CONSTELLATIONS OF OUR UNIVERSE




CONSTELLATION

Description

A constellation is a group of stars that forms an imaginary outline or pattern on the celestial sphere, typically representing an animal, mythological person or creature, a god, or an inanimate object. The origins of the earliest constellations likely go back to prehistory.

WHAT ARE THE CONSTELLATIONS?

ORION CONSTELLATION

Orion is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous and recognizable constellations in the night sky.It was named after Orion, a hunter in Greek mythology. Its brightest stars are Rigel (Beta Orionis) and Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis), a blue-white and red supergiant respectively .

AQUARIUS CONSTELLATION

Aquarius lies in the region of the sky which is sometimes referred to as the Sea, because it contains a number of other constellations with names associated with water; Pisces (the fish), Eridanus (the river), and Cetus (the whale), among others. Like other zodiac constellations, Aquarius was catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.

Aquarius contains the famous supergiant star Sadalsuud (Beta Aquarii) and a number of notable deep sky objects: the globular clusters Messier 2 and Messier 72, the asterism Messier 73, the Aquarius Dwarf Galaxy, Atoms for Peace Galaxy (NGC 7252) and two well-known nebulae: the Saturn Nebula and the Helix Nebula.

GEMINI CONSTELLATION

Gemini is Latin for "twins," and it is one of the few constellations that actually looks like its namesake. Gemini is one of the Zodiac constellations and one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy.

The constellation is named after the twins Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology. The two brightest stars — also named after Castor and Pollux — represent the heads of the twins, while fainter stars outline the two bodies. Pollux and orange-giant star (35 light-years) is the brighter of the twins. Castor is a sextuplet star system (50 light-years). Another noteworthy star is Mekbuda (ζ Gem), a super-giant star with a radius that is about 220,000 times the size of the Sun.

CANCER CONSTELLATION

Cancer constellation is located in the northern sky. Its name means “the crab” in Latin.

Cancer is the faintest of the 12 zodiac constellations. Its symbol is . The constellation was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.

Cancer contains a number of famous deep sky objects, among them the open cluster Praesepe, also known as the Beehive Cluster (Messier 44), the open cluster Messier 67, and the interacting spiral galaxies NGC 2535 and NGC 2536.

Cancer contains two Messier objects, a set of astronomical objects first in 1771 by French astronomer Charles Messier in 1771. Cancer's most famous Messier object is M44, also known as the Beehive Cluster, which is a small star cluster that resembles a swarm of bees. M44 contains about 50 stars, the brightest of which are of the sixth magnitude. ε Cnc is the brightest member at magnitude 6.3. Praesepe is also one of the larger visible open clusters with an area of 1.5 square degrees, or three times the size of the full moon.

ARIES

Aries is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It is located in the northern celestial hemisphere between Pisces to the west and Taurus to the east. The name Aries is Latin for ram, and its symbol is, representing a ram's horns

Aries the Ram is a mid-size constellation, ranking 39th in size among the 88 modern-day constellations. While it is a respectable size at 441 square degrees, it is not very luminous and has only three stars that could be called "bright."

Aires doesn't represent the ram to every culture. The Chinese see the constellation as twin inspectors, and it's a porpoise in the Marshall Islands.

Aries is an ancient constellation but it was not officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union until 1922 and its boundaries were not defined until 1930 when they were outlined by astronomer Eugène Delporte

CAPRICORN CONSTELLATION

Capricornus is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for "horned goat" or "goat horn" or "having horns like a goat's", and it is commonly represented in the form of a sea-goat: a mythical creature that is half goat, half fish.

Located in the Southern Hemisphere, Capricornus represents a creature that is a blend of fish and goat; the name means "goat horn" in Latin. While it is one of the Zodiac constellations identified by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century, Capricornus is often used when referring to the constellation, while Capricorn is used in conjunction with the sign of the Zodiac.

CApricornus is among the faintest constellations, just brighter than Cancer. The 40th largest constellation, Capricornus measures 414 square degrees. It sits among the other constellations of the water genre, including the water-bearer Aquarius, the whale-like sea monster Cetus, the fishes Pisces, and the river Eridanus.

SCORPIUS CONSTELLATION

Scorpius is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for scorpion, and its symbol is. Scorpius is one of the 48 constellations identified by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century. It is an ancient constellation that pre-dated the Greeks.

Scorpius constellation has intrigued people for centuries, not only for its distinctive shape, but also because it is one of the brightest constellations in the sky.

The name is Latin for scorpion, or literally translated as the "creature with the burning sting." However, Scorpius is not a scorpion to everyone. The Javanese people of Indonesia call this constellation Banyakangrem, meaning "the brooded swan" or Kalapa Doyong, meaning "leaning coconut tree." In Hawaii, it is known as the demigod Maui's Fishhook. In Chinese mythology, the constellation was part of the Azure Dragon.

In the Northern Hemisphere, Scorpius lies close to the southern horizon; in the Southern Hemisphere, it lies high in the sky near the center of the Milky Way.

Scorpius constellation lies in the southern sky. It represents the scorpion and is associated with the story of Orion in Greek mythology.

Scorpius is one of the zodiac constellations, first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. Its symbol is . Scorpius pre-dates the Greeks, and is one of the oldest constellations known. 

LIBRA CONSTELLATION

Libra is a constellation of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for weighing scales, and its symbol is. It is fairly faint, with no first magnitude stars, and lies between Virgo to the west and Scorpius to the east. Beta Librae, also known as Zubeneschamali, is the brightest star in the constellation.

Libra is Latin for weighing scales, making it the only constellation of the Zodiac representing an inanimate object. At 538 square degrees, Libra ranks 29th overall in terms of size. It doesn't have any first magnitude stars, making it relatively faint but not impossible to view with the naked eye.

Libra is in the Southern Hemisphere, located between Scorpius to the east and Virgo to the west. In addition to Scorpius and Virgo, Libra borders Serpens Caput, Hydra, Centaurus, Lupus and Ophiuchus.

At one time Libra was considered part of Scorpius — the scales looked like claws hung upside down — but then Roman astronomers redrew the skyline and moved the claws of the scorpion to Libra.

PICES

Pisces is a constellation of the zodiac. Its name is the Latin plural for fish. It lies between Aquarius to the west and Aries to the east. The ecliptic and the celestial equator intersect within this constellation and in Virgo. Its symbol is  (Unicode ♓)

Pisces constellation lies in the northern sky. Its name means “the fish” (plural) in Latin.

Pisces is one of the largest constellations in the sky. It is one of the zodiac constellations, first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. Its symbol is .

Pisces lies between Aries constellation to the east and Aquarius to the west. The two celestial fish represent Venus and Cupid in Roman mythology, who transformed themselves into fish in order to escape the monster Typhon. The Vernal equinox, the point at which the Sun moves to the northern hemisphere across the equator every year, is currently located in Pisces.