By Sharan BindrooAsiya KhanJahnavi VermaClass:VIII C

Constellations

Index

Defining Constellation Facts about constellationsHistory of constellationsNaming constellationsFew constellations: Case StudySummary

What is a CONSTELLATION?•A constellation is a group of stars that form an image in the sky.•Constellations are pictures that tell stories that were made hundreds of years ago. •A constellations is a group of starts that you can see in a particular area of the night sky. •The stories behind the constellations were stories that poets, farmers and astronomers have made up over the past 6,000 years.

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Facts…o There are 88 total constellations in the worldo Some constellations move over the yearo One of the constellations has the planet Mars in between themo Every constellation has a story of how they came to be and what they mean or representoThey are named on big greek and Babylonian rulers of the 15 CE

Facts continued • If you are on the equator you can view all of

the constellations in a year. • If you are on the North Pole, you can only

see part of the sky. • Most stories that the constellations had

were about hunters, warriors, queens, kings, birds, bears, horses and other figures

• The reason we can’t see some constellations all the time is because there are up in our sky enduring the day.

History of Constellations • There are 88 officially recognized constellations in the sky, and these

astronomical patterns have a fascinating and long history.• Forty-eight of the constellations are known as ancient or original,

meaning they were talked about by the Greeks and probably by the Babylonians and still earlier peoples. After the 15th century, with the age of the great discoveries and worldwide navigation, the southernmost parts of the sky became known to man and had to be charted.

• Other 48 constellations were found by modern astronomers. • Furthermore, across the entire sky were large gaps filled chiefly with

dim stars between them. In more recent times people have invented the modern constellations to fill up some of these spaces.

Few

Constellations...

Draco – the dragon

Draco the dragon is one of the few constellations that really looks like itself.

His story is that he used to guard the golden apple tree in Hesperides garden.

GrusGrus was often referred to as flamingo.

The ancient Egyptians used the Crane as a symbol of the astronomer because of high flight.

LeoLeo is the Nemean

Lion which was killed by Hercules on one of his great quests.

Legend says that the lion had a hide that could not punctured by iron, bronze or stone.

Since he couldn't reason with the ferocious beast, Hercules strangled it to death and the local people were very grateful.

Ursa Major( Big Dipper)This group of stars

contains those who make up the big dipper and small. It is also known as the great bear and it is in the northern hemisphere.

Ursa Major has seven Messier objects, including a double start, a planetary nebula, an irregular galaxy, and four spiral galaxies.

Indus Indus is a constellation in the

southern hemisphere. It was one of the 12 constellations

that were observed by the Dutch navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman, mapped by the Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius.

Indus was first depicted in Johann Bayer's atlasUranometria in 1603.

The name of the constellation means "the Indian" and it is illustrated as a man holding arrows, without a bow, as though hunting.

It is unclear whether Indus refers to a native of the East Indies or the Americas.

HydraIt is also known as the Sea Serpent.

This constellation is seen in the southern hemisphere and you can see it between January and May.

It represents a giant water snake.

Hydra is the largest constellation in the sky.

It was a giant beast with the body of a dog and 100 snake like heads.

Summary

A constellation is a group of stars that form an image in the sky.

There are 88 total constellations in the world.A constellations is a group of starts that you

can see in a particular area of the night sky. The stories behind the constellations were

stories that poets, farmers and astronomers have made up over the past 6,000 years.

Resources

http://www.space.com/15486-night-sky-constellations-names.html

http://www.comfychair.org/~cmbell/myth/myth.html

www.cosmoquest.comwww.space.comwww.starregistry.co.uk stars.astro.illinois.edu

We hope you enjoyed our educational slideshow!

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