Hi all,New to the site looking to shed light on an old myth,a set of stars that resembles an Octopus with 2 large stars 4 the eyes,Southern Hemisphere.
Can't say I've ever heard of an octopus in the stars, either. In any culture. We need more info than just "two stars for eyes" to take this further, sorry.
Edit: Just checked in Julius D. W. Staal's book "Patterns in the Sky" and it mentions one octopus from the Marshall Islands using the stars of Orion, but there are no bright stars marking its eyes (the picture provided looks pretty random to me).
Some Pacific islanders had this as the name octopus for Orion - as either a fisherman hold the Octopus (the star around the belt stars) or the whole constellation of Orion. The eyes of the octopus are the belt stars. I recall it being mention in the 1899 Richard Allen's "The Constellation, Their Lore and Meaning". However, it is all pretty much obscure.
Not a popular legend, but makes sense to Pacific islanders throughout Polynesia. Also, the Maori culture never such a constellation, where it was known sometimes as Haorua and the belt stars were known as Tautoru or whata (grain store). None were associated with the sea.
Note: Such a constellation is neither northern or southern hemisphere, as Orion lies on the celestial equator.
Welcome James, I think what your probably thinking of is rather than an ancient, formalised constellation originating from a specific culture, you are perhaps referring to local asterism which is a pattern of stars which is not one of the 88 formal constellations.
For example, if you look at the attached images of the night sky at around 8:30pm (now), looking South. The first image depicts the formal constellations (joined by the lines). You can see Crux (the Southern Cross) on its side to the right. Underneath it, closer to the horizon is the constellation of Carina.
Look at the second image with the constellation lines removed. Four of the stars in the constellation of Carina make a prominent "cross". Many astronomers call this "The False Cross". It is not an official constellation, but an asterism, an informal pattern which is decernable in the sky. There are lots of these (you can make up your own if it helps to identify with the sky).
I suspect that the story you have heard of the "Octopus" is simply an asterism that someone has created out of simply looking at the sky long enough. Kind of like watching clouds in the daytime sky. Stare at them long enough and you will start to see shapes.
Many years ago a good friend and very respected amateur astronomer pointed out an asterism he called the "Wild Duck". It spanned 1/3 of the sky and represented a duck, its beak and outstretched wings. Unfortunately he has passed away, and to this day I cannot locate it in the southern sky, but I'll locate it one day.
Welcome to iis James enjoy your stay and i hope someone here can help you out with your myth.
