Aries is one of the oldest and most revered of all constellations. The ancient Babylonians, Egyptians, Persians and Greeks all called this group of stars "The Ram." It is the Zodiac's first constellation since the Sun was, at one time, entering Aries on the day of the Vernal Equinox...the moment when it crosses from the Southern to the Northern half of the celestial sphere. However, because of the Earth's precession, the Sun is now in Pisces at the Vernal Equinox. Nevertheless, Aries is still considered to be the symbolic first constellation of the Zodiac and Right Ascension continues to be measured from the first point of Aries.

In a bygone age, the Egyptians associated Aries with Amon-Re, the ram-headed supreme Sun God who symbolized power and fertility. The Mesopotamians' name for the constellation meant a military leader or prince. In Hebrew tradition, the ram represented the death-defying blood of the lamb smeared on the doorways as part of the original Passover, which preceded the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt. The Greeks related Aries to the story of the golden fleece, the hide of the flying ram that Jason (with the help of his beloved Medea) spirited away from the serpent in the Grove of Aries. This constellation is mentioned in Phaenomena, authored by the Greek poet Aratus, which dates from the Third Century B.C., and Ptolemy, the great astronomer who lived and worked in Egypt during the Second Century A.D., cataloged this constellation. The present name of this Zodiac Sign is Roman in origin (Roman mythology having been adopted from that of the Ancient Greeks). This faint and tiny cluster of stars first appeared on monetary coin in 6 A.D. and is believed by some to have been the stellar pattern that the Magi and other astrologers looked to in their search for the Star of Bethlehem, which was foretold in biblical prophiesies and promised to be a sign of the imminent birth of a king.

Aries may be seen in the Northern Hemisphere during the late Winter and early Spring. The constellation itself is well known and not difficult to locate in the night sky, but has few objects of interest. Nevertheless, it is visible in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres from September through February. The head of the ram is marked by the first bright star due West of the Pleiades (a cluster of seven stars in Taurus). This star is Alpha Arietis, known as Hamal (from the Arabic for "lamb"). Just to the Southwest lie two bright stars, Beta and Gamma Arietis (also known as Sheratan and Mesarthim), which represent the ram's horns. To the Nnortheast of Hamal is a somewhat dimmer star that marks the ram's back, and Southeast of that point is Delta Arietis (also known as Botein), which represents the tail. Perhaps the best known stars in the constellation of Aries are Sheratan and Hamal. One of its major attractions is the Gamma Arietis, a beautiful double star, which was discovered quite by chance in 1664 when astronomer, Robert Hooke, was following the motion of a comet. Gamma Arietis is one of the earliest double stars on record to have been found with the aid of a telescope.

A Northern constellation located between Pisces the Fish and Taurus the Bull, Aries is also bordered by Cetus the Whale (or Sea-Monster), Perseus the Hero, Triangulum the Triangle and Andromeda the Chained Princess.