Located in the northern sky, Boötes is a constellation that gets its name come from the Greek word Boōtēs meaning ‘herdsman’ or ‘plowman.’ The constellation can be seen in the springtime, when it is at its best viewing as it rises in the northeast after sunset. The constellation covers 907 square degrees, which makes Boötes the 13th largest constellation in regards to area.

Boötes is home to 29 stars that are visible to the naked eye, as 8 stars have a magnitude above 4 and 21 additional stars have a magnitude greater than 5. 1 of these naked eye stars is the 4th-brightest star in the night sky, the orange giant Arcturus. 

	Applicable Information
Visibility In Pacific Northwest	January to August
Best Times To View	June
Right Ascension	13h 36.1m to  15h 49.3m
Declination	+7.36° to +55.1°
Area	907 square degrees
Main Stars	7, 15
Brightest Object	Arcturus
Meteor showers	January Bootids, June Bootids, Quadrantids
Messier objects	0
Neighboring Constellations	Draco, Ursa Major, Canes Venatici, Coma Berenices, Virgo, Serpens Caput, Corona Borealis, Hercules

Mythology

In ancient Babylon, the stars of Boötes were known as SHU.PA, which was depicted as the god Enlil. Boötes might have been depicted by the animal foreleg constellation in ancient Egypt, which would have resembled an ox.

There are many different myths related to Boötes over time. Boötes is mentioned by Homer in the Odyssey as a celestial reference for navigation.  In the sky, Boötes follows the constellation Ursa Major circle around the pole. In a popular story, Boötes represents a plough man driving the oxen Ursa Major. The plough man’s oxen are tied to the polar axis and their movement keeps the skies in constant rotation. There are several alternative stories which relate to the constellation in Greek mythology.

The stars of Boötes were incorporated into many different Chinese constellations. Arcturus was given importance in the Chinese celestial mythology as a result of its status marking the beginning of the lunar calendar, and its status as the brightest star in the northern night sky.

Several Native American cultures did have their own interpretations of Boötes.

Stars

In Uranometria, Johann Bayer used the Greek letters Alpha through to Omega and then A through K to label what he saw as the most prominent 35 stars in the constellation. John Flamsteed counted 54 stars in the constellation.

Located 36.7 light-years from Earth, Arcturus, or Alpha Boötis, is the brightest star in Boötes and the 4th-brightest star in the sky at an apparent magnitude of −0.05. Arcturus is the brightest star north of the celestial equator, and the name comes from the Greek for “bear-keeper”.

At least 10 extrasolar planets have so far been found around 10 stars in Boötes.

Boötes is in a part of the celestial sphere that faces away from the plane of the Milky Way galaxy; therefore, it does not have open clusters or nebulae. Rather, there is 1 bright globular cluster and many faint galaxies. 

There are 2 bright galaxies in Boötes, NGC 5248 and NGC 5676. NGC 5248, otherwise known as Caldwell 45, is a variety of spiral galaxy and a member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. It contains dim outer arms and obvious H II regions, dust lanes, and young star clusters. NGC 5676 is another type spiral galaxy type that has a magnitude of 10.9, which measures 3.9 by 2.0 arcminutes in size.

Further away lies the 250-million-light-year-diameter Boötes void, a huge space largely empty of galaxies. The Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall, the largest known structure in the Universe, covers a significant part of Boötes.

Boötes is home to the Quadrantid meteor shower, the most prolific annual meteor shower. The radiant is located in northern Boötes near Kappa Boötis, which is the namesake of former constellation of Quadrans Muralis. Quadrantid meteors are dim, but have a peak visible hourly rate of approximately 100 per hour on January 3–4. The zenithal hourly rate of the Quadrantids is approximately 130 meteors per hour at their peak, but has a very narrow shower. The Quadrantids are notoriously difficult to observe because of a low radiant and often inclement weather.

Make sure to check out other articles on the site, including a brief introduction to constellations, other constellation articles, and more!