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the zodiac

Aquarius

from , ,
to ,

The Sun in front of the constellation
16 February to 12 March 2026
Brightest star
Sadalsuud
In astrological tradition
air sign, fixed sign
Traditional ruler
Saturn (Uranus for modern authors)
Engraving from 1690: water pours from a jar in long meanders towards the Southern Fish, on a grid of coordinates.
Johannes Hevelius, Firmamentum Sobiescianum, Gdańsk, 1690, plate of Aquarius, with the jar and the stream of water (detail). As on a celestial globe, the sky is seen from outside, and therefore mirrored.

Ganymede

Aquarius is sometimes linked with Ganymede, a Trojan youth whom Zeus took to Mount Olympus to be cup-bearer to the gods.

Neighbouring Aquila is said to be the eagle that carried him off; one tradition, preserved in a scholium on Apollonius of Rhodes, credits Eos with the abduction.

Ea’s vase

Babylonian star catalogues name the constellation GU.LA, ‘the Great One’, an image of the god Ea holding an overflowing vase. Ea ruled the southernmost part of the Sun’s path, the ‘Way of Ea’, about 45 days either side of the winter solstice.

Linked with destructive floods, the constellation had a rather bad reputation.

The real constellation

Four stars, Gamma, Pi, Eta and Zeta, form the Water Jar. The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), about 650 light years away, is the planetary nebula closest to Earth.

From Brussels, Sadalsuud climbs to 34 degrees and is highest around 10 pm in early October. In 2026 the Sun stood in front of Aquarius from 16 February to 12 March. This week the Moon passed through on Wednesday and Thursday evening.

Its stars

Beta Aquarii

Sadalsuud

Magnitude 2.91, about 540 light years away: the brightest star in the constellation.

Alpha Aquarii

Sadalmelik

Magnitude 2.94, about 520 light years away.

Delta Aquarii

Skat

Magnitude 3.27.

M2

A globular cluster

Magnitude 6.5, about 37,000 light years away.

In art and history

The man with the vase comes from Babylon.

  • BabylonGU.LA, ‘the Great One’, the god Ea with his overflowing vase.
  • Ptolemaic EgyptOn the Dendera zodiac in the Louvre, Aquarius takes the form of Hapi, god of the flood, holding two vases gushing water.
  • The Eta AquariidsThese shooting stars, born of Halley’s Comet, peak on 5 and 6 May at about 35 an hour.

Aquarius this week

Read it for pleasure, not for prophecy.

A piece written for fun, based on the real sky of 19 to 25 October 2026. It says nothing about your future.

Saturn, your ancient ruler, shines all night, but it has left the zodiac for the constellation Cetus. A god of time colouring outside the lines: you could hardly ask for a better role model.

The Moon crossed your stars on Wednesday and Thursday. It poured nothing out. The jar is in your hands.

Sources

Facts checked in the following sources; positions and times computed for Brussels.