Tag: Pavo
Pavo is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for peacock. It is one of twelve constellations created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman and it first appeared on a 35-cm diameter celestial globe published in 1597 (or 1598) in Amsterdam by Plancius with Jodocus Hondius. The first depiction of this constellation in a celestial atlas was in Johann Bayer’s Uranometria of 1603.
The Peacock’s mythology dates to Greco-Roman times and the story of Jason and the Argonauts. The Argo was named for its creator, Argos, who was transmuted to a peacock by Juno upon his death and honored eternally as a constellation. She honored him further by locating his constellation close to Argo Navis, the constellation representing the Argo.
However, there are other myths that prominently feature a peacock. Argus was a creature with one hundred eyes, who guarded the pregnant Io—changed into a heifer. Jupiter entreated Mercury to save Io;…
