Fun Facts about Constellations

- The brightest star in the night sky is only 8 light years away and can be found in the constellation Canis Major
- The constellation, Sagittarius, is found directly in the center of our galaxy
- Every visible star in the night sky is part of a constellation
- Many of the stars that form constellations appear to be fairly close but are actually far apart
- The earliest recording of constellations was over 3,000 years ago
- The sun is the only star in our galaxy that is not part of a constellation
- Most constellations are seasonal and can only be seen at certain times of the year
- The International Astronomical Union are the people that recognize constellations and make them official

Constellation Video

More about Constellations

 

                  Virtual Telescope: http://library.thinkquest.org/3645/constellations.html

Constellation Families: The Zodiac Family

- Constellations make up families (constellations that are close to each other in the sky or have some relation to each other)
- One family we found the most interesting is The Zodiac Family!
- The Zodiac family is composed of 12 constellations that lie across the ecliptic:
                            -Aquarius: the water bearer
                            - Aries: the ram
                           - Cancer: the crab
                            - Capricorn: the goat
                           - Gemini: the twins
                            - Leo: the lion
                           - Libra: the scales
                           - Pisces: the fish
                          - Sagittarius: the archer
                           - Scorpius: the scorpian
                          - Taurus: the bull
                           - Virgo: the virgin

Introduction to Constellations

- A constellations is a cluster of stars that form an apparent pattern when seen from Earth
- There are 88 official constellations to date
- The brightest constellation is The Southern Cross named "Crux"
- "Centaurus" is the constellation with the greatest number of visible stars (101 stars!!)
- The largest constellation is The Water Snake named "Hydra" (extending over 3% of the sky!)
- There are also smaller star patterns found within constellations known as asterisms (like the Big Dipper found in the constellation Ursa Major)