Table of Contents

Phase 3 - Patterns in the Sky

Teacher Backgrounder

When we look up at the stars we can see noticeable patterns in the sky. These patterns, called constellations, have fascinated humanity for millennia, with each culture noticing different patterns and creating stories about their origins from the culture’s natural and social environment.

Astronomers officially recognized 88 constellations covering the night sky in both the northern and southern hemispheres in 1930. Each constellation contains an asterism or a pattern of imaginary lines joining a collection of stars. Presently, 14 men and women, 9 birds, two insects, 19 land animals, 10 water creatures, two centaurs, one head of hair, a serpent, a dragon, a flying horse, a river and 29 inanimate objects are represented in the night sky. Most of these constellations bear little resemblance to their names. Ancient cultures named constellations as symbolic rather than literal representations of favourite animals or heroes. It is believed that these constellation names were invented by early sailors for navigation purposes.

In Canada, the most recognizable constellations are the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) and Orion the Hunter. The Big Dipper is a group of seven bright stars, 3 which form a handle, and 4 which form a bowl. The Big Dipper is part of the constellation Ursa Major, or Great Bear. Another well-known constellation is Orion. Orion was an ancient Greek hunter and warrior. Orion’s belt is fairly easy to spot in the night sky because it has three bright stars in a row. In order to identify other constellations, we can use pointer stars or known stars to find the location of other stars and constellations.

Our modern constellation system comes to us from the ancient Greeks who imagined these patterns in the sky.

Sky charts such as the one below can be used to help us to identify and perceive the 88 constellations in the northern and southern hemispheres. Sky Charts show the position of numerous stars for a given time, date and location on Earth. For a given time of year, the position of stars, nebula and galaxies is fixed in space. They also help show the positions and notice the divisions between the constellations. These sky charts can be as simple or as sophisticated as required.

For further information on constellations, stars and sky charts please visit the CSA Astronomy learning package at:

http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/educators/resources/astronomy/astronomy.asp