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Drawing Constellations

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... the horizon by the time Scorpio rises in the east, as it ... In the middle: The Scorpion - Scorpio. The Scorpion has existed since the oldest of times. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Drawing Constellations


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  • As early as 5000 years ago, people became
    fascinated with the star-studded skies and began
    to name the patterns they saw.
  • These patterns of stars, called constellations,
    were named in honor of mythological characters or
    great heroes.
  • Today, 88 constellations are recognized.
  • They are used to divide the sky into units. Every
    star in the sky is in, but is not necessarily
    part of, one of these constellations.

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Clusters The little specks in the sky that we
see may really be one or more stars clustered
together. Why dont star patterns
change? Because they are so far away from us!
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  • Astronomers label stars within a constellation
    based on apparent magnitude, brightest alpha,
    second brightest beta, etc.
  • Some of the brightest stars have actual names,
    like Rigel Betelgeuse (both in the
    constellation Orion)

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Ursa Major
  •  Ursa Major, the Great Bear, is visible in the
    Northern Hemisphere all year long.
  • Ursa Major is the best known of the
    constellation and it appears in every reference
    known.
  • The story behind it
  • Callisto was changed to a bear because of Zeus's
    jealousy and transferred her to the sky. This is
    improbable, as the constellation was already well
    established before this time. The drawings all
    show a bear with a long tail, again not likely
    correct since bears have no tails. The most
    likely explanation for the bears is the fact that
    Native Americans called the constellations the
    bear, but instead of the tail they depict the
    bear being chased around the pole by seven
    braves.

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Ursa Major
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Ursa MajorCircumpolar Constellation
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How to find the Big Dipper
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Ursa Minor
  • Ursa Minor, the Little Bear, is visible in the
    Northern Hemisphere all year long.
  • Ursa Minor is mostly known for Polaris, the
    North Star which may be found at the end of the
    handle.
  • The story behind it
  • Ursa Minor does not have any mythology attached
    to it, it was created in the 6th century B.C. as
    a navigational aid for sailors out of a long
    forgotten constellation called the Dragon's wing.

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Ursa MinorCircumpolar Constellation
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Cepheus
  • The story behind it
  • Cepheus was the King of Ethiopia. He married
    Cassiopeia and they had a daughter Andromeda.
    Cassiopeia was incredibly beautiful but immensely
    vain. She was also proud of her daughter's
    beauty. In fact she continually boasted that the
    two of them were more beautiful than any of the
    fifty sea nymphs who attended Poseidon's court.
  • These nymphs (the Nereids) complained to
    Poseidon, who felt he had to defend his own
    reputation. So he sent a flood to devastate
    Cepheus' kingdom. The oracles told Cepheus that
    in order to save his people he must sacrifice his
    daughter to a great sea monster Andromeda was
    tied to a rock along the coastline, dressed only
    in her jewelry. The monster would be along in due
    time to take his prize.
  • At that moment Perseus came flying by. He had
    just killed the Gorgon Medusa and was carrying
    the severed head back to Athene. To make a long
    story short, he saved her then turned everyone
    into stone by showing them the severed head.
  • Poseidon then put the stone frozen Cepheus and
    Cassiopeia into the heavens, but with a twist he
    made the vain Cassiopeia spin around on her
    chair, spending half the year upside down. As for
    Cepheus, Poseidon gave him a number of medium
    sized stars that go to make his square face with
    a pointed crown.

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CepheusCircumpolar Constellation
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Cassiopeia
  • This constellation is at the edge of the Milky
    Way galaxy and has the shape of a "W".
  • The story behind it
  • Cassiopeia had been the wife of Cepheus. Because
    she thought herself more beautiful than the
    daughters of Nereus, a god of the sea, she
    angered the god Poseidon. To punish her, her
    daughter was chained to a rock of the coast as a
    sacrifice for a sea monster. Andromeda was saved
    from death by Perseus. To learn humility
    Cassiopeia was banned to the sky hanging half of
    the time head downward.

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CassiopeiaCircumpolar Constellation
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Draco
  • Draco, the Dragon, used to hold special
    significance as the location of the pole star,
    but due to the Earth's precession, the pole has
    shifted to Polaris in Ursa Minor.
  • The story behind it
  • The dragon is Ladon, the guardian of the 'golden
    apples' of immortality which grew in the garden
    of Hesperides, beyond the River of Time, in the
    land of death. It is Ladon which Hercules kills
    in his 11th labor to get the golden apples.

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Circumpolar Constellations
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Circumpolar Constellations
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Circumpolar Constellations
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Circumpolar Constellations
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Circumpolar Constellations
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Circumpolar Constellations
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Orion
  • Orion is the master of the winter skies. He lords
    over the heavens from late fall to early spring,
    with his hunting dog Sirius trailing at his feet.
  • The story behind it (Orion holding a bow)
  • Orion was a handsome and famous hunter. The
    Battle-Goddess Anat fell in love with him, but
    when he refused to lend her his bow, she sent
    another man to steal it. This chap bungled the
    job, and wound up killing Orion and dropping the
    bow into the sea. This is said to explain the
    astronomical fact that Orion and the Bow (an
    older version of the constellation) drops below
    the horizon for two months every spring.
  • Another story behind it (Orion holding an
    animal)
  • Orion was known as the "dweller of the mountain",
    and was famous for his prowess both as a hunter
    and as a lover. But when he boasted that he would
    eventually rid the earth of all the wild animals,
    his doom may have been sealed. The Earth Goddess
    sent the deadly scorpion to Orion to kill him.
    Orion engaged the scorpion in battle but quickly
    realized its amour was impervious to any mortal's
    attack. Orion then jumped into the sea and died.
    In his eternal hunting, Orion is careful to keep
    well ahead of the scorpion. Orion has disappears
    over the horizon by the time Scorpio rises in the
    east, as it becomes his turn to rule the evening
    sky.

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Orion Not a circumpolar constellation, but a
seasonal constellationBetelgeuse, the right arm
of Orion (or "armpit" as the name suggests),
glows with a dull red. Rigel, in the opposite
corner of the constellation, is much brighter.
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  • Orion
  • On the left The Hunter - Orion
  • In the middle Name The Bull - Taurus
  • On the right Name The Greater Dog - Canis Major

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  • On the left The Lion - Leo
  • There is a record of the Lion in an astronomical
    poem from Greece in the 3rd or 4th century B.C.
  • In the middle The Herdsman - Böötes
  • On the right The Virgin - Virgo
  • At first, this constellation was recognized as
    the figure of a stalk of wheat, and then was
    introduced to the Greeks and become the figure of
    a virgin who holds a stalk of wheat, linking it
    with Greek mythology and legend.

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Summer
  • On the left The Crab - Cancer
  • Its name is Cancer in Latin, which is the same
    name as the disease, cancer. This disease was
    named after the shell of the crab, which is
    similar to the shape of breast cancer.
  • In the middle The Scorpion - Scorpio
  • The Scorpion has existed since the oldest of
    times. After sunset, around the 7th of July, you
    can see it in the shape of a large S above the
    southern horizon where the milky way is streaming
    down. The figure of this constellation was
    originally the figure of a scorpion with
    scissors. Later the scissors were separated to
    become the Balance.
  • On the right The Archer - Sagittarius
  • The Archer has been recognized since the
    Babylonian era. At that time it was the figure of
    a man with a bow in his hand, not the present
    figure of the half man half horse which is
    recognized in Greek mythology.

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  • On the left and in the middle Andromeda
  • The Andromeda constellation is famous for
    containing the Andromeda Nebula, the closest
    galaxy to our Milky Way. Andromeda was chained up
    for a sea monster to devour her.
  • Andromeda is also the daughter of Cassiopeia
    Cepheus
  • On the right The Fishes, Pisces
  • In ancient Babylon, this constellation was viewed
    as the figure of a mermaid tied together with a
    swallow with a fish tail. The present figure
    appeared in a 3rd or 4th century B.C. Greek poem.

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Signs Of The Zodiac
From our perspective on earth, the sun takes a
path through the sky (known as the ecliptic). It
passes through these constellations.
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Ecliptic Constellations Zodiac Signs
  • A band of 12 constellations around the sky
    entered on the ecliptic (apparent path of the sun
    on the earth as the earth revolves around it).
  • Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, Taurus, Virgo,
    Capricorn, Gemini, Libra, Aquarius, Cancer,
    Scorpio, and Pisces.

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Ecliptic Constellations
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