Constellations: Names, Shapes and How to Find Them
What a constellation is, how many there are, famous ones like Orion, the Big Dipper and the Southern Cross, the zodiac constellations and tips for finding them.
By Polarzinho ·
Every clear night I lie on the grass and connect the dots. A hunter, a scorpion, a cross. People did the same thing thousands of years ago, and that is how constellations were born.
Here you get what a constellation is, how many there are, the easiest ones to find, the zodiac constellations and two tricks to find north and south using the stars.
What is a constellation?
A constellation is a group of stars that, seen from Earth, seems to make a picture, like an animal, an object or a character from a story. Today astronomers split the whole sky into regions, and each region is a constellation.
Constellation or asterism?
An asterism is a star pattern that is not an official constellation. The Big Dipper, for example, is an asterism inside the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear.
How many constellations are there?
There are 88 official constellations, set by the International Astronomical Union in the early 20th century. Many come from a list of 48 made by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.
- The biggest: Hydra, a long water snake.
- The smallest: Crux, the Southern Cross.
Easy constellations to spot
Orion
The hunter, with three bright stars in a row as his belt. Look for reddish Betelgeuse and bluish Rigel. In the Northern Hemisphere it shines on winter evenings.
Ursa Major and the Big Dipper
Seven bright stars shaped like a ladle with a long handle. Best seen from the Northern Hemisphere.
Cassiopeia
Five stars in a W or M shape, on the other side of the North Star from the Big Dipper.
Scorpius
A curve of stars like a scorpion's tail, with the red star Antares at its heart. In the Northern Hemisphere it sits low in the south on summer evenings.
The Southern Cross
Four stars in a cross, best seen from the Southern Hemisphere. It appears on the flags of several countries.
Finding north and south with the stars
North: use the Big Dipper
- Find the two stars at the end of the Dipper's bowl, the "pointer stars".
- Draw a line through them, away from the bowl.
- Go about five times the distance between them. You reach Polaris, the North Star.
- Straight down from Polaris to the horizon is north.
South: use the Southern Cross
Extend the long bar of the cross, past its foot, about four and a half times its length. Straight down from that point is south.
The zodiac constellations
Over the year, the Sun seems to pass in front of a path of constellations. The twelve traditional ones are:
- Aries
- Taurus
- Gemini
- Cancer
- Leo
- Virgo
- Libra
- Scorpius
- Sagittarius
- Capricornus
- Aquarius
- Pisces
Stargazing tips
- Get away from city lights if you can.
- Wait about 15 minutes in the dark so your eyes adjust.
- Use red light, or turn your phone brightness all the way down.
- A star map app helps you name what you see.
Lighting up the sky in Lumora
Lumora feels a bit like connecting stars: you light up the sky one word at a time, following clues across floating islands. At the end of each boss level, the golden letters spell a message.
PolarzinhoStellar! The game called me stellar. Putting that on my résumé.
And the helpers come straight from the night sky: Luma is a firefly and Zuzu is a comet fox.
FAQ
How many constellations are there?
88 official constellations.
What is the smallest constellation?
Crux, the Southern Cross.
Is the Big Dipper a constellation?
It is an asterism, part of the constellation Ursa Major.
What is the easiest constellation to find?
Orion, thanks to the three stars of his belt in a straight row.
Your turn
Tonight, look up and try to find Orion's belt or the Big Dipper. Then use the stars to point north or south.