TABLEOFCONTENTS

LESSON i
LearningObj
ect
ives
Reference
Compi ler
s

INTRODUCTION i
i
Defi
nit
ionofkey
Acti
vit
ies
Furt
herexpl
orati
on
Summar yofconcept
s

I
.THECONSTELLATI
ON 1
St
armaps
Number
sofconst
ell
ati
on
Hemi
spher
esandSeasons

I
I.FAMOUSCONSTELLATI
ON 2
Orion
UrsaMajor
UrsaMinor
Draco
Pegasus
Thezodiac

I
II
.USESFORCONSTELLATI
ON 3

I
nter
est
ingf
act
saboutcont
ell
ati
on
 CONSTELLATI
ON

LEARNI
NGOBJECTI
VES:
Att
heendoft
hel
esson,
thel
ear
ner
swi
l
lbeabl
eto;

a.
)Def
inet
het
erm'
const
ell
ati
ons'
,

b.
)Ident
if
ythef
amousconst
ell
ati
onsand;

c.
)Appr
aiset
hei
mpor
tanceofconst
ell
ati
ons

REFERENCE:
COVI
NGTON,M.A.Cel est
ialObj
ect
sforModer
nTel
escopes.
Cambr
idgeUni
ver
sit
y
Pr
ess,2002.pp.80-
84.
DAVENHALL,A.C.;LEGGETT,S.K.Const
ell
ati
onBoundar
yDat
a(Dav
enhal
l
+1989)
.
Vi
zi
eROn-l
ineDataCatalog:
VI/49,
1997
ht
tps:
//www.
bri
tanni
ca.
com/
sci
ence/
const
ell
ati
on

COMPI
LERS:

Roquez,
Jonnabel
Sacandal
,Jor
hani
e
Sabal
a,LeaLy
n
Sabawa,
Ruf
aida
Tungkay
,Babynor

i
 I
NTRODUCTI
ON

TheConstel
lationsEarlypeoplest ol
dst or
iesabouttheshapesandpat ternsthey
sawinthestars, l
i
keconnect -
the-dots.Theseshapesar ecall
edConstellati
ons.
Todayastr
onomer srecogni
ze88“ offi
cial
”Constell
ati
ons.Thesearetakenf rom
manyofthehi stori
calconstel
lati
ons.Manyoft oday’
s88of f
ici
alconstell
ati
onsare
Wester
nEur opeani ndesignandhi story.

Def
ini
ti
onofKeyConcept s
Const ellat i
on-i nast r
onomy ,anyofcer tai ngr oupingsofst ar
st hatwer e
i
magi ned—atl eastbyt hosewhonamedt hem—t oform conspi cuous
conf i
gur ationsofobj ectsorcr eaturesint hesky .
Star-i sanast ronomi cal objectcompr i
singal uminousspher oidofpl asma
hel dt oget herbyi tsgrav i
ty.Thenear estst art oEar thistheSun.
Zodi acConst ellat i
ons-Azodi acalconst ellat i
oni soneoft he12
const ell
at ions( namedst argroups)t hatappearwi t
hinapar t
icularportionof
theskycal ledt hezodi ac.
Or ion-i soneoft hemostv isi
bleconst ellations.Becauseofi tslocati
on, itcan
beseent hr oughoutt hewor l
d.
Ur saMaj or-i sv isi
bleint henor thernhemi spher e.Itmeans" Lar gerBear "in
Lat in.TheBi gDi pperispar toftheUr saMaj orconst ellat
ion.
Ur saMi nor-means" Smal l
erBear "inLat i
n.I tislocatednearUr saMaj orand
alsohast hepat ternofasmal ll
adlecal l
edt heLi tt
leDi pperaspar tofits
l
ar gerpat ter n.
Dr aco-const ellat i
oncanbev i
ewedi nt henor thernhemi sphere.Itmeans
"dragon"i nLat inandwasoneoft he48anci entconst ell
ati
ons.
Pegasus-const ell
ati
oni snamedaf tert hef lyinghor sebyt hesamename
from Gr eekmy thology .Itcanbeseeni nt henor thernsky .

Wat
cht
hevi
deobel
owandDr awt
heconst
ell
ati
onsi
nil
l
ust
rat
ionboar
dincr
eat
ive
way
.Cl
i
ckt
heli
nkprov
ided.
ht
tps:
//y
out
ube.
com/
wat
ch?
v=a6YuoA_
ba_
8&f
eat
ure=shar
e

Summar
yofConcept
s
Constellationsar eagroupofst arsthatform pat ter
nsi nthesky .Const ellat
ions
play edasi gnificantr oleinnav i
gati
onf orexplorersoft heEar t
h;thesenav igators
creat edex t
ensi v est archartstohelpthem findt hei
rwayar oundt heplanet .The
wor d“ constellation”comesf r
om theLat eLatinterm cōnst el
lāti
ō, whi
chcanbe
translatedas“ setofst ars”;
itcamei nt
ousei nMi ddleEngl i
shdur i
ngt he14t h
cent ury.
Anci enthumansspental otoft i
meobser vi
ngst arpat t
ernsint hesky .They
i
dent i
fi
edcl uster sofst ar
sasgods, goddesses, heroes, animals,andobj ects.They
alsocr eatedst or iest ogoal ongwiththesest arpatterns,whichbecamet hebasis
formanyoft hemy t
hspassedt hr
oughcent uriesbyt heGr eeks,Romans,
Pol ynesians, I
ndi genousAmer i
cans,andmember sofv ari
ousAf ricantr i
besand
Asi ancul t
ures.Mostoft heconstell
ati
onnamesweknowcamef rom t heanci ent
Mi ddleEast ern, Gr eek,andRomancul ture.

i
i
I
. THECONSTELLATI
ON
Aconst el
lat
ionisagroupofv i
sibl
est
arsthatf
orm apat
ter
nwhenv iewed
f
rom Ear th.Thepat ter
nt heyform maytaketheshapeofanani mal,a
mythologi
calcr eat
ure,aman,awoman,orani nani
mateobjectsuchasa
microscope,acompass, oracrown.

"Constell
ati
on"ist henamewegi vetoseemingpat
ternsofstar
sinthenight
sky."Stel
la"istheLat inwordforstarandaconstell
ati
onisagr oupi
ngof
star
s.Ingeneral,thestarsi
nthesegroupsar
enotactual
lycl
osetoeachother
i
nspace, theyjustappeartobeclosewhenviewedf
rom Eart
h.

Howmanyconst
ell
ati
onsar
ether
e?

Theskywasdi vi
ded up into 88 dif
fer
entconstel
lat
ionsi
n1922.This
i
ncluded48anci
entconst
ell
ationsli
stedbytheGreekastr
onomerPt
olemyas
wellas40newconstel
l
ati
ons.

St
arMaps

The88dif
ferentconst
ell
ati
onsdi
videuptheenti
reni
ghtskyasseenf r
om
al
laroundtheEar th.St
armapsar emadeoft hebri
ghtestst
arsandt he
patt
ernst
hattheymakewhi chgi
ver
isetothenamesoftheconst
ell
ati
ons.

Themapsoft hest arsrepresenttheposit

ionofthestar
sasweseet hem
fr
om Earth.Thestar
si neachconst ell
ati
onmaynotbeclosetoeachotherat
al
l.Someoft hem ar
ebr ightbecauset heyar
eclosetoEart
hwhil
eothersare
bri
ghtbecausetheyarev eryl
argestars.

Hemi
spher
esandSeasons

Notal loft
heconstell
ati
onsar ev i
sibl
efr
om anyonepointonEarth.The
st
armapsar etypi
cal
lydiv
idedi nt
omapsf ort
henort
hernhemisphereand
mapsf orthesouther
nhemi sphere.Theseasonoftheyearcanalsoaffect
whatconstel
lat
ionsar
evisi
blefrom whereyouarel
ocat
edonEarth.

1
I
I.FAMOUSCONSTELLATI
ON

Her
ear
eaf
ewoft
hemor
efamousconst
ell
ati
ons:

Or
ion

Orionisoneoft hemostv isi

bleconst
ell
ati
ons.Becauseofit
slocat
ion,i
t
canbeseent hr
oughoutt heworld.Ori
onisnamedaf t
erahunterfr
om Greek
mythology
.It
sbrightestst
arsareBetel
geuseandRigel
.

Ur
saMaj
or

UrsaMajori
svisi
bleinthenort
hernhemispher
e.Itmeans" Lar
gerBear"i
n
Lat
in.TheBi
gDipperispartoft
heUrsaMajorconstel
lat
ion.TheBigDipperi
s
oft
enusedasawayt ofindthedi
rect
ionnor
th.

Ur
saMi
nor

UrsaMinormeans"Smal
l
erBear"i
nLat
in.I
tisl
ocatednearUrsaMaj
orand
al
sohast hepatter
nofasmallladl
ecall
edtheLitt
leDipperaspartofi
ts
l
argerpat
tern

Dr
aco

TheDracoconst
ell
ati
oncanbeviewedinthenorther
nhemi spher
e.I
t
means"
dragon"i
nLat
inandwasoneofthe48anci
entconst
ell
ati
ons.

Pegasus

ThePegasusconstell
ati
onisnamedaftert
hefl
yinghorsebyt
hesame
namefr
om Greekmythology.I
tcanbeseeni
nthenor
thernsky.

TheZodi
ac

Thezodiacconst
ell
ati
onsaret
heconstel
l
ationsthatar
elocat
edwi t
hina
bandt hatisabout20degr eeswideinthesky .Thisbandi sconsi
dered
specialbecausei
tisthebandwheretheSun,theMoon,andt heplanetsal
l
mov e.

Therear e13zodi acconstell

ati
ons.Twel veoft hesear ealsousedas
si
gnsf orthezodiaccalendarandastrology.TheseareCapr i
cornus,Aquar
ius,
Pisces,Ari
es,Taurus,Gemini,Cancer,Leo,Virgo,Li
bra,Scorpi
us,Sagit
tar
ius,
andOphi uchus.

2
I
II
.USESOFCONTELLATI
ON
Const
ell
ati
onsar eusef ulbecauset heycanhel ppeopletorecognize
star
sinthesky.Bylookingforpat ter
ns,t
hestarsandlocati
onscanbemuch
easi
ertospot.Theconst el
l
at i
onshadusesi nancientt
imes.Theywereused
tohelpkeept r
ackoft hecal endar.Thi
swasv eryimportantsothatpeople
knewwhent oplantandharvestcr ops.

Anotheri
mpor t
antuseforconstel
lat
ionswasnav i
gat
ion.ByfindingUr
sa
Minoriti
sf ai
rl
yeasytospott heNorthStar(Pol
ari
s).Usi
ngt heheightoft
he
NorthStarinthesky,navi
gatorscouldfi
gureouttheirl
ati
tudehelpingshi
ps
t
ot r
avelacrosstheoceans.

I
nter
est
ingFact
saboutConst
ell
ati
ons

Thel
argestconst
ell
ati
onbyar
eai
sHy
drawhi
chi
s3.
16%oft
hesky
.

Thesmal
l
esti
sCr
uxwhi
chonl
ytakesup0.
17per
centoft
hesky
.

Smallpat
ter
nsofstarswit
hinaconstel
l
ati
onar
ecal
l
edast
eri
sms.These
i
ncl
udetheBi
gDipperandLi
tt
leDi
pper
.

Thewor
d"const
ell
ati
on"comesf
rom aLat
int
erm meani
ng"
setwi
thst
ars.
"

Twent
ytwodi
ff
erentconst
ell
ati
onnamesst
artwi
tht
hel
ett
er"
C."

Ingeneral
,const el
lat
ionsareusef
ulbecauset heyhelpstargazersand
astr
onomer srecognisespeci f
icst
arsi
nt henightsky.Today
,const el
l
ations
arel essimportantthan t heywerein Anci
entHi story
.In Ancienttimes,
const el
l
ati
onswer eusedt ocreat
eandtrackthecalendarsot
heyknewwhen
toplantcropsandhar vestthem.