CONSTELLATIONS

“No known roof is as beautiful as the skies above”

The celestial sphere is divided into 88 constellations

Twelve of the 88 constellations reside on or near the ecliptic, the Sun’s path across the sky over a 365-day (one year) period. These twelve constellations are referred to as the Signs of the Zodiac.

SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC

Constellation Object Represented Dates of the Sun

Capricornus “The Sea Goat” Dec 22 – Jan 20Aquarius “The Water Carrier” Jan 21 – Feb 19Pisces “The Fishes” Feb 20 – Mar 20Aries “The Ram” Mar 21 – Apr 20Taurus “The Bull” Apr 21 – May 20Gemini “The Twins” May 21 – Jun 21Cancer “The Crab” Jun 22 – Jul 22Leo “The Lion” Jul 23 – Aug 23Virgo “The Virgin” Aug 24 – Sep 22Libra “The Scales” Sep 23 – Oct 23Scorpius “The Scorpion” Oct 24 – Nov 22Sagittarius “The Archer” Nov 23 – Dec 21

Taurus “The Bull”

Orion “The Hunter”

Some are more easily recognized than others

Ursa Major “The Big Bear”

Body of the Bear

Tail of the Bear

The Big Dipper

The Big Dipper is an example of what astronomers call an asterism. An asterism is a commonly recognized grouping of stars but not one of the 88 official constellations.

The Big Dipper is part of the constellation Ursa Major.

It is only part of the constellation.

In a constellation the brighter stars are designated using the lower case Greek alphabet starting with α for the brightest, β for the second brightest, and so on.

α alphaβ betaγgammaδ deltaε epsilon

The first five letters in the Greek alphabet are:

The Greek letter is followed by the first three letters of the constellation’s one-word name. If the constellation has a two-word name, use the first letter of the first word followed by the first two letters of the second.

One-Word Name Two-Word Name

Orion = Ori Ursa Major = UMaTaurus = Tau Ursa Minor = UMiLeo = Leo Canis Major = CMaEridanus = Eri Canis Minor = CMi

Orion• Orion can be easily seen

in the night sky from late fall to winter in the Northern Hemisphere

• Know as The Hunter• Followed by his faithful

hunting dog Canis Major– Contains the bright star

Sirius– Sometimes called the Dog

Star

OrionSon of the sea- god Neptune. He challenged the Gods, boasting that he could kill every animal on Earth. As a result of this, Earth conjured up an enormous scorpion, one which Orion could not defeat. In the end, Orion was killed by the scorpion, and both him and the scorpion were put up in the sky as constellations. (the scorpion is known as "Scorpio")

Orion’s Belt

• May be reflected in the layout of the three Great Pyramids in Egypt

Betelgeuse

• Semi regular variable star located approximately 640 light-years from the Earth.

• The second brightest star in Orion and the ninth brightest star in the night sky.

Betelgeuse• Betelgeuse is a red

supergiant, and one of the largest and most luminous stars known.

• For comparison, if the star were at the center of our solar system its surface might extend out to between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, wholly engulfing Mercury, Venus, the Earth and Mars.

Betelgeuse

• Astronomers believe Betelgeuse is only a few million years old, but has evolved rapidly because of its high mass.

• Some astronomers believe it may become a supernova within a timeframe where it could be observable by human civilization.

Orion Nebula

• A nebula is a cloud of gas and dust in space.

• On a clear winter night, you can see with your naked eye the Great Nebula of Orion as a fuzzy wisp in Orion’s sword.

Orion Nebula

• At the center lie four brilliant blue-white stars known as the Trapezium.

• Like a great thundercloud illuminated from within, the churning currents of gas and dust suggest immense power.

Orion Nebula

• A deeper significance lies hidden behind the visible nebula.

• Radio and infrared astronomers have discovered a vast dark cloud just beyond the visible nebula in which stars are now being created.

Cassiopeia

• Symbolism: the Seated Queen

• Right ascension: 1h• Declination: +60° • Main stars: 5

Cassiopeia• After promising her daughter in

marriage to Perseus, Cassiopeia had second thoughts.

• She convinced one of Poseidon's sons, Agenor, to disrupt the ceremony by claiming Andromeda for himself. Agenor arrived with an entire army, and a fierce struggle ensued.

• In the battle Cassiopeia is said to have cried "Perseus must die". At any rate it was Perseus who was victorious, with the help of the Gorgon's head.

Cassiopeia• Perseus had recently slain

Medusa, the Gorgon, and had put its head in a bed of coral. He retrieved the head and waved it in midst of the warring wedding party, instantly turning them all to stone. In the group was both Cepheus and Cassiopeia.

• A contrite Poseidon put both father and mother in the heavens. But because of Cassiopeia's vanity, he placed her in a chair which revolves around the Pole Star, so half the time she's obliged to sit upside down.

Ursa Major – The Great Bear

• Right Ascension: 11 hours

• Declination: 50 degrees • Visible between

latitudes 90 and -30 degrees

• Best seen in April (at 9:00 PM)

Ursa Major – The Great Bear• According to some Native

American legends, the bowl of the Big Dipper is a giant bear and the stars of the handle are three warriors chasing it.

• The constellation is low in the sky in autumn evening sky, so it was said that the hunters had injured the bear and its blood caused the trees to change color to red.

Ursa Major – The Great Bear• One day Callisto, who was turned into

a bear previously by Hera, found herself face-to-face with a young and handsome hunter and suddenly recognized him as her son, Arcas.

• She raised up on her hind legs to embrace her son. Thinking that the bear was about to attack him, Arcas raised his spear and was about to hurl it and kill his mother.

• Zeus happened to be looking down on the scene from his position on Mt. Olympus and instantly turned Arcas into a bear also. Zeus then grasped each bear by its tail and tugged and tugged until he had managed to lift both high into the sky, Callisto as Ursa Major and her son Arcas as Ursa Minor.

Ursa Major – The Great Bear• This tugging of tails over

such a long journey through the sky, stretched both tails and explains why our celestial bears, unlike earthly ones, have long tails.

• The tail of Arcas became even longer since he was continuously swung around the sky by the end-star in his tail, Polaris.

Ursa Major – The Great Bear• On discovering that her husband had

given Callisto and Arcas honored places in heaven, Hera was furious. She went down to Earth to visit her friend the ocean god, Oceanus. She asked that he forever keep the two penned so that they may never wander far.

• Oceanus was sympathetic and promised that he would grant Hera her wish. He would see to it that "the couple never would be permitted to enter our water in their wandering," in other words, that the bears forever would be forbidden to set below the horizon of the sea as other constellations do.

• To this day both the Lesser Bear and the Greater Bear are held high in the sky near the Pole Star, never permitted to sink beneath the sea horizon.

Ursa Minor – The Little Bear• Often called the Little Dipper• Constellation in the northern sky. • Its name is Latin for 'little bear',

contrasting with Ursa Major, the Great Bear.

• Like the big dipper, the handle of the little dipper is the tail of the "little bear".

• It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations.

• Notable as the location of the north celestial pole, although this will change after some centuries due to the precession of the equinoxes.