CONSTELLATIONS

WHAT ARE CONSTELLATIONS?

- A constellation is a group of stars that

appears to form a pattern or picture like
Orion the Great Hunter, Leo the Lion, or
Taurus the Bull.
-There are 88 “official” constellations.
- The word constellation has its roots in the
Late Latin term constellatio, which can be
translated as “set of stars”.
 CONSTELLATIONS

Constellations are groupings of stars

which appear close together on the sky.
For example,

3 stars in a constellation, viewed from Earth

In fact, they may not be close together at all - some
may be relatively close to Earth, while others stars in
the same constellation may be much further away
(but still bright enough to be seen).

sightlines to Earth

Earth
The same 3 stars, viewed from
the Earth
Constellation lines are the lines that
connect stars to make patterns in the
sky that people have used to find their
way around the sky over centuries - for
example,

Leo
 7 MAJOR CONSTELLATIONS

Cassiopeia Orion
Cygnus Ursa major
Scorpius Ursa minor
Draco
CASSIOPEIA – “ THE QUEEN”
 CASSIOPEIA – “THE QUEEN”

• Brightest Star – Schedar

• Best season to view – all year
• Principal stars are: Schedar (Alpha
Cassiopeiae), magnitude 2.2; Caph
(Beta Cassiopeiae), magnitude 2.3;
Gamma Cassiopeiae a shell star,
variable, with mean magnitude 2.5;
Ruchba (Delta Cassiopeiae),
magnitude 2.7
CYGNUS – “THE SWAN”
 CYGNUS – “THE SWAN”

•Brightest Star – Deneb

•Best season to view – all year
•Principal stars are: Deneb (Alpha
Cygni), magnitude 1.3; Sadr (Gamma
Cygni), magnitude 2.2; Gienal, (Epsilon
Cygni), magnitude 2.5, Alberio (Beta
Cygni)
SCORPIUS – “THE SCORPION”
 SCORPIUS – “THE SCORPION”

• Brightest Star – Antares

• Best season to view – summer
• Principal stars are: Antares Alpha Scorpii, a
red giant, variable, magnitude 0.9 to 1.8.
Antares Alpha Scorpii, a red giant, variable,
magnitude 0.9 to 1.8. Acrab Beta Scorpii, a
A lovely double, easily seen in small
telescopes, magnitudes 2.6 and 4.9;
Dschubba Delta Scorpii, magnitude 2.3.
Zeta Scorpii a naked eye double,
magnitudes 3.6 and 4.7
ORION – “THE HUNTER”
 ORION – “THE HUNTER”

•Brightest Star – Rigel and Betelgeuse

•Best season to view – the winter
•Principal stars are: Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis), a
Red giant with variable magnitude from 0.0 to 1.2.
At times it can outshine Rigel; Rigel (Beta Orionis),
magnitude 0.1; Mintaka (Delta Orionis), magnitude
2.2.
URSA MAJOR – “BIG BEAR”
 URSA MAJOR – “BIG BEAR”

•Brightest Star – Dubhe and Merak

•Best season to view – all year
•Principal stars are: Dubhe Alpha Ursae Majoris,
magnitude 1.8, a double star; Phecda Gamma Ursae
Minoris, magnitude 2.4; Merak Beta Ursae Majoris,
magnitude 2.4; Alioth Epsilon Ursae Majoris,
magnitude 1.8; Mizar Zeta Ursae Majoris, a well known
19 double star, magnitude 2.3. Its companion is Alcor,
magnitude 4.0. The two can be seen unaided with
keen eyesight, and are easily separated with
binoculars and small telescopes.
 URSA MINOR – “LITTLE BEAR”

• Ursa Minor, aka, Little Bear, contains the

Little Dipper and the North Star, Polaris
 URSA MINOR – “LITTLE BEAR”

•Brightest Star – Polaris

•Best season to view – all year
Principal stars are: Polaris (Alpha Ursae
Minoris), Yildun (Delta Ursae Minoris),
Epsilon Ursae Minoris, Anwar al Farkadain
(Eta Ursae Minoris), Akhfa al Farkadain
(Zeta Ursae Minoris), Pherkad (Gamma
Ursae Minoris), and Kochab (Beta Ursae
Minoris).
DRACO – “THE DRAGON”
 DRACO – “THE DRAGON”

•Brightest Star – Gamma Draconis

•Best season to view – all year
Science:
Draco is a constellation in the far northern sky. Its
name is Latin for dragon. It was one of the 48
constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer
Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern
constellations today. The north pole of the ecliptic is in
Draco.
 ZODIAC CONSTELLATION

The zodiacal constellations are the constellations

through which the Sun appears to pass each year.

Gemini
East Cancer West
Aries
Leo
Ophiuchus
Pisces
Virgo
Taurus
Libra

Aquarius
Capricornus
Scorpius
Sagittarius

path of the
Sun through
the sky
AQUARIUS
 AQUARIUS

Aquarius the water bearer, is one of the most famous

constellations. But few people actually see it because it's so
faint. It is home to the summer Delta Aquarid meteor shower,
which, like the constellation itself, is fairly thin and sparse. The
most prominent examples are the constellation's two brightest
stars, Sadalmelik and Sadalsuud. The names are from ancient
Arabic, and mean "lucky one of the king" and "luckiest of the
lucky." The names may refer to the stars' positions.
ARIES, THE RAM
 ARIES, THE RAM
Aries, the ram, is a faint pattern marked by only a
couple of fairly bright stars: Hamal, its brightest,
and Sheratan, its second-brightest. Aries is famous not
because of its brilliance, though, but because of its
location: It is one of the 12 constellations of the
zodiac. These constellations straddle the Sun's path
across the sky, known as the ecliptic. In ancient times,
that gave these regions of the sky extra significance.
Hamal, the constellation's brightest star, is classified
as an orange giant. That means it is much larger and
brighter than the Sun -- bright enough to see even
though it is more than 65 light-years away.
CANCER, THE CRAB
 CANCER, THE CRAB

It is a small constellation of faint stars, so it is

difficult to find in the sky. The constellation's
most prominent feature is the star cluster M44,
the Beehive Cluster. It is about 600 light-years
away and more than 10 light-years wide. To the
unaided eye it looks like a small, fuzzy patch of
light -- like a tiny cloud floating through the
stars. But telescopes reveal that the cloud is
actually a cluster of hundreds of individual
stars.
CAPRICORNUS, THE SEA-GOAT
 CAPRICORNUS, THE SEA -GOAT
Capricornus looks like a large triangle of fairly bright
stars. The brightest stars are side-by-side at the
triangle's western tip. Farthest west is Giedi — the
goat. Binoculars reveal that this is really two stars.
Although the stars appear near each other, they're
really separated by a thousand light-years. The closer
of the two is about 115 light-years from Earth, while
the other is 10 times farther. Just southeast of Giedi is
Dabih, the slaughterer — a name that refers to
sacrifices made by ancient Arabs when Capricornus
rose at the same time as the Sun. It, too, consists of
more than one star.
GEMINI, THE T WINS
 GEMINI, THE T WINS

Gemini is easy to find as it glides high overhead in mid-

winter, above and to the left of Orion. Its two brightest
stars, Castor and Pollux, represent the mythological
twin brothers of Helen of Troy. Pollux is the brighter of
the twins. The orange-giant star is about 35 light-years
from Earth. At least one planet orbits the star. It is at
least three times as massive as Jupiter, and it orbits
Pollux once every 1.6 years. Castor consists of six stars.
This crowded system lies about 50 light-years from
Earth. All six stars in the system really are related,
because they were born from a single giant cloud of
gas and dust, probably around 200 million years ago.
LEO, THE LION
 LEO, THE LION

The zodiacal constellation Leo, the lion, is one of a handful of

constellations that really does look like its namesake. It consists of
two patterns of stars that the brain puts together to make a lion. A
backward question mark represents the head and mane, and a
triangle of stars to the lower left forms the lion's hindquarters and tail.
Leo's brightest star is blue-white Regulus, one of the brightest stars in
the night sky. It is about 79 light-years away. Regulus rises almost due
east, with the body of the lion following it into the sky over the next
couple of hours. Once Regulus climbs into the sky, look to its left —
toward the north — for the backwards question mark, known as the
Sickle, that outlines his head and mane. About two hours later, look
low in the east for Leo's tail — a white star named Denebola, which
comes from an Arabic name that, appropriately enough, means "tail of
the lion."
LIBRA, THE SCALES
 LIBRA, THE SCALES

Libra represents a balance scale. The name may come from

the fact that the Sun passed across the face of the
constellation at the time of the autumnal equinox in
September, when day and night are of roughly equal length, so
the heavens are "balanced.“Libra's brightest stars, however,
are named for the next constellation over, Scorpius. The stars
are Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali, which are Arabic
names that mean the southern and northern claws,
respectively. Libra is also home to a star system that contains
six planets or more, including one that is in an orbit where
conditions are suitable for liquid water, which is a key
ingredient for life.
PISCES, THE FISH
 PISCES, THE FISH

Pisces, which is best viewed during autumn and

winter evenings, is one of the constellations of the
zodiac. Despite this claim to fame, though, Pisces is
tough to see. Even its brightest stars are no match for
the light pollution from many cities and suburbs.
Pisces is one member of the "celestial sea," a group
of constellations that are all related to water. These
constellations probably were associated with water
because the Sun passed across them during the rainy
season in the ancient Middle East.
SAGITTARIUS, THE ARCHER
 SAGITTARIUS, THE ARCHER

Sagittarius, the archer, slides low across the southern sky of summer.
Sagittarius is a centaur — a mythological half-man, half-horse — who has
drawn his bow. His arrow is pointing at Antares, the bright red heart of
Scorpius, the scorpion. The archer is avenging Orion, who was slain by the
scorpion's sting. The constellation originated in Sumeria, then was picked up
by the Greeks. One part of the classical picture that is fairly easy to see is the
bow. The star that represents the top of the bow is at the top of the teapot,
with the bottom of the bow at the bottom right of the teapot. A star that is
about halfway between them represents the middle of the bow. The stars are
named Kaus Borealis, Kaus Media, and Kaus Australis, which is a combination
of Arabic and Latin that means the northern, middle, and southern bow. Kaus
Australis -- the southern end of the bow -- is the brightest star in the
constellation. It is a stellar giant -- a star that has puffed up as it nears the end
of its life. It's many times larger than the Sun, and almost 400 times brighter.
TAURUS, THE BULL
 TAURUS, THE BULL

Taurus, the bull, is marked by a V-shaped pattern of stars that

outlines the bull's face. Bright red Aldebaran, the "eye" of the
bull, stands at one point of the V. This pattern is part of a cluster
of stars called the Hyades — the second-closest star cluster to
Earth. It consists of several hundred stars that lie about 130
light-years away. Aldebaran outshines all the other stars that
outline the bull's face. But Aldebaran isn't a member of the
Hyades cluster — it just lies in the same direction. It's about 70
light-years away, half as far as the stars of the Hyades.
Aldebaran is a red-giant — an old, bloated star that's used up
most of its nuclear fuel. It's much larger and much brighter than
our own middle-aged Sun.
VIRGO, THE VIRGIN
 VIRGO, THE VIRGIN

Virgo is one of the constellations of the zodiac.

Its name is Latin for virgin, and its symbol is ♍.
Lying between Leo to the west and Libra to the
east, it is the second-largest constellation in the
sky and the largest constellation in the zodiac.
It can be easily found through its brightest star,
Spica.
1. DOES THE ARRANGEMENT OF
STARS IN A GROUP CHANGE?
2.DOES THE POSITION OF THE
CONSTELLATIONS IN THE NIGHT
SKY STAYS CONSTANT?
3. HOW DO STARS MOVE?
4. DESCRIBE THE MOVEMENT OF
THE STARS IN THE NIGHT SKY.
5. DOES THE MOTION OF STARS
SIMILAR TO THE MOTION OF THE
SUN? HOW?
6. WHY DOES THE POSITION OF
THE CONSTELLATION CHANGES?
7. WHY SOME CONSTELLATIONS
ARE NOT SEEN AT CERTAIN
MONTHS
1. Are the arrangements of the stars on each of
the following constellations in the night sky of
March the same during the month of April?
Ursa minor
Ursa major
2. Are the positions of each of the following
constellation in the night sky of March the same
during the month of April?
Ursa minor
Ursa major
3. What can be inferred with the
arrangement of stars in a
constellation and the position of
constellations in the sky for every
month?