A chart showing some of the constellations that are visible from the Northern Hemisphere in different times of year. It can be a little confusing to picture how the night sky changes as we orbit the Sun. If you want to learn more about this, check out this resource from the Night Sky Network:Legends in the Sky - Constellation Tales from Around the World, This photo of the constellation Orion was taken by NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg aboard the International Space Station. Orion, the hunter. Earth orbits around the Sun once each year. Constellations full of stars makes sense The 40-year success of Cats shows theatre is a good financial investment for government Theatre has had to … This is a handy way for scientists to quickly find a star- can you find Ursa Major? Now, make your own constellations! The night sky is FULL of stars! Pegasus. The easiest way to say it is that a constellation is a group of stars. Dive into astronomy and explore the celestial bodies around you. The constellations you can see at night depend on your location on Earth and the time of year. It might even have a little bit of extra dust and things, and a planet might form to orbit around it. A cluster of stars. Each constellation is a collection of stars that are distributed in space in three dimensions – the stars are all different distances from Earth. Constellation maps divide the celestial sphere into 88 parts, known as constellations, helping astronomers locate stars and deep sky objects. Many constellations are derived from old traditional asterisms, which are star patterns within a constellation. A constellation is a grouping of stars that represents one of the 88 divisions of the celestial sphere as defined by the International Astronomical Union. Almost as long has humans have been on Earth, we have been making patterns in the night sky. Want to keep your glow sticks alive longer? Today, there are 88 officially recognized constellations. As nouns the difference between star and constellation is that star is any small luminous dot appearing in the cloudless portion of the night sky, especially with a fixed location relative to other such dots while constellation is an arbitrary formation of stars perceived as a figure or pattern. Because the constellations are in a fixed location, they are often used as landmarks in the sky. This image of the Orion nebula was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. It's like the beginning of making a cake- all the ingredients are loose in the bowl, but once you stir them they start to clump up. Astronomers and other scientists study stars and galaxies, most of which are many light-years away from Earth. They are usually named after mythological characters, people, animals and objects. Leo. Lesson overview: What are stars and star constellations? Truly, the origins of the constellations of the northern and southern skies are unmistakably extraordinary. There are 88 officially recognized constellations. Odds are if it isn’t one of the 88 constellations, it’s an asterism! Orion. What are constellations and asterisms? Credit: NASA/Bill Dunford. Finally, we will learn about constellations. Ironically, this name … Gravity pulls the clumps in to one ball, which starts to get smaller and smaller, kind of like taking a big lump of play-doh and squeezing it down into a tight ball. Life Cycle of a Star. This is a great manipulative activity that exercises the imagination while learning about our night sky. They are not connected to each other at all. Customize your map to show (or not show) constellation lines, names, and boundaries, deep-sky objects, star and planet names, and more. If you trace a line between the stars, it looks like a ladle, or dipper, that you'd use to dip soup from a pot. You may think that stars are very far away- most of them are, but there is one close star … Apus – Bird of Paradise. The ball starts rolling out into a disc like a Frisbee. So, for example, the Orionids meteor shower, which occurs in October each year, appear to come from the same direction as the constellation Orion the Hunter. The Northern Hemisphere is always pointing in a different direction than the Southern Hemisphere. Pavo. All stars but one can be associated with an IAU constellation. You’ll probably be able to see the constellation Pisces. Many cultures developed their own constellation figures. The stars appear each night to move slightly west of where they were the night before. I found a fantastic activity for forming constellations on a great blog called Deceptively Educational, which I’ve linked at the end of this post. Did you know that a star has a lifecycle? The Sun travels … So, in a way, patterns of stars are as helpful today as they were to ancient navigators.