Constellation

A constellation is both a figure made of stars and a region in space. A constellation is commonly drawn with lines between the stars, while longer back ago sometimes as a picture. Constellations can be drawn with lines in different ways and has therefor no firm rule how to look like. As a good system of navigation, the whole space in Milky Way is divided in regions where each is bordered by another one.

Constellations are groups of stars in the sky, which are grouped according to some sign and united by a common mythology with each other. Constellations - in modern astronomy, areas into which the celestial sphere is divided for the convenience of orientation in the starry sky. In ancient times, constellations were the characteristic figures formed by bright stars.

There are 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Because there are still several other constellations from other cultures and historical, the idea of these recognized 88 constellations by the International Astronomical Union is to use and see a common system for the whole of humanity.

Etymology

The word "constellation" comes originally from the Classical Latin constellatio ([kɔnstɛˈlaːtɪɔ]). Classical Latin is divided into parts where constellatio came in the time of Late Classical Latin, while the original one used in the Golden Age of Classical Latin is sidus ([ˈsiːdʊs]).

Meaning

Bright stars in the constellations are at different distances from the Sun Stars that are visible on the celestial sphere at small angular distances from each other, in three-dimensional space can be located very far from each other. Thus, in one constellation there can be both very close and very distant stars from the Earth, which are not connected with each other in any way.

The significance of dividing the sky into constellations for observational astronomy lies in the fact that the characteristic contours, consisting of the brightest stars, are easy to remember, which makes it possible, knowing in which constellation the object is located, to quickly find it.

Story

Constellations on the star map of the 17th century by the Dutch cartographer Frederick de Wit In ancient times, people saw a certain system in the relative position of the stars and grouped them into constellations according to it. Over the course of history, observers have distinguished a different number of constellations and their outlines, and the origin of the names of some ancient constellations has not been fully elucidated. Until the 19th century, constellations were understood not as regions of the sky, but as groups of stars that often overlapped. In this case, it turned out that some stars belonged to two constellations at once, and some regions poor in stars did not belong to any constellation. At the beginning of the 19th century, boundaries were drawn between the constellations on the celestial sphere, eliminating the “voids” between the constellations, but there was still no clear definition of them, and different astronomers defined them in their own way.

12 constellations - Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces - through which the center of the Sun passes during the annual rotation along the ecliptic, are called zodiacal. They have been known since ancient times. In our time (epoch 2014), from November 30 to December 17, the Sun is in the constellation of Ophiuchus, so formally this constellation is also a zodiacal one, but traditionally it is not considered a zodiac constellation.

Constellations of the polar region of the sky in the atlas of Pardi (1674) The names of 48 of the 88 modern constellations are included in the Almagest catalog by Claudius Ptolemy, who lived in the 2nd century AD. e. They cover the region of the sky accessible to observations from the south of Europe. Early images of all the constellations introduced by Ptolemy can be found in the Book of Fixed Stars by al-Sufi, who lived in 903-998. The remaining modern constellations were introduced in the 17th-18th centuries as a result of the study of the southern sky (during the era of great geographical discoveries) and the filling of "empty places" in the northern sky. The names of the constellations can be associated with real or fictional animals (Ursa Major, Leo, Dragon, etc.), the heroes of Greek myths (Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Perseus, etc.), as well as with the names of objects whose outlines form bright constellation stars (Northern Crown, Triangle, Libra, Southern Cross, etc.). The names introduced in modern times were associated with travel and the development of technology (Microscope, Sextant, etc.).

In 1922, in Rome, by decision of the I General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, a list of 88 constellations into which the starry sky was divided was finally approved, and in 1928, clear and unambiguous boundaries between these constellations were adopted, drawn strictly along the lines of constant right ascension and lines constant declination in the equatorial celestial coordinate system for the epoch 1875.0. Within five years, refinements were made to the boundaries of the constellations. In 1935, the boundaries were finally approved, and the astronomers agreed that they would not be changed anymore. However, it should be remembered that on star charts compiled for epochs that do not coincide with the epoch of 1875.0 (in particular, on all modern maps), due to the precession of the earth's axis, the lines of constant declination and right ascension have shifted, and therefore the boundaries of the constellations are no longer match them.

List of 88 Modern Constellations

Modern Constellations

Constellation	Abbr	number of stars	Best Star	Photo Map
Andromeda	And	100
Antlia	Ant	20
Apus	Aps	20
Aquarius	Aqr	90
Aquila	Aql	70
Ara	Ara	30
Aries	Ari	50
Auriga	Aur	90
Boötes	Boo	90
Caelum	Cae	10
Camelopardalis	Cam	50
Cancer	Cnc	60
Canes Venatici	CVn	30
Canis Major	CMa	80
Canis Minor	CMi	20
Capricornus	Cap	50
Carina	Car	110
Cassiopeia	Cas	90
Centaurus	Cen	150
Cepheus	Cep	60
Cetus	Cet	100
Chamaeleon	Cha	20
Circinus	Cir	20
Columba	Col	40
Coma Berenices	Com	50
Corona Australis	CrA	25
Corona Borealis	CrB	20
Corvus	Crv	15
Crater	Crt	20
Crux	Cru	30
Cygnus	Cyg	150
Delphinus	Del	30
Dorado	Dor	20
Draco	Dra	80
Equuleus	Equ	10
Eridanus	Eri	100
Fornax	For	35
Gemini	Gem	70
Grus	Gru	30
Hercules	Her	140
Horologium	Hor	20
Hydra	Hya	130
Hydrus	Hyi	20
Indus	Ind	20
Lacerta	Lac	35
Leo	Leo	70
Leo Minor	LMi	20
Lepus	Lep	40
Libra	Lib	50
Lupus	Lup	70
Lynx	Lyn	60
Lyra	Lyr	45
Mensa	Men	15
Microscopium	Mic	20
Monoceros	Mon	85
Musca	Mus	30
Norma	Nor	20
Octans	Oct	35
Ophiuchus	Oph	100
Orion	Ori	120
Pavo	Pav	45
Pegasus	Peg	100
Perseus	Per	90
Phoenix	Phe	40
Pictor	Pic	30
Pisces	Psc	75
Piscis Austrinus	PsA	25
Puppis	Pup	140
Pyxis	Pyx	25
Reticulum	Ret	15
Sagitta	Sge	20
Sagittarius	Sgr	115
Scorpius	Sco	100
Sculptor	Scl	30
Scutum	Sct	20
Serpens	Ser	60
Sextans	Sex	25
Taurus	Tau	125
Telescopium	Tel	30
Triangulum	Tri	15
Triangulum Australe	TrA	20
Tucana	Tuc	25
Ursa Major	UMa	125
Ursa Minor	UMi	20
Vela	Vel	110
Virgo	Vir	95
Volans	Vol	20
Vulpecula	Vul	45