This constellation is unique, for it is
divided into two parts – Serpens Caput, the head, and
Serpens Cauda, the tail. Nevertheless, astronomers regard it as
a single constellation. Serpens represents a huge snake held by
the constellation Ophiuchus. In his left hand Ophiuchus grasps
the top half of the snake, while his right hand holds the tail.
Aratus and Manilius agreed that Serpens was coiled around the
body of Ophiuchus, but most star atlases show the snake simply
passing between his legs (for an illustration of the full
tableau, see Ophiuchus).
In mythology, Ophiuchus was identified as
the healer Asclepius, son of Apollo, although why he appears to
be wrestling with a serpent in the sky is not fully explained.
His connection with snakes is attributed to the story that he
once killed a snake that was miraculously restored to life by a
herb placed on it by another snake. Asclepius subsequently used
the same technique to revive dead people. Snakes are the symbol
of rebirth because they shed their skins every year.
The star Alpha Serpentis is called
Unukalhai from the Arabic meaning ‘the serpent’s
neck’, where it is located. The tip of the
serpent’s tail is marked by Theta Serpentis, called Alya,
an Arabic word that actually refers to a sheep’s tail.
The most celebrated object in Serpens is a star cluster called
M16, embedded in a gas cloud called the Eagle Nebula, the
subject of a famous photograph by the Hubble Space Telescope.
© Ian Ridpath. All rights reserved
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