The Constellation Pisces has an English name Fish. What is the English Name for Constellation Libra?

Libra is latin for weighing scales ;)The Constellation Pisces has an English name Fish. What is the English Name for Constellation Libra?Originally, the area of sky we know as Libra was occupied by the claws of the Scorpion, Scorpius. The Greeks called this area Chelae, literally meaning 鈥榗laws鈥? an identification that lives on in the names of the individual stars of Libra (see below). As things have worked out, Libra is now a slightly larger constellation than Scorpius, but is much less conspicuous.



The identification of this area with a balance became established in the first century BC among the Romans, although exactly when it was introduced and by whom has been lost in the mists of history. To the Romans, Libra was a favoured constellation. The Moon was said to have been in Libra when Rome was founded. 鈥業taly belongs to the Balance, her rightful sign. Beneath it Rome and her sovereignty of the world were founded鈥? said the Roman writer Manilius. He described Libra as 鈥榯he sign in which the seasons are balanced, and the hours of night and day match each other鈥? This is a hint that the Romans visualized the constellation as a balance because the Sun lay there at the autumn equinox, when day and night are equal. But the idea of a balance in this area did not originate with the Romans. According to historian Gwyneth Heuter the Sumerians knew this area as ZIB-BA AN-NA, the balance of heaven, 2000 years BC. Hence it seems that the Romans revived a constellation that existed before Greek times.



Libra is the only constellation of the zodiac to represent an inanimate object; the other 11 zodiacal constellations represent animals or mythological characters. Once the identification of Libra with a pair of scales became established it was natural to divorce it entirely from Scorpius and to associate it instead with the other flanking zodiacal figure, Virgo, who was identified with Dike or Astraeia, goddess of justice. Libra thus became the scales of justice held aloft by the goddess.



Libra鈥檚 brightest star, second-magnitude Alpha Librae, is called Zubenelgenubi from the Arabic meaning 鈥榯he southern claw鈥? a reminder of the Greek identification of this constellation with the claws of the scorpion. Beta Librae is Zubeneschamali, 鈥榯he northern claw鈥?The Constellation Pisces has an English name Fish. What is the English Name for Constellation Libra?scales. like weighing tourself. http://www.flickr.com/photos/27091435@N0鈥?/a>