronomers in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, which are not named after classical figures.

Organized by hemisphere and celestial quadrant, the book also includes two illustrated star charts to guide the reader to the location of each constellation, as well as 48 color images throughout the work.

Pages: 256, Year of Publication: 0826, Dimensions: 18.8x18.8cm