Constellation, Water Bearer
Aquarius
The water carrier, a young man pouring a stream from a jar. Greek myth made him Ganymede, cup-bearer to the gods, but the figure seems to go back to an Egyptian god of the Nile.
From New York on October 13, 2026, the centre of Aquarius rises at 4:40 PM, is highest at 10:03 PM (38° above the horizon in the S) and sets at 3:27 AM.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Aquarius. Drag to look around.
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Evening visibility over the year
Height of the constellation’s centre above the horizon at 10 pm local time on the 15th of each month, from New York. Above about 30° it is well placed.
Name and history
Star maps show a young man pouring water from a jar. The figure seems to have begun as an Egyptian god of the Nile, and the Greeks later gave it their own stories. The best known makes him Ganymede, a handsome Trojan boy and son of King Tros. Zeus, in the form of an eagle or by sending one, carried him off to Mount Olympus to pour nectar for the gods. The eagle flies nearby as Aquila. The Roman writer Germanicus saw instead Deucalion, one of the few people to escape the great flood.
Aquarius lies in a part of the sky full of water figures, with the Fishes, the Sea Goat, the Southern Fish and the Whale all close by. Ptolemy listed many stars along the flow of water, which ended at the bright star Fomalhaut, then shared with the Southern Fish and now part of it alone. Several star names start with ‘Sad’, from the Arabic sa’d, often translated as luck or auspice. Sadachbia means the auspice of the woollen tents.
Sources: Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Aquarius
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sadalsuud | β Aqr | 2.90 | 537 light-years |
| Sadalmelik | α Aqr | 2.95 | 524 light-years |
| Skat | δ Aqr | 3.27 | 161 light-years |
| ζ1 Aqr | ζ1 Aqr | 3.65 | 92 light-years |
| Safina | 88 Aqr | 3.68 | 271 light-years |
| Shatabhisha | λ Aqr | 3.73 | 385 light-years |
| Albali | ε Aqr | 3.78 | 208 light-years |
| Sadachbia | γ Aqr | 3.86 | 164 light-years |
| 98 Aqr | 98 Aqr | 3.96 | 163 light-years |
| η Aqr | η Aqr | 4.04 | 168 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 978 square degrees (10 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Aqr |
| Sky | Near the celestial equator, visible from both hemispheres |
| Origin | Listed in Ptolemy’s Almagest, about AD 150, from older roots |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 33 |
| Centre (J2000) | 22.6 h, -11° |
Deep-sky objects
Galaxies, clusters and nebulae brighter than magnitude 9, from the OpenNGC catalogue. Most need binoculars or a telescope and a dark sky.
Boundaries: International Astronomical Union, via Astronomy Engine. Areas are computed from the boundaries by sampling (within about one percent). Names and lines: Stellarium. Stars: HYG Database. Deep-sky objects: OpenNGC. Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. Data sources
How to use this page
Choose your place and a night at the top. The answer and the 3D view show where the constellation is, when it is highest and whether it rises at all from where you are. The chart shows its stars and lines, and the tables list its brightest stars and the deep-sky objects inside it.
Frequently asked questions
When is a constellation best seen?
When it is highest in a dark sky, which the page gives for the night you pick. Each constellation is best placed in a particular season, because the stars rise about four minutes earlier every night.
Why can I not see a constellation from my place?
Constellations far south of the celestial equator never rise from northern places, and those far north never rise from southern ones. The page says when this is the case.
What are the constellation boundaries?
The International Astronomical Union divides the sky into 88 areas with official boundaries. The stick figures are only a drawing aid, the boundaries say which constellation a point in the sky belongs to.
Related guides
- How to learn the constellationsStart with one bright pattern you cannot miss, use it as a signpost to its neighbours, and come back a month later: the sky will have turned, and you will know a little more of it.
- Altitude and azimuth: finding things in the skyTwo angles tell you exactly where to look: which direction, and how high.
- Light pollution and dark skies: the Bortle scaleFrom a city centre you can count a few dozen stars. From a truly dark site you can count a few thousand, with the Milky Way bright enough to cast a shadow. The Bortle scale puts a number on the difference.
- Binoculars for stargazing: what to buy and what to look atA pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars shows the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, dozens of star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy, for a fraction of the cost of a telescope.