The Zodiac --- The Constellation of Aquarius the Water Bearer

Aquarius as the ancients imagined him. A dense body of dimmer stars traces the path of the pouring water.

The eleventh constellation of the Zodiac is Aquarius The Water Bearer. The sun is in Aquarius astronomically from February 16th to March 11th.

Aquarius looks only vaguely like a water-bearer, but he was prominent in the sky during the winter wet season in the Northern Hemisphere. Aquarius dates back at least to ancient Sumer, where he was called Gu La, "The Great One," and was identified as the god Enki who made the Tigris and the Euphrates flow with water. In Egypt Aquarius was the god Hapi who commanded the Nile to flood annually. Among the people of the Indus River valley he was named Khumba, "The Pourer." In China, Aquarius was Yu-Lin, whose stream of stars represented an army streaming southward. Among Native Americans he was The Otter, a creature prone to floating downstream peacefully on its back. In Greece, he was either Deucalion, the son of Prometheus and the Greek Noah, or Ganymede, who poured Zeus' refreshments. In Greek representations Aquarius is shown pouring a long stream of water which flows into the mouth of Piscis Austrinus The Southern Fish. The two were once a single constellation. Today The Southern Fish is part of the Celestial Sea. 

Since Aquarius was the provider of life-giving waters he was seen largely as a beneficent deity, but he was known for his caprice in causing uncontrollable floods at times. In Sumeria, his stream of stars was seen as the pathway to the presence of Enki. Since the Winter Solstice occurred in Aquarius some 6000 - 4000 years ago, due to his importance the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians propitiated the god he represented, frequently, and with sacrifices and Solstice celebrations.

For all that, Aquarius is a rather dim constellation with no stars brighter than the Third Magnitude. The Arabs who live in the desert considered Aquarius a bringer of luck and good fortune. The constellation contains the stars Sadalsuud, the name of which means "The Luckiest of The Lucky" in Arabic, Sadalmelik, "The King's Good Fortune," Sadachbia, "Good Fortune in Our Tents," Sadaltager, "The Lucky Merchant," and Nirsaadbula, "The Fortunate Drinker." 

The Helix Nebula or "The Eye of God."

There are at least twelve exoplanetary systems in Aquarius, one of which, Gliese 876, was the first red dwarf star to be discovered possessing a planetary system. Several galaxies and nebulae lie within the bounds of the constellation, including the Helix Nebula (sometimes called "The Eye of God") and the amusingly named Green Bean Galaxy.

The Green Bean Galaxy gave its name to a type of galaxy that appears green when visualized. They are thousands of light years away from Earth, and are larger than the equally entertaining "Green Pea Galaxies" that we have documented.