Essential Question:

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Essential Question

• How are constellations alike and different?

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ORION The Great Hunter

• Orions most notable stars are
• Betelgeuse a red giant, one of the 20 brightest
  stars in the night sky
• Rigel a blue-white giant, the 6th brightest
  star in the sky
• The three stars that make up Orions belt

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Ursa Major The Big Bear

• The Big Dipper is not a constellation itself, but
  an asterism, which is a distinctive group of
  stars.
• The Big Dipper is contained in Ursa Major (the
  Big Bear)

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Ursa Major Big Dipper

• This constellation and asterism can be seen year
  round because it stays in the Northern Sky.
• If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you can
  use the Big Dipper to find all sorts of important
  stars

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Cassiopeia The Queen

• Appears to form an M or W,
• but actually considered the chair in which the
  queen sits.
• One of two (Ursa Major being the other) of the
  brightest of the circumpolar constellations, in
  that they whirl around the North Pole.

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Taurus The Bull

• One star in Taurus is much brighter than the
  others, and is the identifying star of this
  constellation.
• Aldebaran is a bright and reddish star that makes
  Taurus eye.

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Canis Major The Great Dog

• Canis Major contains the brightest star in the
  sky, as seen from the earth.
• Sirius is really brighter than
• our sun, and is 8 1/2
• light-years away.

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Gemini The Twins

• Castor and Pollux represent the heads of the
  twins.
• Pollux is slightly brighter, and is also a
  slightly orange color.
• Castor is one of many double stars in the sky
  (its actually six stars close together!)

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The Summer Triangle

• Made up of three very bright stars, far apart, is
  the summer triangle.
• In the whole sky, Vega is the 5th brightest star
  Altar is the 11th Deneb is the 19th.

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Draw and complete the table Name of
constellation Interesting facts
Unusual stars
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Essential Question

• How are constellations alike and different?

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Compare your star chart with your shoulder
partner, and discuss how constellations are
similar and how theyre different.Write your
answer to the Essential Question on the last page
of your flip book.