What is the Eridanus?

Eridanus is a constellation in the southern sky at about 4 hours right ascension and that stretches from the celestial equator to about 60° south in declination. Its brightest star is Achernar, the ninth brightest star in the sky, with a magnitude of 0.5. This constellation contains Epsilon Eridani, the 10th nearest star to Earth at a distance of 10.5 light-years. In mythology, Eridanus represents the Po River and its winding, twisting path is associated prominently with two Greek myths. Eridanus was once believed to be the waters which flowed from Aquarius the water bearer. In other tales, Eridanus is associated with the unfortunate Phaeton, who wrecked Apollo’s sky chariot and died. Eridanus may have been the path the chariot took, twisting and turning wildly as the boy sought to control the wild horses to no avail. Perhaps he came to close to the Earth, burning people’s skin and parching the land to become a desert

The post What is the Eridanus? appeared first on interaksyonph.