Even at the dawn of human history, people, looking up, watched the movement of celestial bodies and tried to unravel their secrets. Exploring the space above themselves, they seemed to divide it into small sectors, separating one from another by invisible borders. The resulting sites, which enclosed within themselves an accumulation of a kind of group of observable objects that in a certain way evolve into a pattern, the astronomers of antiquity called constellations and gave them the names of their gods or sacred objects.
Astronomical characteristic
The altar (Latin name - Ara) is located in the southern part of the celestial sphere, approximately it is located above the South Pole. Its area is about 237 square degrees. The altar is in 63rd place out of 88 in the ranking of constellations by size and occupies 0.575% of the total firmament. The constellation refers to non-ascendants, that is, those that do not rise above the horizon.
In the north, the Altar constellation is adjacent to the Southern Crown and Scorpio. On the east side - next to the Telescope. In the west, it borders the South Triangle and the Rectangle, and in the south it is located near the Peacock and the Bird of Paradise.
Altar Objects
Under good weather conditions without special instruments in the sky you can see about thirty stars of this group. Most of them are located on the Milky Way. If you use binoculars, you can even see a series of nebulae and a globular cluster of NGC 6397.
The seven brightest stars (including β and α) make up its geometric pattern. In the photo - the altar constellation. These are, as a rule, two curved lines - one larger, the other smaller. They are interconnected by another line in the middle. Such a figure, having the shape of the letter "H", vaguely resembles an altar or a stone for sacrifices.
Ancient Greek myth of the altar constellation
It so happened that in ancient times, almost every nation or tribe had its own gods, deities, idols, who were waiting for gifts from the people. Favorable weather, a rich harvest, or victory in hostilities depended on the sacrifices. It is not surprising that many countries have their own legend associated with the constellation Altar, which is so similar to the sacred sacrificial stone.
In ancient Greece, the constellation was called the "Altar of Centaurus." The legend of the altar constellation dates back to the time of Eratosthenes. It says that this is the very altar on which the gods of Olympus vowed, led by Zeus, before the ten-year battle with their father Kronos.
Kronos was the youngest brother of twelve titans born from the marriage of the goddess of the earth and the god of heaven. He succumbed to persuasion and felt sorry for his mother, the goddess Gaia, who had endlessly given birth to children. He struck the sword of his father, the god Uranus, and stopped the endless fecundity of the vault of heaven.
To avoid the fate of his father, Kronos absorbed all his newborn children from his wife, the goddess Rhea. In the end, Rhea could not endure the monstrous death of her offspring. She hid the son of Zeus, slipping a stone to Kronos. Growing up on the island of Crete and fed by a sacred goat, he went to war on his father. Zeus forced Kronos to free his brothers and sisters, who also turned against their parent. Having won the battle, Zeus threw his father to Tartarus and placed the Altar in heaven in memory of the victory over him.
There is a myth about the altar constellation, which is associated with the start of the Trojan War. Mycenaean king Agamemnon accidentally killed the doe of Artemis, which angered the goddess. Because of her winds, the king, along with the Greek troops, was locked up on the island of Avlida. To deserve the forgiveness of the goddess, Agamemnon killed his daughter Iphigenia on a sacrificial stone. At the last moment, Artemis had mercy and replaced the girl with a doe, and the altar ascended to heaven.
Bible legends
A similar story is described in the Bible. God decided to test the faith of Abraham and demanded to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham obeyed. He tied his son, laid him on the altar and brought a dagger over him. But God, seeing that the power of Abraham’s faith was great, sent an angel to replace the young man with a lamb.
In Scripture, the altar is also mentioned in connection with the Great Flood. Coming out of the ark and stepping to the ground, Noah first made a sacrifice to God on the sacred stone, glorifying it and thanks to this wonderful salvation.