This insignificant constellation,
second-smallest in the sky, first appeared among the 48
constellations listed by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the
second century AD. It was unknown to Aratus 400 years earlier.
The actual inventor is unknown; it may have been Ptolemy
himself, or one of his predecessors such as Hipparchus in the
second century BC.
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Equuleus, the foal, seen next to the head of Pegasus
in the Uranographia of Johann Bode.
Equuleus consists merely of a few stars of
fourth magnitude and fainter forming the head of a horse, next
to the head of the much better-known horse Pegasus. The early
mythologists such as Eratosthenes and Hyginus never mentioned
this little horse, but perhaps Ptolemy had in mind the story of
Hippe and her daughter Melanippe, sometimes told for Pegasus
but which seems more appropriate for Equuleus.
Hippe, daughter of Chiron the centaur, one
day was seduced by Aeolus, grandson of Deucalion. To hide the
secret of her pregnancy from Chiron she fled into the
mountains, where she gave birth to Melanippe. When her father
came looking for her, Hippe appealed to the gods who changed
her into a mare. Artemis placed the image of Hippe among the
stars, where she still hides from Chiron (represented by the
constellation Centaurus), with only her head showing.
The fourth-magnitude star Alpha Equulei is
called Kitalpha from the Arabic meaning ‘the section of
the horse’, in reference to the whole constellation.
© Ian Ridpath. All rights reserved
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