The
Constellations - Stars
Looking at the night sky all the stars look the same and seems to be scattered about. But
it can also be noticed easily that some stars are brighter than the others, and form patterns one can recognize. On 2 consecutive nights if one looks at the stars in the night at the same time the pattern remains the same. These patterns of stars together are called “
Constellations”
Recognizable star patterns can be found in all parts of the sky. These patterns provide mankind or Scientists an useful way of identifying the stars even to the extent of mapping the star patterns say in Northern
Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere or Summer constellations, Winter Constellations etc.
Asian Greek Astronomers over 2000 years ago saw very much the same constellations that we see today and gave them the name we still use. They named them after figures they imagined in the star patterns. They gave the names of Animals, People, and everyday objects. They took these figures from the Greek myths and made up stories about how the figures got into the sky.
Therefore due to above, the constellations even today are known by Latin version of Greek names and also by English translations of these names.Two familiar animal constellations visible in Northern Hemisphere of the world are URSA MAJOR, THE GREAT BEAR, and the DRACO , the DRAGON. In the Southern Hemisphere CENTAURUS, the Centaur, and SCORPIUS, the Scorpion, are seen easily. Among the people depicted are THE HUNTER ORION, and THE HEROINE ANDROMEDA which can be seen in both hemispheres.
ORION (hunter) is one of the most striking of all the constellations. It lies on the celestial equator and can be seen in both the hemi spheres. A bright patch seen below the 3 stars of the ORION belt is the “Orion Nebula”.
CRUX (southern cross) is the easiest constellations to recognize in the far Southern skies.
The Planisphere is a device for finding the stars in the night sky. It is made of 2 discs one which rotates over the other. A Star map is drawn on the bottom disc which has a scale around the edge showing everyday of the year. The top disc has an oval window in it with a scale around the edge marked in hours. The top disc is rotated until the hour of observations lines up with the date. All the stars visible in the sky now appears in the window. The Planisphere is held above the head and the sky should match the Map.
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