If you were to look in the night sky, you might see these stars in a section of the sky. These are the stars that form the constellation Gemini. The largest stars at the top represent Castor and Pollox.
In A Celestial Atlas by Alexander Jamieson (1822), the constellation Gemini is illustrated in a way that's similar to the picture below. Urania's Mirror was a set of cards punched with holes to represent the stars. The cards also used this style of illustration.
On the other end of the spectrum, you may sometimes see Gemini in a U-shaped "connect-the-dots" style or depicted in a simple geometric shape like this:
In his book The Stars: A New Way to See Them (1952), Hans Rey proposed alternative representations of many of the constellations by connecting the stars in a different way. His depiction of Gemini looks like stick figures of twins, with Castor and Pollox serving as the "heads."
Rey's "graphic approach" has become widely known in the years since it was published. However, this is not Hans Rey's claim to fame. He is likely best known for creating (with his wife Margret) this little guy:
Yes, Hans Rey was H.A. Rey, co-creator of the world-famous monkey/ape Curious George.
Who knew?
Who knew?
