CONSTELLATIONS

A constellation is a group of stars that make an imaginary shape in the night

sky. They are usually named after mythological characters, people, animals
and objects. In different parts of the world, people have made up different
shapes out of the same groups of bright stars. It is like a game of connecting
the dots. In the past creating imaginary images out of stars became useful
for navigating at night and for keeping track of the seasons. Because all the
stars are at different distances, the constellations would look totally different
to inhabitants of another planet orbiting another star.

Examples of Constellations
The 88 constellations depict 42 animals, 29 inanimate objects and 17 humans or
mythological characters.

Constellation

Family

Origin

Meaning

Andromeda (The chained lady

Brightest star

Andromeda

Perseus

ancient (Ptolemy)

Antlia

La Caille

1763, Lacaille

air pump

Apus

Bayer

1603, Uranometria, created

Bird-of-paradise/Exotic

byKeyser and de Houtman

Bird/Extraordinary Bird

Aquarius

Zodiac

ancient (Ptolemy)

water-bearer

Sadalsuud

Aquila

Hercules

ancient (Ptolemy)

eagle

Altair

Ara

Hercules

ancient (Ptolemy)

altar

Arae

Aries

Zodiac

ancient (Ptolemy)

ram

Hamal

or the Princess)

Alpheratz

Antliae

Apodis

Constellation

Family

Origin

Meaning

Brightest star

Auriga

Perseus

ancient (Ptolemy)

charioteer

Capella

Botes

Ursa Major ancient (Ptolemy)

herdsman

Arcturus

Caelum

La Caille

chisel

Caeli

Camelopardalis

Ursa Major 1613, Plancius[6]

giraffe

Camelopardalis

Cancer

Zodiac

crab

Tarf

Canes Venatici

Ursa Major

hunting dogs

Cor Caroli

Canis Major

Orion

ancient (Ptolemy)

greater dog

Sirius

Canis Minor

Orion

ancient (Ptolemy)

lesser dog

Procyon

Capricornus

Zodiac

ancient (Ptolemy)

sea goat

Deneb Algiedi

Heavenly

1763, Lacaille, split from Argo

Waters

Navis

keel

Canopus

Cassiopeia

Perseus

ancient (Ptolemy)

Centaurus

Hercules

ancient (Ptolemy)

Carina

1763, Lacaille

ancient (Ptolemy)

1690, Firmamentum
Sobiescianum, Hevelius

Cassiopeia (mythological
character)

centaur

Shedir

Alpha Centauri

Constellation

Family

Origin

Cepheus

Perseus

ancient (Ptolemy)

Cetus

Perseus

ancient (Ptolemy)

Chamaeleon

Bayer

Circinus

La Caille

1763, Lacaille

Heavenly

1592, Plancius, split

Waters

from Canis Major

Columba

1603, Uranometria, created

byKeyser and de Houtman

1603, Uranometria, split from

Meaning

Cepheus (mythological
character)

sea monster (later interpreted

as a whale)

Brightest star

Alderamin

Deneb Kaitos

chameleon

Chamaeleontis

compass (drawing tool)

Circini

dove

Phact

Berenice's hair

Comae Berenices

Coma Berenices

Ursa Major

Corona Australis

Hercules

ancient (Ptolemy)

southern crown

Alphekka Meridiana

Corona Borealis

Ursa Major ancient (Ptolemy)

northern crown

Alphecca

Corvus

Hercules

ancient (Ptolemy)

crow

Gienah

Crater

Hercules

ancient (Ptolemy)

cup

Labrum

Leo

Constellation

Family

Crux

Hercules

Cygnus

Hercules

Delphinus

Heavenly
Waters

Origin

1603, Uranometria, split from

Acrux

ancient (Ptolemy)

swan or Northern Cross

Deneb

ancient (Ptolemy)

dolphin

Rotanev

goldfish

Doradus

dragon

Etamin

ancient (Ptolemy)

pony

Kitalpha

ancient (Ptolemy)

river Eridanus (mythology)

Achernar

1603, Uranometria, created

Bayer

Draco

Ursa Major ancient (Ptolemy)

Eridanus

Heavenly
Waters

Heavenly
Waters

Brightest star

southern cross

Centaurus

Dorado

Equuleus

Meaning

byKeyser and de Houtman

Fornax

La Caille

1763, Lacaille

chemical furnace

Fornacis

Gemini

Zodiac

ancient (Ptolemy)

twins

Pollux

Grus

Bayer

Crane

Alnair

Hercules

Hercules

Hercules (mythological

Kornephoros

1603, Uranometria, created

byKeyser and de Houtman

ancient (Ptolemy)

Constellation

Family

Origin

Meaning

Brightest star

character)

Horologium

La Caille

1763, Lacaille

pendulum clock

Horologii

Hydra

Hercules

ancient (Ptolemy)

Hydra (mythological creature)

Alphard

Hydrus

Bayer

lesser water snake

Hydri

Indus

Bayer

Indian (American indigenous)

The Persian

Lacerta

Perseus

lizard

Lacertae

Leo

Zodiac

lion

Regulus

Leo Minor

Ursa Major

lesser lion

Praecipua

Lepus

Orion

ancient (Ptolemy)

hare

Arneb

Libra

Zodiac

ancient (Ptolemy)

balance

Zubeneshamali

Lupus

Hercules

ancient (Ptolemy)

wolf

Men

1603, Uranometria, created

byKeyser and de Houtman

1603, Uranometria, created

byKeyser and de Houtman

1690, Firmamentum
Sobiescianum, Hevelius

ancient (Ptolemy)

1690, Firmamentum
Sobiescianum, Hevelius

Constellation

Family

Lynx

Ursa Major

Lyra

Hercules

Mensa

Origin

1690, Firmamentum

Meaning

Brightest star

lynx

Elvashak

ancient (Ptolemy)

lyre / harp

Vega

La Caille

1763, Lacaille

Table Mountain (South Africa)

Mensae

Microscopium

La Caille

1763, Lacaille

microscope

Microscopii

Monoceros

Orion

1613, Plancius

unicorn

Monocerotis

Musca

Bayer

fly

Muscae

Norma

La Caille

1763, Lacaille

carpenter's level

2 Normae

Octans

La Caille

1763, Lacaille

octant (instrument)

Oct

Ophiuchus

Hercules

ancient (Ptolemy)

serpent-bearer

Ras Alhague

Orion

Orion

ancient (Ptolemy)

Orion (mythological character) Rigel

Pavo

Bayer

Pegasus

Perseus

Sobiescianum, Hevelius

1603, Uranometria, created

byKeyser and de Houtman

1603, Uranometria, created

byKeyser and de Houtman

ancient (Ptolemy)

peacock

Peacock

Pegasus (mythological winged Enif

Constellation

Family

Origin

Meaning

Brightest star

horse)

Perseus

Perseus

Phoenix

Bayer

Pictor

La Caille

Pisces

Zodiac

Piscis Austrinus

Puppis

Pyxis

Heavenly
Waters

ancient (Ptolemy)

1603, Uranometria, created

Mirfak

Ankaa

1763, Lacaille

easel

Pictoris

ancient (Ptolemy)

fishes

Alpherg

ancient (Ptolemy)

southern fish

Fomalhaut

poop deck

Naos

1763, Lacaille

mariner's compass

Pyxidis

1763, Lacaille, split from Argo

Waters

Navis

Waters

character)

phoenix

byKeyser and de Houtman

Heavenly

Heavenly

Perseus (mythological

Reticulum

La Caille

1763, Lacaille

eyepiece graticule

Reticuli

Sagitta

Hercules

ancient (Ptolemy)

arrow

Sagittae

Sagittarius

Zodiac

ancient (Ptolemy)

archer

Kaus Australis

Constellation

Family

Origin

Meaning

Brightest star

Scorpius

Zodiac

ancient (Ptolemy)

scorpion

Antares

Sculptor

La Caille

1763, Lacaille

sculptor

Sculptoris

Scutum

Hercules

shield (of Sobieski)

Scuti

Serpens[9]

Hercules

snake

Unukalhai

Sextans

Hercules

sextant

Sextantis

Taurus

Zodiac

ancient (Ptolemy)

bull

Aldebaran

Telescopium

La Caille

1763, Lacaille

telescope

Telescopii

Triangulum

Perseus

ancient (Ptolemy)

triangle

Trianguli

southern triangle

Atria

toucan

Tucanae

great bear

Alioth

Triangulum Australe Hercules

1690, Firmamentum
Sobiescianum, Hevelius

ancient (Ptolemy)

1690, Firmamentum
Sobiescianum, Hevelius

1603 Uranometria, created

byKeyser and de Houtman

1603 Uranometria, created

Tucana

Bayer

Ursa Major

Ursa Major ancient (Ptolemy)

byKeyser and de Houtman

Constellation

Ursa Minor

Family

Origin

Meaning

Ursa Major ancient (Ptolemy)

Heavenly

1763, Lacaille, split from Argo

Waters

Navis

Virgo

Zodiac

ancient (Ptolemy)

Volans

Bayer

Vulpecula

Hercules

Vela

1603, Uranometria, created

byKeyser and de Houtman

1690, Firmamentum
Sobiescianum, Hevelius

Brightest star

lesser bear

Polaris

sails

Regor

virgin or maiden

Spica

flying fish

Volantis

fox

Anser

FORMER CONSTELLATIONS
Former constellations are constellations that are no longer recognized by the International
Astronomical Union for various reasons. Many of these constellations were recognized by authorities
for long periods of time, even centuries in many cases, which means they have historical value and
can be found on older star charts.

Name

Meaning

Date
created

Anguilla

Eel

1754

Antinous

Antinous

132

Apes

Bees (renamed to Vespa, then Lilium, then

1612

Created by

John Hill

Emperor
Hadrian[2]

Petrus

Name

Meaning

Date
created

to Musca Borealis)

Apis

Aranea

Argo Navis

Bee (renamed to Musca Australis and then

simply to Musca)

1598

Petrus
Plancius

1754

John Hill

The Ship Argo (now divided

2nd

Claudius

into Carina, Puppis, and Vela)

century

Ptolemy

Borealis and Asellus Australis)

and Manger (Beehive Cluster)

Asterion and Chara

Plancius

Long-Legged Spider

Dionysus's Asses (Asellus

Asselli and Praesepe

Created by

Northern and Southern Dogs in Canes

Venatici

3rd century
BC

1690

Aratus[3][4]

Johannes
Hevelius

Thomas

Battery of Volta

Battery

1807

Bufo

Toad

1754

Cancer Minor

Lesser Crab

1613

Capra and Haedi

Goat Amalthea (stars surrounding Capella)

3rd century Aratus[5]

Young

John Hill

Petrus
Plancius

Name

Meaning

Date
created

and the Kids (Haedus I and Haedus II)

BC

Medusa's Head (known as Caput Algol in the

2nd

16th century)

century

Cerberus

Cerberus (guardian dog of Hades)

1690

Cor Caroli Regis Martyris

Charles's Heart

1673

Caput Medusae

Corona Firmiana

Corona Borealis renamed to honor Count

Leopold Anton von Firmian

1730

Custos Messium

Keeper of harvests

1775

Deltoton

Delta (obsolete name for Triangulum Boreale) 1540

Dentalium

Tooth Shell

1754

Felis

Cat

1799

Frederici Honores

Frederick's Honors

1787

Created by

Hipparchus

Johannes
Hevelius

Charles
Scarborough

Corbinianus
Thomas

Jrme
Lalande[6]

Petrus
Apianus[7]

John Hill

Jrme
Lalande

Johann Elert

Name

Meaning

Date
created

Created by

Bode[8]

Petrus

Gallus

Rooster

1613

Gladii Electorales Saxonici

Crossed Swords of the Electorate of Saxony

1684

Globus Aerostaticus

Hot air balloon

1798

Gryphites

Gryphaea shellfish

1754

John Hill

Hippocampus

Sea Horse

1754

John Hill

Hirudo

Leech

1754

John Hill

Jordanus

River Jordan

1613

Leo Palatinus

Lochium Funis

Lilium

Lion to honor the Elector Palatine Charles

Theodore and his wife Elisabeth Auguste

Log line (renamed to Linea Nautica in 1888

by Eliza A. Bowen )
[10]

Fleur de Lys (renamed Musca Borealis)

1785

1801

1679

Plancius

Gottfried Kirch

Jrme
Lalande[9]

Petrus
Plancius

Karl-Joseph
Knig

Johann Elert
Bode[11]

Augustin

Name

Meaning

Date
created

Created by

Royer/P.
Anthelme

Limax

Slug

1754

John Hill

1590

Thomas Hood

John Hill

The line connecting the fish (renamed

Linum Piscium

from Linum Austrinum and Linum

Boreumby Bode in 1801; known
as Lineola too)

Lumbricus

Earthworm

1754

Machina Electrica

Electricity generator

1800

Malus

Mast

1844

John Herschel

Manis

Pangolin

1754

John Hill

Marmor Sculptile

Bust of Columbus

1810

Mons Maenalus

Mount Mainalo

1690

Musca Borealis

Northern Fly

1690

Johann Elert
Bode[12]

William
Croswell

Johannes
Hevelius[13]

Johannes

Name

Meaning

Date
created

Created by

Hevelius

Noctua

Owl

1822

Nubecula Major and Nubecula Minor

Magellanic Clouds

1603

Officina Typographica

Printshop

1801

Patella

Limpet

1754

Phoenicopterus

Pinna Marina

Flamingo (an obsolete name for Grus)

early 17th
century[15]

Mussel

1754

Southern Fish (obsolete name for Piscis

3rd century

Austrinus)

BC

Polophylax

Guardian of the Pole

1592

Pomum Imperiale

Leopold's orb

1688

Piscis Notus

Alexander
Jamieson

Johann Bayer

Johann Elert
Bode[14]

John Hill

Petrus
Plancius/Paul
Merula

John Hill

Aratus

Petrus
Plancius

Gottfried Kirch

Name

Meaning

Phaethon

Phaethon

Pluteum

Parapet (obsolete for Pictor)

Psalterium Georgii

Quadrans Muralis

Quadratum

George's Psaltery (renamed to Harp

Georgii by Lalande)

Mural Quadrant

Rhombus (obsolete name for Reticulum

Rhomboidalis)

Date
created

Created by

Middle

Aratus/Hyginu

Ages

1881

1781

1795

1706

Ramus Pomifer

Apple-bearing Branch

1690

Robur Carolinum

Charles' Oak

1679

Rosa

Rose

1536

Sagitta Australis

Southern Arrow

1613

Richard
Andree

Maximilian
Hell[16]

Jrme
Lalande[17]

Carel Allard

Johannes
Hevelius[18]

Edmund
Halley[19]

Petrus
Apianus

Petrus
Plancius

Name

Meaning

Date
created

Scarabaeus

Rhinoceros Beetle

1754

Sceptrum Brandenburgicum

Scepter of Brandenburg

1688

Sceptrum et Manus Iustitiae

Scepter and Hand of Justice

1679

Sciurus Volans

Flying Squirrel

1810

Sextants Uraniae

Urania's Sextant (obsolete name for Sextans) 1690

Siren, Ceneus and Lang

Siren, Lapith Caeneus and Toucan

Solarium

Sundial

Created by

John Hill

Gottfried
Kirch[20]

Augustin
Royer

William
Croswell

Johannes
Hevelius

early 17th- Unknown/Wille

century[21]

1822

m Jansz Blaeu

Alexander
Jamieson

Antoine Marie
Sudarium Veronicae

Sudarium of Veronica

1643

Schyrle de
Rheita[22]

Tarandus vel Rangifer

Reindeer

1736

Pierre Charles
Lemonnier[23]

Name

Meaning

Taurus Poniatovii

Poniatowski's Bull

Tarabellum and Vexillum

Drill and flag-like Standard

Telescopium Herschelii

Herschel's Telescope (renamed from Tubus

Herschelii Major by Bode in 1801)

Date
created

1777

12th
century

1781

Tubus Herschelii Minor

Herschel's Reflector

1781

Testudo

Tortoise

1754

Tigris

Tigris River

1613

Triangulus Antarcticus

Obsolete name for Triangulum Australe

1589

Triangulum Major

Greater Triangle (obsolete name

for Triangulum)

1690

Triangulum Minor

Lesser Triangle

1690

Turdus Solitarius

Solitary Thrush (renamed to Mocking Bird and 1776

Created by

Martin
Poczobut[24]

Michael Scot[25]

Maximilian
Hell[26]

Maximilian
Hell

John Hill

Petrus
Plancius

Peter Plancius

Johannes
Hevelius

Johannes
Hevelius[27]

Pierre Charles

Name

Meaning

Date
created

Created by

then to Noctua). Named in honor of

the Rodrigues solitaire, an extinct flightless

Lemonnier[28]

bird related to the dodo.

Uranoscopus

Star-Gazer fish

1754

Urna

Urn of Aquarius

1596

Vespa

Wasp (an obsolete name for Musca Borealis)

1624

John Hill

Zacharias
Bornmann

Jakob
Bartsch[29]

Obsolete names for Triangulum

Boreale, Triangulum Australe, Canes
Triangula, Triangulum, Catuli, Corona,Cor Venatici,Corona Borealis, Corona
olla, Piscis, Camelus, Vulpes, Equus,Delp Australis, Piscis
hin, Ursa

Australis, Cameleopardalis, Vulpecula et

Minor, Canis, Felis, Leaenaand Cervus

Anser, Equuleus, Delphinus, Ursa Major, Ursa

Minor, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Leo
Minor and Monoceros

1873

Richard
Proctor[30]

CHARACTERISTICS OF STARS
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by its own gravity. The
nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the planet's energy.
Other stars are visible from Earth during the night, appearing as a multitude of fixed
luminous points due to their immense distance. Historically, the most prominent stars
were grouped into constellations and asterisms, and the brightest stars gained proper
names. Extensive catalogues of stars have been assembled by astronomers, which
provide standardized star designations.
For at least a portion of its life, a star shines due to thermonuclear
fusion of hydrogen into helium in its core, releasing energy that traverses the star's
interior and then radiates into outer space. Once the hydrogen in the core of a star is
nearly exhausted, almost all naturally occurring elements heavier than helium are
created by stellar nucleosynthesis during the star's lifetime and, for some stars,
by supernova nucleosynthesis when it explodes. Near the end of its life, a star can also
contain degenerate matter. Astronomers can determine the mass,
age, metallicity (chemical composition), and many other properties of a star by
observing its motion through space, luminosity, and spectrumrespectively. The total
mass of a star is the principal determinant of its evolution and eventual fate. Other
characteristics of a star, including diameter and temperature, change over its life, while
the star's environment affects its rotation and movement. A plot of the temperature of
many stars against their luminosities, known as a HertzsprungRussell diagram (HR
diagram), allows the age and evolutionary state of a star to be determined. Almost
everything about a star is determined by its initial mass, including essential
characteristics such as luminosity and size, as well as its evolution, lifespan, and
eventual fate.

EXAMPLES OF KINDS OF STARS

Protostar
A protostar is what you have before a star forms. A protostar is a collection of gas that
has collapsed down from a giant molecular cloud. The protostar phase of stellar
evolution lasts about 100,000 years. Over time, gravity and pressure increase, forcing
the protostar to collapse down. All of the energy release by the protostar comes only
from the heating caused by the gravitational energy nuclear fusion reactions havent
started yet.
T Tauri Star
A T Tauri star is stage in a stars formation and evolution right before it becomes a main
sequence star. This phase occurs at the end of the protostar phase, when the
gravitational pressure holding the star together is the source of all its energy. T Tauri
stars dont have enough pressure and temperature at their cores to generate nuclear
fusion, but they do resemble main sequence stars; theyre about the same temperature
but brighter because theyre a larger. T Tauri stars can have large areas of sunspot
coverage, and have intense X-ray flares and extremely powerful stellar winds. Stars will
remain in the T Tauri stage for about 100 million years.

Main Sequence Star

The majority of all stars in our galaxy, and even the Universe, are main sequence stars.
Our Sun is a main sequence star, and so are our nearest neighbors, Sirius and Alpha
Centauri A. Main sequence stars can vary in size, mass and brightness, but theyre all
doing the same thing: converting hydrogen into helium in their cores, releasing a
tremendous amount of energy.
A star in the main sequence is in a state of hydrostatic equilibrium. Gravity is pulling the
star inward, and the light pressure from all the fusion reactions in the star are pushing
outward. The inward and outward forces balance one another out, and the star
maintains a spherical shape. Stars in the main sequence will have a size that depends
on their mass, which defines the amount of gravity pulling them inward.
The lower mass limit for a main sequence star is about 0.08 times the mass of the Sun,
or 80 times the mass of Jupiter. This is the minimum amount of gravitational pressure
you need to ignite fusion in the core. Stars can theoretically grow to more than 100
times the mass of the Sun.
Red Giant Star
When a star has consumed its stock of hydrogen in its core, fusion stops and the star
no longer generates an outward pressure to counteract the inward pressure pulling it
together. A shell of hydrogen around the core ignites continuing the life of the star, but
causes it to increase in size dramatically. The aging star has become a red giant star,
and can be 100 times larger than it was in its main sequence phase. When this
hydrogen fuel is used up, further shells of helium and even heavier elements can be
consumed in fusion reactions. The red giant phase of a stars life will only last a few
hundred million years before it runs out of fuel completely and becomes a white dwarf.
White Dwarf Star
When a star has completely run out of hydrogen fuel in its core and it lacks the mass to
force higher elements into fusion reaction, it becomes a white dwarf star. The outward
light pressure from the fusion reaction stops and the star collapses inward under its own
gravity. A white dwarf shines because it was a hot star once, but theres no fusion
reactions happening any more. A white dwarf will just cool down until it because the

background temperature of the Universe. This process will take hundreds of billions of
years, so no white dwarfs have actually cooled down that far yet.
Red Dwarf Star
Red dwarf stars are the most common kind of stars in the Universe. These are main
sequence stars but they have such low mass that theyre much cooler than stars like
our Sun. They have another advantage. Red dwarf stars are able to keep the hydrogen
fuel mixing into their core, and so they can conserve their fuel for much longer than
other stars. Astronomers estimate that some red dwarf stars will burn for up to 10 trillion
years. The smallest red dwarfs are 0.075 times the mass of the Sun, and they can have
a mass of up to half of the Sun.
Neutron Stars
If a star has between 1.35 and 2.1 times the mass of the Sun, it doesnt form a white
dwarf when it dies. Instead, the star dies in a catastrophic supernova explosion, and the
remaining core becomes a neutron star. As its name implies, a neutron star is an exotic
type of star that is composed entirely of neutrons. This is because the intense gravity of
the neutron star crushes protons and electrons together to form neutrons. If stars are
even more massive, they will become black holes instead of neutron stars after the
supernova goes off.
Supergiant Stars
The largest stars in the Universe are supergiant stars. These are monsters with dozens
of times the mass of the Sun. Unlike a relatively stable star like the Sun, supergiants are
consuming hydrogen fuel at an enormous rate and will consume all the fuel in their
cores within just a few million years. Supergiant stars live fast and die young, detonating
as supernovae; completely disintegrating themselves in the process.

COLOR AND TEMPERATURE OF STARS

Stars appear to be exclusively white at first glance. But if we look carefully, we can
notice a range of colors: blue, white, red, and even gold. In the winter constellation of
Orion, a beautiful contrast is seen between the red Betelgeuse at Orion's "armpit" and
the blue Bellatrix at the shoulder. What causes stars to exhibit different colors remained
a mystery until two centuries ago, when Physicists gained enough understanding of the
nature of light and the properties of matter at immensely high temperatures.

Characteristics of the Sun

The sun is a star of about medium size; it appears so much larger and brighter than the
other stars because of its relative nearness to the earth. The earth's distance from the
sun varies from 91,377,000 mi (147,053,000 km) at perihelion to 94,537,000 mi
(152,138,000 km) at aphelion (see apsis). The mean distance is c.92,960,000 mi
(149,591,000 km); this is taken as the astronomical unit (AU) of distance used for
measuring distances within the solar system. The sun is approximately 865,400 mi
(1,392,000 km) in diameter, and its volume is about 1,300,000 times that of the earth. Its
mass is almost 700 times the total mass of all the bodies in the solar system and
332,000 times that of the earth. The sun's surface gravity is almost 28 times that of the
earth; i.e., a body on the surface of the sun would weigh about 28 times its weight on
earth. The density of the material composing the sun is about one fourth that of the
earth; compared with water, the sun's average density is 1.41. At its center, the sun has
a density of over 100 times that of water, a temperature of 10 to 20 million degrees
Celsius, and a pressure of over 1 billion atmospheres.
Observations of sunspots and studies of the solar spectrum indicate that the sun rotates
on its axis from east to west; because of its gaseous nature its rate of rotation varies
somewhat with latitude, the speed being greatest (a period of almost 25 days) in the
equatorial region and least at the poles (a period of about 35 days). The axis of the sun
is inclined at an angle of about 7 to the plane of the ecliptic.
The bright surface of the sun is called the photosphere. Its temperature is about
6,000C. The photosphere appears darker near the edge (limb) of the sun's disk
because of greater absorption of light by the sun's atmosphere in this area; this
phenomenon is called limb darkening. During an eclipse of the sun
the chromosphere and the corona (the outer layers of the sun's atmosphere) are
observed. Also of interest is the high-speed, tenuous extension of the corona known as
the solar wind.

HOWDOANCIENTPEOPLEUSECONSTELLATIONS?
ThefirstuseforConstellationswasprobablyreligious.PeoplethoughtthattheGodslivedinthe
heavensandthattheycreatedthem.Manyculturesbelievedthatthepositionsofthestarswere
theirGod'swayoftellingstories.Soitseemednaturaltorecognizepatternsinthesky,givethem
names,andtellstoriesaboutthem.Weinheritedthenamesforourconstellationsfromthe
Greeks.Andtheynamedtheconstellationsaftertheirmythologicalheroesandlegends.So
behindeveryconstellationthereisastory.Forexample,totheancientGreeks,Orionwasagreat
hunter.HewasthesonofNeptune(godofthesea).Butthesamestarswereconsideredtodepict
OsirisbytheEgyptians.Eachdifferentculturedevelopedtheirowninterpretation.

Amorepracticaluseforconstellationswasagriculture.Beforetherewerepropercalendars
peoplehadnowayofdeterminingwhentosow,orharvestexceptbythestars.Constellations
madethepatternsofthestarseasytoremember.Theancientpeoplesknewforexamplethat
whentheconstellationOrionstartedtobefullyvisiblewinterwascomingsoon.Ortheycould
lookattheSummerTriangletoknowwhenSummerorSpringwerecomingaswell.Thestars
allowedfarmerstoplanaheadandformagriculture,andconstellationsmadeiteasierto
recognizeandinterpretthepatternsinthesky.
Theconstellationsalsohelpedwithnavigation.ItisfairlyeasytospotPolaris(TheNorthStar)
onceyou'vefoundUrsaMinor(LittleDipperconstellation).Onecanfigureouthis/herlatitude
(North/South)justbylookingathowhighPolarisappearsinthenightsky.Thisallowedfor
shipstotravelacrosstheglobe.ItallowedforthediscoveryofAmerica,thespreadofEuropean
culture,andcivilizationasweknowittoday.
Theconstellationshaveapracticalpurposetodaytoo.Theydeterminehowstarsarenamed.
Whenastronomersgotoconferencestheyliketosharetheirresearchwithothers.Andusually
theywillwanttotellsomeonewhichstarsorobjectstheymaybelookingat.Iftheyjustgivethe
coordinates(numbers)theotherpersonisnotlikelytohaveanimmediateideaofwherethestar
islocatedinthesky.Butifyousaythatthestar'snameisAlphaTauthenyouwillknowthatis
thebrighteststarintheTaurusconstellation.Thestarsarenamedbasedontheconstellationthey
arein(allstarsareinsomeconstellation).Thenaminggoesfrombrightesttodimmeststarandis
designatedbytheGreekalphabet.ForexampleBetaOriisthesecondbrighteststarinOrion
(alsocalledRigel).