Connecting the dots differently

A couple weeks ago I wrote about how H. A. Rey introduced a new way of looking at the constellations, making them look more like their names. That post used Leo as an example. This post looks at Bootes (The Herdsman) [1].

Here is the constellation using the connections indicated in the IAU star chart.

Here is the constellation using the connections drawn in Rey's book [2].

Rey's version adds two stars, highlighted in red, but mostly connects the same stars in a different way. I suppose the herdsman is standing in the IAU version; it's hard to tell. In Rey's version, the huntsman is clearly seated and smoking a pipe. This is easier to see if we rotate the image a bit.

Here's a comparison of the two interpretations side-by-side.

Here is the Python code that produced the two images. It's a little cleaner than the code in the earlier post, and it draws larger dots to represent brighter stars.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt# data from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_in_Bo%C3%B6tes = (14 + 16/60, 19 + 11/60, 0.0)  = (15 + 2/60, 40 + 23/60, 3.5)  = (14 + 32/60, 38 + 18/60, 3.0)  = (15 + 16/60, 33 + 19/60, 3.5)  = (14 + 45/60, 27 + 4/60, 2.3)  = (14 + 41/60, 13 + 44/60, 3.8)  = (13 + 55/60, 18 + 24/60, 4.5)  = (14 + 25/60, 51 + 51/60, 4.0)  = (14 + 13/60, 51 + 47/60, 4.5)  = (14 + 16/60, 46 + 5/60, 4.2) = (15 + 24/60, 37 + 23/60, 4.3) = (13 + 49/60, 15 + 48/60, 4.0)  = (13 + 47/60, 17 + 27/60, 4.5)  = (14 + 32/60, 30 + 22/60, 3.6) k = -15 # reverse and scale horizontal axisdef plot_star(s, m): plt.plot(k*s[0], s[1], m, markersize=14-2.2*s[2]) def join(s0, s1, m='ko'): plot_star(s0, m) plot_star(s1, m) plt.plot([k*s0[0], k*s1[0]], [s0[1], s1[1]], 'b-') def draw_iau(): join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, )def draw_rey(): join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) join(, ) plot_star(, 'r*') plot_star(, 'r*') returndraw_iau()plt.gca().set_aspect('equal')plt.axis('off')plt.savefig("bootes_iau.png")plt.close()draw_rey()plt.gca().set_aspect('equal')plt.axis('off')plt.savefig("bootes_rey.png")plt.close()

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[1] The diaeresis over the second o' in Bootes means the two vowels are to be pronounced separately: bo-OH-tes. You may have seen the same pattern in Laocoon or oogenesis. The latter is written without a diaresis now, but I bet authors used to write it with a diaeresis on the second o'.

[2] H. A. Rey. The Stars: A New Way to See Them, Second Edition.

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