AQUARIUS

(Latin: Water Bearer), in astronomy, zodiacal constellation lying between Capricornus and Pisces, at about 23 hours right ascension (the coordinate on the celestial sphere analogous to longitude on the Earth) and 10 south declination (angular distance south of the celestial equator). It lacks striking features, the brightest stars being only of the third magnitude. In astrology, Aquarius is the 11th sign of the zodiac, considered as governing the period c. January 20c. February 18. Its representation as a man pouring a stream of water out of a jug came about, it has been suggested, because in ancient times the rising of Aquarius coincided in the Middle East with a period of floods and rain. In the conceptual scheme of the Great Yearthe more than 25,000 years it takes the Earth to pass in turn through the influence of each of the signs of the zodiacthe Earth is said to have passed into the age of Aquarius early in the 19th century.