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Constellations Grade 5 Science What is a constellation? A constellation is a group of visible starts that form a pattern when viewed from the Earth. The pattern they form may take the shape of an animal, a mythological creature, a man, a woman, or an inanimate object such as a microscope, a compass, or a crown. How many constellations are there? The sky was divided up into 88 different constellations in 1922. This included 48 ancient constellations listed by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy as well as 40 new constellations. Star Maps The 88 different constellations divide up the entire night sky as seen from all around the Earth. Star maps are made of the brightest stars and the patterns that they make which give rise to the names of the constellations. The maps of the stars represents the position of the stars as we see them from Earth. The stars in each constellation may not be close to each other at all. Some of them are bright because they are close to the Earth while others are bright because they are very large stars Hemisphere and Seasons Not all of the constellations are visible from any one point on Earth. Star maps typically divide into maps for the northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere. The season of the year can also affect what constellations are visible from where you are located on Earth. Uses for the Constellations Constellations are useful because they can help people to recognize stars in the sky. By looking for patterns, the stars and locations can be much easier to spot. The constellations had uses in ancient times. They were used to help keep track of the calendar, this was important for planting and harvesting crops. Another important use for constellations was for navigation. By finding Ursa Minor it is fairly easy to spot the North Star (Polaris). Using the height of the North Star in the sky, navigators could figure out their latitude helping ships to travel across the oceans. Stars Colors: A star’s color is critical in identifying the star, because it tells us the star’s surface temperature in the black body radiation scale. The sun has a surface temperature of 5,500 K, typical for a yellow star. Red stars are cooler than the sun, with a surface temperature of 3,500 K for a bright red star and 2,500 K for a dark red star. The hottest stars are blue, with their surface temperatures falling anywhere between 10,000 K and 50,000 K. Stars begin as a mass of dust and gas dense enough to start collapsing inwards under the pressure of its own gravity. A star does no stay the same color throughout its lifecycle. Star are classed in order of decreasing hydrogen absorption strength: Class O B A F G K M Color Blue Blue white White to blue white White Yellowish white Yellow orange Orange red Blue stars are brighter than white or red stars because they are larger, therefore burn much faster and hotter then less massive stars. Approximately 88% of stars in the universe seem to be the cooler type K and M. Interesting Fact about Constellations the largest constellation by area is Hydra which is 3.16% of the sky the smallest is Crux which only takes up 0.17% of the sky small patterns of stars within a constellation are called asterisms. These include the Big Dipper and Little Dipper the word “constellation” comes from a Latin term meaning “set with stars” twenty two different constellation names start with the letter “C” image © NASA