Constellations
The constellations used in the Lemizh world are ultimately based on the ancient Greek ones, resulting in overlaps with ours. Some, however, including the ones too far south to be visible from the Mediterranean, were named in the 13th and 14th centuries (of our calendar) and are unrelated to our tradition.
The stars in each constellation are numbered, with the brightest stars (brighter than an apparent magnitude of about 4, which corresponds to a Lemizh star brightness of 3) having mostly one-digit numbers, and stars visible to the naked eye under very good conditions (magnitude ~6.3, Lemizh brightness zero) having at most two digits.
Lemizh star brightness is defined as the binary logarithm of a star’s illuminance in Lemizh units (gomUsdmÌt., go, see Units of measurement), plus 35. It equals 8.332 − 1.329 × m, where m is the apparent magnitude in our system.
| <E>Ù fxÌcor. | [star] number 14 in the Dragon | Beta Ursae Minoris (Kochab) | |
| ‘14’-ben1 dragon-acc-sce2. | |||
Designations for fainter stars have three or more digits, and those for nonstellar objects include a letter for the object type plus one or more digits, again depending on brightness.
The Milky Way is called RizwsnÌw. ‘street of snow’. The word is a popular test of foreigners’ pronunciation skills.
Sky sphere
The sky sphere depicts the 68 constellations with 6740 naked-eye stars.
The links in the following table lead to the relevant entries in the dictionary.
| Lemizh | Translation | (Roughly) corresponds to / overlaps with | 🔎 |
|---|---|---|---|
| fkrè. | Archer | Sagittarius | 🔎 |
| qkrÌdj. | Artichoke | Vulpecula | 🔎 |
| vmlÌv. | Bear | Ursa Major | 🔎 |
| trÌxk. | Beaver | Hydra & Canis Minor | 🔎 |
| bucmÌ. | Boojum | Centaurus, Antlia & Vela | 🔎 |
| sklÌ. | Bridge | Hydrus, Reticulum & Dorado | 🔎 |
| strÌ. | Bull | Taurus | 🔎 |
| dobÌ. | Carpet | part of Cygnus | 🔎 |
| mRÌkh. | Centaur | Centaurus & Crux | 🔎 |
| rèt. | Charioteer | Auriga | 🔎 |
| krÌb. | Crab | Cancer | 🔎 |
| xajRÌ. | Crane | Columba & Caelum | 🔎 |
| gwalpÌ. | Cup | Crater | 🔎 |
| spÌsk. | Dolphin | Delphinus | 🔎 |
| fxÌc. | Dragon | Draco & Ursa Minor | 🔎 |
| ftnÌk. | Eagle | Aquila | 🔎 |
| elefÌ. | Elephant | Puppis, Carina, Pictor, Dorado & Volans | 🔎 |
| pyskdwÌ. | Fishes | Pisces | 🔎 |
| nymzdlÌb. | Flamingo | Triangulum Australe, Pavo, Ara & Telescopium | 🔎 |
| ivdmlì. | Guests | Taurus (Pleiades) | 🔎 |
| xÌd. | Hare | Lepus | 🔎 |
| xarpÌ. | Harpy | Scutum & part of Sagittarius & Ophiuchus | 🔎 |
| Ìhw. | Horse | Pegasus | 🔎 |
| kolÌb. | Hummingbird | Pavo | 🔎 |
| krèt. | Hunter | Orion | 🔎 |
| kubrÌ. | Ibex | Capricornus | 🔎 |
| prigtxeklÌw. | Ivory Tower | Ara, Triangulum Australe, Circinus & Musca | 🔎 |
| jawrÌ. | Jaguar | Apus & Chamaeleon | 🔎 |
| markÌw. | Kangaroo | Pavo, Tucana, Grus & Phoenix | 🔎 |
| Rèc. | King | Cepheus & Ursa Minor (Polaris) | 🔎 |
| lÌw. | Lion | Leo | 🔎 |
| wmùb. | Loom and Shuttle | Carina | 🔎 |
| lÌxh. | Lynx | Aquarius & Cetus | 🔎 |
| jhèj. | Mechanic | Boötes & Corona Borealis | 🔎 |
| zrOnÌ. | Mermaid | Cassiopeia, Camelopardalis & Lynx | 🔎 |
| zrOnyÌx. | Merman | Aquarius & Equuleus | 🔎 |
| RenÌj. | Monkey | Carina & Vela | 🔎 |
| swmilÌ. | Moth | Canes Venatici & Coma Berenices | 🔎 |
| qentù. | Pipe | Leo, Sextans & Hydra | 🔎 |
| oRwxÌf. | Poodle | Canis Major | 🔎 |
| textèx. | Prince | Perseus | 🔎 |
| textbè. | Princess | Andromeda, Triangulum & Lacerta | 🔎 |
| dwecRèc. | Queen | Cassiopeia | 🔎 |
| sriqmÌs. | Queue of Mice | Microscopium, Piscis Austrinus, Indus & Sculptor | 🔎 |
| edÌ. | Ram | Aries | 🔎 |
| argÌ. | River | Eridanus & Fornax | 🔎 |
| krystrÙjd. | Robin | Corvus & Hydra | 🔎 |
| drulygwrÌjd. | Rosebush | part of Cassiopeia | 🔎 |
| nenÌ. | Runner | Puppis, Pyxis, Antlia & Hydra | 🔎 |
| plUpÌ. | Scorpion | Scorpius & Libra | 🔎 |
| fokÌj. | Seal | Octans & Hydrus | 🔎 |
| RÌz. | Serpent | Serpens | 🔎 |
| zmÌsk. | Shark | Phoenix & Tucana | 🔎 |
| Ìkh. | Ship | Carina, Vela & Puppis | 🔎 |
| yhlùgz. | Sickle | Norma | 🔎 |
| stnÌt. | Sparrow | Camelopardalis | 🔎 |
| ksmÌs. | Squirrel | Lynx & Leo Minor | 🔎 |
| prÌxt. | Stag | Lyra & Hercules | 🔎 |
| xaxpqÌ. | Swan | Cygnus | 🔎 |
| wzinskrùc. | Thimble | small part of Centaurus, Crux & Musca | 🔎 |
| dirÌ. | Tiara | Corona Australis | 🔎 |
| fkrÌj. | Tortoise | Monoceros | 🔎 |
| saxùf. | Trumpet | Sagitta | 🔎 |
| dwjÌw. | Twins | Gemini | 🔎 |
| gydpÌsk. | Whale-fish | Cetus | 🔎 |
| mèv. | Wise One | Ophiuchus | 🔎 |
| trèw. | Witch | Virgo | 🔎 |
| xrÌw. | Wolf | Lupus | 🔎 |
Rosebush (drulygwrÌjd.) ►
This constellation represents the Queen’s rosebush. Traditionally, it consists of the roughly oval shape that is created by a dust cloud in front of the Milky Way, or ‘street of snow’, whose beginning the Rosebush marks. (The part of the Milky Way to the east of the Rosebush is to faint to be seen clearly.) The stars are the red and white rose blooms.
The Prince’s journey on the street of snow to win the Princess’s hand, it is said, began here. When he arrived at a fork in the street, he had to choose between the southern, brighter path, which led to the Scorpion, and the northern, dimmer path, which led to the Wise One. Stories disagree about which path he took.
The source code for the sky sphere is available on GitHub.