Starwatch: track down the large but overlooked Boötes, the herdsman

Stars in this constellation were mentioned by the ancient Babylonians and later by Ptolemy

This week it's time to track down a large but easily overlooked constellation. Bootes, the herdsman, is an ancient constellation that was catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century. References to the stars in this constellation date back even further, however, to the ancient Babylonians, where they represented the god Enil, the patron of farming.