Constellation and its description. The names of the constellations in the sky: how to find on the map, how many of them, as well as an alphabetical list and a photo

Even ancient people united the stars in our sky into constellations. In ancient times, when the true nature of the celestial bodies was unknown, the inhabitants assigned the characteristic "patterns" of the stars to the outlines of some animals or objects. In the future, the stars and constellations were overgrown with legends and myths.

Starry sky maps

Today there are 88 constellations. Many of them are quite remarkable (Orion, Cassiopeia, Ursa) and contain many interesting objects available not only to professional astronomers and amateurs, but also to ordinary people. On the pages of this section, we will tell you about the most interesting objects in the constellations, their location, we will provide a lot of photos and entertaining video recordings.

List of sky constellations in alphabetical order

Russian name	Latin name	Reduction	Square (square degrees)	Number of stars brighter 6.0m
	Andromeda	And	722	100
	Gemini	Gem	514	70
	Ursa Major	Uma	1280	125
	Canis Major	CMa	380	80
	Libra	Lib	538	50
	Aquarius	Aqr	980	90
	Auriga	Aur	657	90
	Lupus	loop	334	70
	boots	Boo	907	90
	Coma Berenices	Com	386	50
	Corvus	crv	184	15
	Hercules	Her	1225	140
	Hydra	Hya	1303	130
	Columba	Col	270	40
	Canes Venatici	CVn	465	30
	Virgo	Vir	1294	95
	Delphinus	Del	189	30
	Draco	Dra	1083	80
	Monoceros	Mon	482	85
	Ara	Ara	237	30
	Pictor	Pic	247	30
	camelopardalis	Cam	757	50
	Grus	Gru	366	30
	Lepus	Lep	290	40
	Ophiuchus	Oh	948	100
	Serpens	Ser	637	60
	Dorado	Dor	179	20
	Indian	Ind	294	20
	Cassiopeia	Cas	598	90
	carina	car	494	110
	Cetus	Set	1231	100
	Capricornus	Cap	414	50
	Pyxis	Pyx	221	25
	Puppies	Pup	673	140
	Cygnus	Cyg	804	150
	Leo	Leo	947	70
	Volans	Vol	141	20
	Lyra	Lyr	286	45
	Vulpecula	Vul	268	45
	Ursa Minor	UMi	256	20
	Equuleus	Equ	72	10
	Leo Minor	LMi	232	20
	Canis Minor	CMi	183	20
	microscopium	Mic	210	20
	Musca	Mus	138	30
	Antlia	Ant	239	20
	Norma	Nor	165	20
	Aries	Ari	441	50
	Octans	Oct	291	35
	Aquila	Aql	652	70
	Orion	Ori	594	120
	Pavo	pav	378	45
	Vela	Vel	500	110
	Pegasus	peg	1121	100
	Perseus	Per	615	90
	Fornax	For	398	35
	Apus	Aps	206	20
	Cancer	cnc	506	60
	Caelum	Cae	125	10
	Pisces	psc	889	75
	Lynx	Lyn	545	60
	Corona Borealis	CrB	179	20
	Sextans	sex	314	25
	Reticulum	Ret	114	15
	Scorpius	sco	497	100
	sculptor	scl	475	30
	Mensa	Men	153	15
	Sagitta	Sge	80	20
	Sagittarius	Sgr	867	115
	Telescopium	Tel	252	30
	Taurus	Tau	797	125
	Triangulum	Tri	132	15
	Tucana	Tuc	295	25
	Phoenix	Phe	469	40
	Chamaeleon	Cha	132	20
	Centaurus	Cen	1060	150
	Cepheus	cep	588	60
	Circinus	cir	93	20
	Horologium	Hor	249	20
	crater	crt	282	20
	Scutum	Sct	109	20
	Eridanus	Eri	1138	100
Thanks to the observations of astronomers, it turned out that the location of the stars gradually changes over time. Accurate measurements of these changes require many hundreds and thousands of years. The night sky creates the appearance of an innumerable number of celestial bodies, randomly arranged in order to each other, which often draw constellations in the sky. More than 3 thousand stars are visible in the visible part of the sky, and 6000 in the entire sky. Visible location The constellation Cygnus from the atlas of Johann Bayer "Uranometry" 1603 The location of dim stars can be determined by finding bright ones, and thus, find the required constellation. Since ancient times, in order to make it easier to find constellations, bright stars have been combined into groups. These constellations received the names of animals (Scorpio, Ursa Major, etc.), were named after the heroes of Greek myths (Perseus, Andromeda, etc.), or simple names of objects (Libra, Arrow, Northern Crown, etc.). Since the 18th century, some of the brightest stars in each constellation have been named by the letters of the Greek alphabet. In addition, about 130 brightly luminous stars were named after themselves. After some time, astronomers designated them with numbers that are currently used for stars of low brightness. Since 1922, some large constellations have been divided into small ones, and instead of groups of constellations, they began to be considered sections of the starry sky. At the moment, there are 88 separate areas in the sky, called constellations. Observation For several hours of observing the night sky, you can see how the celestial sphere, which includes the luminaries, as a whole, smoothly rotates around an invisible axis. This movement is called diurnal. The movement of the stars is from left to right. The Moon and the Sun, as well as the stars, rise in the east, rise to their maximum height in the southern part, and set on the horizon of the western side. Observing the rising and setting of these luminaries, it is found that, unlike the stars, corresponding to different days of the year, they rise in the east at different points and set in the west at different points. In December, the Sun rises in the southeast and sets in the southwest. Over time, the points of west and sunrise shift towards the horizon of the north side. Accordingly, the Sun rises higher above the horizon at noon every day, the length of the day becomes longer, and the length of the night decreases. The movement of celestial objects through the constellations According to the observations made, it can be seen that the Moon is not always in the same constellation, but moves from one to another, moving from west to east by 13 degrees per day. In the sky, the moon makes a full circle in 27.32 days, passing through 12 constellations. The Sun makes a similar path as the Moon, however, the speed of the Sun is 1 degree per day and the entire path takes a year. zodiac constellations The names of the constellations through which the Sun and the Moon pass have received the names of the zodiacs (Pisces, Capricorn, Virgo, Libra, Sagittarius, Scorpio, Leo, Aquarius, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Aries). The first three constellations of the Sun pass in the spring, the next three in the summer, and the next in the same way. Only six months later, those constellations in which the Sun is now located become visible. Popular science film "Secrets of the Universe - Constellations"

The night sky is striking in its beauty and countless celestial fireflies. What is especially fascinating is that their arrangement is structured, as if they were deliberately placed in the right order, forming star systems. From ancient times, learned astrologers tried to calculate all these myriad heavenly bodies and give them names. Today, a huge number of stars have been discovered in the sky, but this is just a small part of all the existing vast Universe. Consider what constellations and luminaries are.

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Stars and their classification

A star is a celestial body that radiates a huge amount of light and heat.

It consists mainly of helium (lat. Helium), as well as (lat. Hydrogenium).

The celestial body is in a state of equilibrium due to the pressure inside the body itself and its own.

Heat and light radiates as a result of thermonuclear reactions, occurring inside the body.

What are the types depending on life cycle and structure:

• main sequence. This is the main life cycle of the luminary. This is exactly what it is, as well as the vast majority of others.
• Brown dwarf. A relatively small, dim object with a low temperature. The first one was opened in 1995.
• White dwarf. At the end of its life cycle, the ball begins to shrink until its density balances gravity. Then it turns off and cools down.
• Red giant. A huge body that emits a large amount of light, but not very hot (up to 5000 K).
• New. New stars do not light up, just old ones flare up with renewed vigor.
• Supernova. This is the same new one with the release of a large amount of light.
• Hypernova. This is a supernova, but much larger.
• Bright Blue Variables (LBV). The biggest and also the hottest.
• Ultra X-ray sources (ULX). They give off a lot of radiation.
• Neutron. It is characterized by fast rotation, as well as a strong magnetic field.
• Unique. Double, with different sizes.

Types dependently from the spectrum:

• Blue.
• White-blue.
• White.
• Yellow white.
• Yellow.
• Orange.
• Red.

Important! Most of the stars in the sky are entire systems. What we see as one can actually be two, three, five, and even hundreds of bodies of one system.

Names of stars and constellations

At all times the stars fascinated. They became the object of study, both from the mystical side (astrology, alchemy), and from the scientific side (astronomy). People searched for them, calculated, counted, put them into constellations, and also give them names. Constellations are clusters of celestial bodies arranged in a certain sequence.

In the sky under certain conditions from different points you can see up to 6 thousand stars. They have their scientific names, but about three hundred of them also have personal names that they have received since ancient times. The stars mostly have Arabic names.

The fact is that when astronomy was actively developing everywhere, the Western world was going through "dark ages", so its development lagged far behind. Mesopotamia was the most successful here, and China was the least successful.

The Arabs not only discovered new ones, but they also renamed the heavenly bodies, who already had a Latin or Greek name. They entered history with Arabic names. The constellations, for the most part, had Latin names.

The brightness depends on the emitted light, size and distance from us. The brightest star is the Sun. It is not the largest, not the brightest, but closest to us.

The most beautiful luminaries with the highest brightness. The first among them:

1. Sirius (Alpha Canis Major);
2. Canopus (Alpha Carina);
3. Toliman (Alpha Centauri);
4. Arcturus (Alpha Bootes);
5. Vega (Alpha Lyra).

Naming periods

It is conditionally possible to distinguish several periods in which people gave names to heavenly bodies.

pre-antique period

Since ancient times, people have tried to "understand" the sky, and gave names to the night luminaries. No more than 20 names from those times have come down to us. The scientists of Babylon, Egypt, Israel, Assyria and Mesopotamia actively worked here.

Greek period

The Greeks did not particularly delve into astronomy. They gave names only to a small number of luminaries. Mostly, they took names from the names of the constellations or simply attributed existing names. All the astronomical knowledge of ancient Greece, as well as Babylon, was collected Greek scientist Ptolemy Claudius(I-II c.) in the works "Almagest" and "Tetrabiblos".

Almagest (Great Building) - the work of Ptolemy in thirteen books, where he, on the basis of the work of Hipparchus of Nicaea (c. 140 BC), tries to explain the structure of the universe. He also lists the names of some of the brightest constellations.

Table of celestial bodies described in the Almagest

The Tetrabiblos is another work by Ptolemy Claudius in four books. The list of celestial bodies is supplemented here.

Roman period

The Roman Empire was engaged in the study of astronomy, but when this science began to develop actively, Rome fell. And behind the state, his science fell into decay. However, about a hundred stars have Latin names, although this does not guarantee that they were given names their scholars from Rome.

Arabic period

Fundamental in the study of astronomy among the Arabs was the work of Ptolemy Almagest. Most of them have been translated into Arabic. Based on the religious beliefs of the Arabs, they replaced the names of parts of the luminaries. Names were often given based on the location of the body in the constellation. So, many of them have names or parts of names meaning neck, leg or tail.

Table of Arabic names

Renaissance

Since the 16th century in Europe, antiquity has been reborn, and with it science. Arabic names did not change, but Arabic-Latin hybrids often appeared.

New clusters of celestial bodies were practically not discovered, but the old ones were supplemented by new objects. A significant event of that time was the release of the atlas of the starry sky "Uranometriya".

Its compiler was the amateur astronomer Johann Bayer (1603). On the atlas, he applied an artistic image of the constellations.

Most importantly, he suggested luminary naming principle with the addition of letters of the Greek alphabet. The brightest body of the constellation will be called Alpha, the less bright Beta, and so on until Omega. For example, the brightest star in Scorpio is Alpha Scorpii, the less bright Beta Scorpii, then Gamma Scorpii, and so on.

Nowadays

With the advent of powerful ones, a huge number of luminaries began to be discovered. Now they are not given beautiful names, but simply assigned an index with a numeric and alphabetic code. But it happens that celestial bodies are given nominal names. They are called by their names scientific discoverers, and now you can even buy the opportunity to name the luminary at will.

Important! The sun is not part of any constellation.

What are the constellations

Initially, the figures were figures formed by bright luminaries. Now scientists use them as landmarks of the celestial sphere.

The most famous constellations alphabetically:

1. Andromeda. It is located in the northern hemisphere of the celestial sphere.
2. Twins. The luminaries with the greatest brightness are Pollux and Castor. Zodiac sign.
3. Big Dipper. Seven stars forming the image of a ladle.
4. Big Dog. It has the brightest star in the sky - Sirius.
5. Scales. Zodiac, consisting of 83 objects.
6. Aquarius. Zodiacal, with an asterism forming a jug.
7. Auriga. Its most outstanding object is the Chapel.
8. Wolf. Located in the southern hemisphere.
9. Bootes. The brightest luminary is Arcturus.
10. Veronica's hair. Consists of 64 visible objects.
11. Crow. It is best seen in mid-latitudes.
12. Hercules. Has 235 visible objects.
13. Hydra. The most important luminary is Alphard.
14. Pigeon. 71 bodies of the southern hemisphere.
15. Hounds Dogs. 57 visible objects.
16. Virgo. Zodiac, with the brightest body - Spica.
17. Dolphin. It can be seen everywhere except Antarctica.
18. The Dragon. Northern hemisphere, practically a pole.
19. Unicorn. Located on the Milky Way.
20. Altar. 60 visible stars.
21. Painter. It has 49 objects.
22. Giraffe. Faintly visible in the northern hemisphere.
23. Crane. The brightest is Alnair.
24. Hare. 72 celestial bodies.
25. Ophiuchus. 13th sign of the zodiac, but not included in this list.
26. Snake. 106 luminaries.
27. Golden Fish. 32 objects visible to the naked eye.
28. Indian. Faintly visible constellation.
29. Cassiopeia. The shape is similar to the letter "W".
30. Keel. 206 objects.
31. Whale. Located in the "water" zone of the sky.
32. Capricorn. Zodiacal, southern hemisphere.
33. Compass. 43 visible luminaries.
34. Stern. Located on the Milky Way.
35. Swan. Located in the northern part.
36. A lion. Zodiac, northern part.
37. Flying fish. 31 objects.
38. Lyra. The brightest light is Vega.
39. Chanterelle. Dim.
40. Ursa Minor. Located above the North Pole. She has the North Star.
41. Small Horse. 14 luminaries.
42. Small Dog. Bright constellation.
43. Microscope. Southern part.
44. Fly. At the equator.
45. Pump. Southern sky.
46. Square. Passes through the Milky Way.
47. Aries. Zodiacal, having the bodies of Mezarthim, Hamal and Sheratan.
48. Octant. At the south pole.
49. Eagle. At the equator.
50. Orion. It has a bright object - Rigel.
51. Peacock. Southern Hemisphere.
52. Sail. 195 luminaries of the southern hemisphere.
53. Pegasus. south of Andromeda. Its brightest stars are Markab and Enif.
54. Perseus. Discovered by Ptolemy. The first object is Mirfak.
55. Bake. Virtually invisible.
56. Bird of paradise. Located near the south pole.
57. Crayfish. Zodiacal, hardly visible.
58. Cutter. Southern part.
59. Fish. A large constellation divided into two parts.
60. Lynx. 92 visible luminaries.
61. Northern Crown. Crown shape.
62. Sextant. At the equator.
63. Grid. Consists of 22 objects.
64. Scorpion. The first luminary is Antares.
65. Sculptor. 55 celestial bodies.
66. Sagittarius. Zodiacal.
67. Taurus. Zodiacal. Aldebaran is the brightest object.
68. Triangle. 25 stars.
69. Toucan. This is where the Small Magellanic Cloud is located.
70. Phoenix. 63 luminaries.
71. Chameleon. Small and dim.
72. Centaurus. Its brightest star for us, Proxima Centauri, is the closest to the Sun.
73. Cepheus. Has the shape of a triangle.
74. Compass. Near Alpha Centauri.
75. Watch. It has an elongated shape.
76. Shield. Near the equator.
77. Eridanus. Big constellation.
78. Southern Hydra. 32 celestial bodies.
79. South Crown. Weakly visible.
80. Southern Fish. 43 objects.
81. South Cross. In the form of a cross.
82. Southern Triangle. Has the shape of a triangle.
83. Lizard. No bright objects.

What are the constellations of the zodiac

The signs of the zodiac are the constellations through which Earth travels throughout the year, forming a conditional ring around the system. Interestingly, 12 signs of the zodiac are accepted, although Ophiuchus, which is not considered a zodiac, is also located on this ring.

Attention! Constellations don't exist.

By and large, there are no figures at all made up of celestial bodies.

After all, we, looking at the sky, perceive it as plane in two dimensions, but the luminaries are located not on a plane, but in space, at a great distance from each other.

They do not form any pattern.

Let's say the light from Proxima Centauri closest to the Sun reaches us in almost 4.3 years.

And from another object of the same star system, Omega Centauri reaches the earth in 16 thousand years. All divisions are rather conditional.

Constellations and stars - sky map, interesting facts

Names of stars and constellations

Conclusion

It is impossible to calculate the reliable number of heavenly bodies in the Universe. You can't even get close to the exact number. Stars coalesce into galaxies. Only our Milky Way galaxy has about 100,000,000,000. From the Earth with the help of the most powerful telescopes about 55,000,000,000 galaxies can be detected. With the advent of the Hubble telescope, which is in Earth orbit, scientists have discovered about 125,000,000,000 galaxies, and each has billions, hundreds of billions of objects. It is only clear that there are at least a trillion trillion luminaries in the Universe, but this is only a small part of what is real.

The night skies are always eye-catching, but most of all you want to keep your eyes on them when the sky is strewn with stars.

A large number of them are grouped into certain constellations that have their own names. Each of them got its name thanks to a fascinating legend.

To independently distinguish between star clusters, you can use a special astrological chart that will help you recognize the signs of the Zodiacs.

The list of constellations in alphabetical order will tell you how many popular groups of celestial bodies there are in the Universe.

Any large-scale event or adventure, as well as the origin of their names, is associated with myths and legends.

The names of celestial bodies are also inextricably linked with myths, according to which one can learn their history. The shapes of all the constellations gave rise to the name.

The way a person observes the stars does not mean at all that this is how they are located in the sky: each star is at a great distance from each other.

A few myths about the origin will help to understand their names:

1. Cassiopeia. The story tells how the proud wife of Cepheus, the ruler of Ethiopia, boasted to the sea nymphs of her beauty and the beauty of her daughter.

   In response, they asked Poseidon to punish her. Ethiopia was attacked - Poseidon sent a huge monster; Cepheus and Cassiopeia, not knowing how to save Ethiopia, sent their daughter to her death.

   Andromeda was saved by Perseus, and they eventually got married. This is how Cassiopeia, Perseus, Andromeda, Cepheus, Pegasus and Kit were formed.

2. Veronica's hair. The interesting name of the constellation in the sky was obtained due to an equally interesting myth.

   Tales say that the Egyptian queen Veronica, sending her husband to war, swore to the gods that she would give up her beautiful hair.

   And so she had to do when her husband returned home unharmed.

3. Ursa Minor and Ursa Major. The story tells how the princess Callisto was fascinated by the beauty of Zeus.

   His wife Hera found out about this and turned her into a clumsy Bear. The grown-up son of lovers Arkad, once met this bear in the forest, wanted to kill her.

   However, Zeus stopped him. Then Arkad raised his mother to heaven, making her a constellation. For Ursa Minor, Arkad presented his beloved dog to his mother.

Such interesting legends surprise with their fabulousness: having found the constellations in the sky from a photo, you can find confirmation of some myths.

List of constellations alphabetically and photo

Almost all the names were given in honor of the mythological heroes of Ancient Greece, animals, significant objects of our time.

Astronomers often named clusters of celestial bodies according to the shape they represent.

Note! The sky map is strewn with hundreds of stars, with the help of its photo you can easily find the required constellation if you go outside on a clear night.

Thanks to the names, modern scientists can better understand the way of life and the type of thinking of people who lived before us.

Consider a selection of names in alphabetical order with photographs:

How to find the constellation of your zodiac sign on the sky map

Many children and adults are concerned about the question of how to find their own constellation in the sky? To do this, you can use a special map of the starry sky.

The space is conditionally divided into the southern and northern hemispheres, each of which contains certain clusters of stars:

• Aries of stars looks like a tick, symbolizing the creature's horns.
• Taurus is made up of 14 clearly visible stars: it looks like two separate constellations.
• Gemini really look like figures of two little men in the sky.
• The constellation Cancer resembles a triangle, from which a strip departs.
• Leo is considered the brightest constellation, the figurine really resembles the silhouette of an animal.
• Virgo is considered the largest sign, it resembles a disproportionate rectangle with 4 stripes.
• Scales look like a triangle with rays extending from it.
• Scorpio contains 17 stars, in the sky the constellation resembles a fork.
• 14 bright stars are shown in the sky of Sagittarius - it looks like a complex composition of celestial bodies.
• Winter Capricorn can be recognized by its characteristic heart-shaped cluster.
• Aquarius is a set of rays.
• At the point of the Pisces Zodiac on Earth, the day of the vernal equinox comes - it looks like an incomplete triangle.

To discover the most popular constellations on your own, go outside on a clear night and try to find the Big Dipper - you can try to identify other clusters of stars from it.

Important! In different regions of residence, you can detect the glow of stars in varying degrees of power.

The symbols of the Zodiacs used today in horoscopes do not correspond to their real shape in the sky.

Tales of the constellation Orion

The surrounding world is filled with a large number of mysteries, legends and tales. Many of them tell about the origin of clusters of stars.

One of the most interesting series of fairy tales are stories about the constellation Orion.

This group of stars represents one of the most beautiful constellations in the southern hemisphere of the sky.

There are several tales about this cluster of celestial bodies:

1. Orion was the son of Poseidon in mythology: according to legend, he was able to defeat all the animals, for which Hera sent a Scorpio to him.

   Orion died from the bite of a creature in an unequal struggle for the heart of Princess Merope.

   According to legend, a person will never be able to see two constellations in the sky at the same time - Orion and Scorpio.

2. South American Indians also have a favorite tale about Orion. It speaks of three brothers, two of whom were single.

   One of the unmarried brothers was more beautiful than the other, it seemed to him that the relative was jealous.

   Because of this, the handsome man killed his brother. His soul went to heaven and became the constellation of Orion.

Such fairy tales can be told to kids to acquaint them with the culture of different peoples. How many constellations, so many legends exist in the world.

To enjoy the beauty of the night sky, it is not necessary to know all the mythology for sure.

Useful video

THE BIG BEAR
I recognize by the BUCKET!
Seven stars sparkle here
And here's what they're called:

DUBHE illuminates the darkness,
MERAK burns next to him,
On the side is FEKDA with MEGRETS,
A cheeky young man.
Fly away from Megrets
ALIOT is located,

And behind him - MITSAR with ALCOR
(These two shine in chorus).
Closes our bucket
Incomparable BENETNASH.
He points to the eye
The path to the constellation BOOTES,
Where the beautiful ARCTUR shines,
Everyone will notice it now!


Our sweet planet
(Of course you know this!)
Every day and every year
Makes a turn.

And from the Earth when observing
The impression is created
That she is not spinning,
And all the stars and the moon.
Only the POLAR STAR
Doesn't go anywhere!

And at any time of the year
In the very center of the round dance
Can you find her
If you suddenly lost your way.
Earth's axis on it
Directs the point.
You can be sure:
Where is she - there is the NORTH!

That star is not just a point,
And the leg of MISHUTKA-daughter!
Black nose of MOM BEAR
It will point straight to her!


The DRAGON crawled its way.
Suddenly I saw someone's legs! -
That, talking to each other,
BEARS walked in a circle.

To not return back
He began to wriggle between them.
Suddenly braked with a run -
He saw VEGA!

Brightest of all in the evening world
Blue VEGA in LIRA!!!
Amazed by the beauty
So our DRAGON froze!


The Dragon has a neighbor.
He is a grump and a homebody.
The house, though lopsided,
But it's pretty durable.
It is without windows and doors,
And the king Cepheus lives in it.

"W" [double u] close to CEPHEI
Means "woman" in English.
That is the wife of the king Cepheus
Proud CASSIOPEIA.


long-necked southerner
It freezes beyond the polar circle.
Hey GIRAFFE, watch out!
LYNX hid behind!
From the height of such growth
It's hard to see her!

Constellations of the summer sky
Constellation map of the summer sky

A little to the right in the sky -
Stars of the NORTHERN CROWN,
Seven pearls in a diadem
Gemma shines brightest


Between VEGA and DENEB
Draw a dotted line to the South -
There an eagle flies across the sky,
And ALTAIR sparkles!
ALTAIR, DENEB and VEGA -
Kings in the summer sky!
Let everyone remember
schoolboy:
This is a SUMMER TRIANGLE!

Eagle, Dolphin, Arrow, Fox

Here is the EAGLE, and next to it
Cute little DOLPHIN.
ARROW flies over the EAGLE
(Someone was aiming at the Eagle)
It's good you didn't get it!
Only fox scared.


The SNAKE has two constellations -
This is the TAIL and the HEAD,
Entangled in tight rings,
Ophiuchus between them.
Who grabbed which of them -
There is no power to understand!
He kicked during a fight
Hooked on the ZODIAC!
And it won't break out
Unlucky extra sign!

And to the south in the height of summer
Blazing red light
Evil ANTARES - SCORPIO,
And he wants to sting
Ophiuchus right in the leg,
But help is near!
Exactly in the heart of SCORPIO
Aiming Chiron's archer's bow!


Poor, poor CAPRICORN!
Fish tail instead of legs
Shreds of foam in the beard,
And on the horns - on the star.
And it happened at night clear
Surrounded by beautiful nymphs
How he played the flute! -
Everyone danced and sang...

Many, many hundreds of years
He swims after the SAGITTARIUS
And sighs incessantly...
Do not recognize the forest Pan!

bright stars in the summer sky

Constellations of the autumn sky
Constellation map of the autumn sky

He looked around - and lope!
Run away from PERSEUS!
But the bride of Perseus
I was in the right place -
Grab Pegasus by the bridle
Stretching out a star to him!
So I got into the BIG SQUARE
Andromedin Alferat.


At CEPHEI-homebody
There is a daughter ANDROMEDA,
They chained that girl
To be devoured by KITU
Here he is KIT - comes from the south!
Scared away all the FISH in the area!...

WORLD
Is in the constellation Whale
MIRA is a marvelous star!
But to see that star
You can only do it once a year!


Here is the constellation ARIES!
The moon sometimes visits it,
Because this sign
Leading ZODIAC.
And although the lamb is small,
His star is GAMAL
For a long time
on sea trips
Helping sailors!


The gods settled in the sky
A flock of FISH and CAPRICORN,
AND DOLPHIN, and WHALE,
But they all need water!
AQUARIUS was called here,
It pours and pours without regret!
All around filled with water,
Because on the side of that
There are very few conspicuous stars -
They barely shine.
AQUARIUS in the sky - wait
Autumn, puddles and rain.

Constellations of the winter sky

Not afraid of winter and cold,
girded tighter,
Equipped for hunting
ORION speaking.
Two stars from the big leagues
In ORION - this is RIGEL
In the lower right corner
Like a bow on a shoe.
And on the left epaulette -
Betelgeuse shines brightly.
Three stars obliquely
Decorate the belt.
This belt is like a clue.
He is a heavenly guide.
If you go to the left
Miracle SIRIUS you will find.
And from the right end
Path to the constellation Taurus
He points straight
In the red eye of ALDEBARAN.

HARE jumped out with acceleration
Right at the feet of ORION!
ORION is not dangerous -
He targets Taurus!


Orion's belt
Three stars obliquely

If you go to the left
Miracle - SIRIUS you will find!

He is beautiful, no doubt!
To make this diamond priceless
The evil thief did not take away
The watchman here is a HUGE DOG!

DOG SMALLER - a little higher
Went to the guard of heaven
And, forgetting peace and sleep,
Guards PROCYON.


Orion's belt -
Three stars diagonally
And from the right end -
Path to the constellation Taurus -
He points straight
Into the red eye
ALDEBARAN.

The bull is well-fed and horned.
The right horn crowns NAT,
And in his nose they burn
Two hundred small GIAD.

Over the scruff of this carcass
Curl seven
crystal flies.
We are glad to introduce you
With the PLEIADE Cluster


Gemini - two true friends
They walk side by side in a circle.
How similar are their figures!
These are the Dioscuri Brothers.
CASTOR - times and
POLLUX - two!
Their rumor glorifies their friendship!


Up high can you hear the sound?
That hoof of a ringing knock!
The goat walks boldly
And her name is CAPELLA.
GOATS rush after her,
Stepping on her heels.
Take a closer look
And count: one, two, three!
And their owner is the AURIER
Smart and energetic
Because all year round
He drinks fresh milk.


Two brave twins
A messenger was sent to the LION:
“We bow to the King of Beasts!
We look forward to seeing you in January!"
The messenger hastened to march,
True, back to front.
To deliver the letter on time
Crawling all the time to the east,
But I couldn't make it in time
After all, this messenger is CANCER!

Bright stars in the winter sky

Constellations of the spring sky

king of beasts golden mane
Stately and lazy
On the ecliptic lies
And he does not look at the Lion cub
REGULUS - a symbol of royal power
Under the protection of a formidable mouth,
And on the tassel of the tail -
Oh! What a beauty! -
Virgo jokingly pinned
Bright bow - DENEBOLU!


The RAVEN walks near the cup -
Thirst torments the poor thing!
HYDRA guards the cup
And he doesn't get drunk.


Here he is a formidable LION, and on the left,
Waking up from a dream
VIRGO rises above the earth, -
So, spring has come to us!
SPIK shines like a brooch,
At the end of her braid.
Virgo presses her leg,
In order not to hurt SCALES.

Up north of SPIKI
Curls faithful VERONIKA.


Bearded BOOTHER
Sometime in March
at a late hour
Took my favorite HOUNDS
And he went to herd the oxen.
Among the stars is not an easy way,
He decided to take a break
And the animals by their tails
Under cover of darkness
Tied to the star ARCTUR
And made a break.
But overcame the poor man's dream ...
Only in the morning did he notice
What rope is attached
To the tail of the BEAR!!!
Here and understood BOOTES,
That all night the bears grazed!


These star scales
Can weigh the clock!
Instead of weights, here are minutes:
Day and night, and in total - a day.
In summer there are more light weights -
The day, of course, lasts longer,
And in winter - on the contrary!
And only twice a year
There will be balance
That is, EQUINOX.

> Constellations

Explore everything constellations in the sky of the Universe: diagrams and maps of constellations, names, list, description, characteristics with photos, asterisms, history of creation, how to observe.

constellations are imaginary drawings in the sky, created based on the position here, which appeared on the basis of the imagination of poets, farmers and astronomers. They used forms familiar to us and invented them for the last 6000 years. The main purpose of the constellations is to quickly show the location of the star and tell its features. On a perfectly dark night, you can see 1000-1500 stars. But how do you know what you're looking at? For this, the brightest constellations are needed, dividing the heavens into identifiable sectors. For example, if you find three bright stars, you will realize that you are considering part of Orion. And then it’s a matter of memory, because Betelgeuse is hiding in the left shoulder, and Rigel is in the leg. Nearby notice the Hounds Dogs and its stars. Use charts and constellation maps that list names, brightest stars, and locations in the sky. For each constellation, photos, pictures and interesting facts are presented. Do not forget to consider the zodiac constellations of the starry sky.

All constellations around the world are distributed by months. That is, their maximum level of visibility in the sky depends entirely on the season. Therefore, when classifying, groups are distinguished according to 4 seasons (winter, spring, summer and autumn). The main thing to remember is one moment. If you track the constellations strictly according to the calendar, then you need to start at 21:00. When observing ahead of time, you need to push back half the month, and if you started after 21:00, then add half.

For navigational convenience, we have distributed all constellation names in alphabetical order. This is extremely useful if you are occupied by a particular cluster. Do not forget that only the brightest stars are displayed on the diagrams. To delve into more detail, you need to open a star chart or planisphere - a movable option. You can learn more interesting information about the constellations thanks to our articles:

Clear boundaries between the constellations were drawn only at the beginning of the 20th century. There are 88 of them in total, but 48 are based on Greek ones recorded by Ptolemy in the 2nd century. The final distribution occurred in 1922 with the help of American astronomer Henry Norris Russell. The borders were created in 1930 by the Belgian astronomer Ejen Delport (vertical and horizontal lines).

Most retained the names of their predecessors: 50 are Rome, Greece and the Middle East, and 38 are modern. But humanity has existed for more than one millennium, so the constellations appeared and disappeared depending on the culture. For example, the Wall Quadrant was created in 1795, but later divided into the Dragon and Bootes.

The Greek constellation Ship Argo was divided by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille into Carina, Sails and Stern. It was officially entered into the catalog in 1763.

When it comes to stars and objects, scientists mean that they lie within the boundaries of these constellations. The constellations themselves are not real, because in reality all the stars and nebulae are separated from each other by great distances and even planes (although we see straight lines from the Earth).

Moreover, remoteness also means a time lag, because we observe them in the past, which means that now they can be completely different. For example, Antares in Scorpio is 550 light-years away from us, which is why we see it as it was before. The same goes for the 3D Sagittarius Nebula (5200 light years). There are also more distant objects - NGC 4038 in the constellation Raven (45 million light years).

Constellation Definition

This is a group of stars that creates a certain shape. Or one of 88 officially cataloged configurations. Some dictionaries insist that it is any one of a certain grouping of stars that represents a being in the sky and has a name.

constellation history

Ancient people, looking at the sky, noted the figures of various animals and even heroes. They began to invent stories for them to make it easier to remember the location.

For example, Orion and Taurus have been revered by various cultures for many centuries and have a number of legends. As soon as astronomers began to create the first maps, they took advantage of existing myths.

The word "constellation" originates from the Latin constellatiō - "many with stars." According to the Roman soldier and historian Ammianus Marcellinus, it began to be used in the 4th century. It came into English in the 14th century and at first referred to planetary unions. Only in the middle of the 16th century did it begin to take on its modern meaning.

The catalog is based on 48 Greek constellations proposed by Ptolemy. But he only listed what the Greek astronomer Eudoxus Cnidus discovered (he introduced astronomy to Babylon in the 4th century BC). 30 of them belong to antiquity, and some even affect the Bronze Age.

The Greeks adopted Babylonian astronomy, so the constellations began to overlap and overlap. Many of them could not be found by the Greeks, Babylonians, Arabs or Chinese because they were not visible. The southern ones were recorded at the end of the 16th century by the Dutch navigators Federico de Houtman and Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser. Later they were included in the star atlas of Johann Bayer "Uranometry" (1603).

Bayer added 11 constellations including Toucan, Fly, Dorado, Injun and Phoenix. In addition, he gave about 1564 stars Greek letters, giving them a value for brightness (beginning with Alpha). They have survived to this day and take their place among the 10,000 stars that can be seen without the use of instruments. Some have full names because they had extremely strong brightness (Aldebaran, Betelgeuse and others).

Several constellations were added by French astronomer Nicholas Louis de Lacaille. His catalog was published in 1756. He scanned the southern sky and found 13 new constellations. Notable among them are Octant, Painter, Furnace, Table Mountain and Pump.

Of the 88 constellations, 36 are located in the northern sky and 52 in the southern.

The history of the starry sky

Astrophysicist Anton Biryukov on Ptolemy's catalog, Christian constellations and the final list:

Constellations can be an indispensable tool in studying the stars scattered throughout the sky. Just combine them and admire the incredible space wonders.

If you are a beginner and just knocking on the doors of amateur astronomy, then you will not budge if you do not overcome the first obstacle - the ability to understand the constellations. You won't be able to find the Andromeda Galaxy if you can't figure out where to start and where to look. Of course, the first attempts to understand all this celestial array can be frightening, but it is quite real.

Do you remember your first day at school? Many unfamiliar faces, unknown objects and environment. But surely even then, you managed to start a conversation with someone. And so gradually, day by day, you adapted until you became your own. So the constellations are friends who open the way to a new world, so you need to make friends with them, and not be afraid.