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Star Convergence: Prepared: Locsin, Christin Me M. Manalo, Yvonne Viray, Francis Elijah

Star convergence refers to stars coming together to form new patterns or wholes. The document discusses constellations, which are recognizable star patterns that have traditional names. While constellations are officially recognized groups, asterisms are less formal patterns within constellations. There are currently 88 officially recognized constellations that were established by the IAU to categorize stars. Though the stars appear close together, they can actually be varying distances from Earth. Most constellations get their names from figures in ancient Greek, Roman, and Middle Eastern myths.

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469 views

Star Convergence: Prepared: Locsin, Christin Me M. Manalo, Yvonne Viray, Francis Elijah

Star convergence refers to stars coming together to form new patterns or wholes. The document discusses constellations, which are recognizable star patterns that have traditional names. While constellations are officially recognized groups, asterisms are less formal patterns within constellations. There are currently 88 officially recognized constellations that were established by the IAU to categorize stars. Though the stars appear close together, they can actually be varying distances from Earth. Most constellations get their names from figures in ancient Greek, Roman, and Middle Eastern myths.

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AE LLA
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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STAR CONVERGENCE

Prepared: Locsin, Christin Me M.


Manalo, Yvonne
Viray, Francis Elijah
What is Star Convergence?

 STAR is a luminous ball of gas, mostly hydrogen and helium, held


together by its own gravity. Nuclear fusion reactions in its core support
the star against gravity and produce photons and heat, as well as small
amounts of heavier elements. The Sun is the closest star to Earth.

 Convergence is when two or more things come together to form a new


whole
What is a Constellation?
 A group of stars forming a recognizable pattern that is
traditionally named after its apparent form or identified with a
mythological figure. Modern astronomers divide the sky into
eighty-eight constellations with defined boundaries.
Difference between Asterism and Constellation

 An asterism is any grouping of stars into some kind of shape or


pattern. ... Asterisms are not officially recognized and often vary
from culture to culture. For example, Ursa Major is an official
constellation, while the Big Dipper is a prominent and well-
known asterism contained within it.
What was the purpose of the IAU establish 88 official
constellations?

This number was established by the International Astronomical


Union in 1928. Today, this same organization is in charge of
naming celestial bodies. It is the only organization recognized
by scientists for this purpose. Constellations are the easiest way
for astronomers to group stars in the sky.
Are the stars in a constellation near each other?

 Not necessarily. Each constellation is a collection of stars that are


distributed in space in three dimensions – the stars are all
different distances from Earth. The stars in a constellation appear
to be in the same plane because we are viewing them from very,
very, far away. Stars vary greatly in size, distance from Earth, and
temperature. Dimmer stars may be smaller, farther away, or
cooler than brighter stars. By the same token, the brightest stars
are not necessarily the closest. Of the stars in Cygnus, the swan,
the faintest star is the closest and the brightest star is the farthest!
How are constellations named?

 Most of the constellation names we know came from the ancient Middle Eastern,
Greek, and Roman cultures. They identified clusters of stars as gods, goddesses,
animals, and objects of their stories. It is important to understand that these were
not the only cultures populating the night sky with characters important to their
lives. Cultures all over the world and throughout time — Native American, Asian,
and African — have made pictures with those same stars. In some cases the
constellations may have had ceremonial or religious significance. In other cases,
the star groupings helped to mark the passage of time between planting and
harvesting. There are 48 “ancient” constellations and they are the brightest
groupings of stars – those observed easily by the unaided eye. There actually are
50 “ancient” constellations; astronomers divided one of the constellations (Argo)
into 3 parts.
 “Modern” constellations — like the Peacock, Telescope, and Giraffe
— were identified by later astronomers of the 1500s, 1600s, and 1700s
who used telescopes and who were able to observe the night sky in the
southern hemisphere. These scientists “connected” the dimmer stars
between the ancient constellations. There are 38 modern
constellations.

 In 1930 the International Astronomical Union officially listed 88


modern and ancient constellations (one of the ancient constellations
was divided into 3 parts) and drew a boundary around each. The
boundary edges meet, dividing the imaginary sphere — the celestial
sphere — surrounding Earth into 88 pieces. Astronomers consider any
star within a constellation boundary to be part of that constellation,
even if it is not part of the actual picture.
Puzzle of the night sky’s constellation boundaries
Are all stars part of a constellation?

 No, there are billions of stars, and only a fraction of them make up the shapes of our
constellations — these are the stars that are easily seen with the unaided eye. Ancient
observers connected these stars into the star pictures.
 All stars, however, fall within the boundaries of one of the 88 constellation regions. As
astronomers studied the night sky with modern telescopes, they were able to discern stars
in the dark spaces around the constellations — stars that were not part of the original star
pictures. You can see some of these stars by observing the sky on a dark night. If you look
at the sky with binoculars, you will see even more stars. If you have a telescope, you will
see even more! All the stars you see belong to one special group of stars — the stars in our
own galaxy, the Milky Way.
Constellations in the Southern Hemisphere

 Crux or the Southern Cross- The Latin for “Cross” and takes the name Southern Cross,
since It’s found in Southern Hemisphere sky.

 Four bright stars:


 Acrux (bottom, pointing south)
 Mimosa ( left, pointing east)
 Gacruxor gamma crucis (top, pointing north)
 Delta Crucis (right, pointing west)
 Carina- The Latin for “keel”, which means the boat
bottom. It used to be part of larger boat-shaped called
Argo Navis
 Centaurus- 9th largest constellation. It represents the centaur, the half man, half horse
creature in Greek mythology.

 Contains two of the top ten brightest stars in the sky


1. Alpha Centauri
2. Beta Centauri

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