Download Major constellations

Orion
Orion is one of the major
constellations, with right5
ascesion 5 hours and declination
5 degrees and is best seen in
January. Orion has 14 named
stars and 3 nebulas. Orion has
been represented as a hunter
with his 2 faithful dogs canis
major and minor. He is
supposed to have died by
stepping on a scorpion and the
gods felt sorry for him and put
him in the heavens with the
animal he hunted but put
scorpious at the other end of the
skies.
Ursa major
Ursa major is the third largest
constellation in the night sky. It is
widely known for containing the
plough sometimes known as the
big dipper. It has declination 50
degrees and right ascension 11
hours. It contains 16 stars, 5
galaxies,1 binary star and a
planetary Nebula. According to
some Native American legends,
the bowl of the Big Dipper is a
giant bear and the stars of the
handle are three warriors
chasing it. The constellation is
low in the sky in autumn evening
sky, so it was said that the
hunters had injured the bear and
its blood caused the trees to
change colour to red.
Cassiopeia
•
Cassiopeia is another of the major
constellations. It lies at right
ascension 1 hour and declination
60 degrees. It has 7 named stars
and two open clusters. Take a look
at the story of how Perseus slew
Medusa, the mother of Pegasus,
and rescued Andromeda, the
daughter of Cepheus and
Cassiopeia, from the sea monster
Cetus. The Romans described her
chained to her throne in the
heavens as punishment for her
boastfulness. As the sky appears
to rotate, she can sometimes be
seen suffering as she hangs
upside down.
Taurus
• Taurus is another constellation
with right ascension 4 hours
and declination 15 degrees. It
contains 15 stars and 2
constellations. Taurus is one of
the many animals hunted by
Orion, the Hunter.
• The Greeks saw Taurus as
Zeus in disguise. The story
went that Zeus fell in love with
Europa, the daughter of
Agenor who was King of
Phoenica. one day, she caught
sight of a majestic white bull
grazing amongst her fathers
heard. When she approached
the bull, it knelt down and let
get on it's back. Once she was
on, it sprang to it's feet and
took off to the sea in Crete
where Zeus made her his
mistress.
Leo
Leo is the constellation known
as the lion. It lies at right
ascension 11 hours and
declination 15 hours. It contains
11 stars and 5 galaxies. Leo is
the Nemean Lion which was
killed by Hercules on one of his
great quests. Legend says that
the lion had a hide that could
not punctured by iron, bronze or
stone. Since he couldn't reason
with the ferocious beast,
Hercules strangled it to death
and the local people were very
grateful.
Cygnus
A conspicious constellation of the northern
hemisphere. It belongs to the Hercules
constellation family. The stars forming the
swans body resemble a cross, so
sometimes this constellation is refered as
Northern Cross. The brightest star, alpha
Cyg, called Deneb (arab.: the tail), is
among the 20 brightest stars in the sky.
The northern border of this constellation
reaches as high as DECL=+60 degrees; to
the south it extends down to about
DECL=+28 degrees. From east to west it
lies between RA=22h to RA=19h 10m
(average).
Scorpius
Scorpius is another
constellation known as
the scorpion. It lies at
right ascension 17 hours
and declination -40
degrees. It contains 10
stars and 4 clusters.
Scorpius is the beast which
finally killed the Great
Hunter, Orion.
Gemini
s
Gemini is another
constellation known as the
twins. It lies at right
ascension 7 hours and
declination 20 degrees. It
contains 11 stars and 1
cluster. Castor and Pollux,
the "twins" of Gemini, were
Greek heroes. They were
among the men Jason led on
his voyages on the Argo.
THE END … AT LAST
By Ross Dunstone,
Neil Bolton and
Nathan Mark