Aquarius streamers

Debris from Halley's Comet produces the Eta Aquariid meteor shower. By area, Aquarius is the tenth largest constellation in the sky. Its brightest stars, Sadalsuud and Sadalmelik, are almost equal in brightness.

The water bearer gives Aquarius its symbol. Babylonian star catalogues named it GU.LA, "The Great One", a figure of the god Ea, who is usually shown with an overflowing vase. Greek tradition sometimes identifies the figure as Ganymede, cup-bearer to the gods. Water fills the vase, though astrology classifies Aquarius as fixed air. The sign covers January 20 to February 18. Saturn is its traditional ruler; modern astrology gives that role to Uranus.