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Patterns in the Sky
THE CONSTELLATIONS
The Big Dipper
Is identified by the 4 main
stars that make up the pan
or dipper and the 3 stars in
the tail. You use the 2 stars
on the end of the pan as the
pointing stars to find Polaris
the North Star in the tail of
the Little Dipper. The 2
stars that are the pointers
are Dubhe—the top star and
Merak—the bottom star in
the pan.
The handle has a star in the
middle which is actually an
optical double star. Their
names are Alcor and Mizar.
You must use a telescope to
see them.
Cygnus “the Swan or the
Northern Cross”
Denab is the star at
the back or north end
of Cygnus. This star is
about 2,300 light
years away but is one
of the fifteen
brightest stars in our
night sky.
Denab
Orion—”the Hunter”
This constellation is one that is
only visible during the fall and
winter months. It has 2 of the
sky’s 15 brightest stars. The
deep red star Betelgeuse. This
star shrinks and swells over a
cycle of six months. The second
star is Rigel which is 900 light
years away from Earth.
Orion’s belt is formed by 3 stars
and hanging from the belt is a
sword. About halfway down you
find a greenish blur and this is
the Orion Nebula (M42). It is a
gigantic swirling cloud of gases.
There are many stars being
formed in this cloud.
Bellatrix
Orion’s Nebula
Lyra—”the Lyre”
To find Lyra, you
must look for a bluewhite giant star
named Vega. It is
usually almost
directly overhead
and the brightest
star in the summer
sky. Vega is also one
of the stars of the
“summer triangle”.
Aquila—”the Eagle”
The star Altair is at the
head of Aquila. It is 16
light-years away and is 10
times brighter than our
Sun. If you follow the tail
of Aquila, you will find
M11 which is an open
cluster that is fantastic
to view through a
telescope. Altair is
another one of the stars
that makes up the
Summer Triangle.
Altair
Cephus
Cephus, in Greek
mythology is the
husband of
Cassiopeia, who
was a boastful
queen. This
constellation looks
more like a house
that has a pointed
roof than it does a
king.
Draco—”the Dragon”
Thuban
This starry constellation
can be found between the
Big Dipper and the Little
Dipper. The star Thuban
is in the tail of this
constellation and was once
the pole star 5,000 years
ago. It will become the
pole star again in 20,000
years from now.
Leo—”the Lion”
In Greek mythology,
Leo was believed to
have fought Hercules.
Leo is a constellation
that is part of the
zodiac which is made
up of 12 different
constellations which
can be found in the
night skies throughout
the year.
Regulus
Denebola
Hercules
The square of Hercules is
easy to find in the summer
sky. It can be seen close to
the Corona Borealis also
known as the Northern
Crown. On the right side of
the square you will find M13
which can be seen with
binoculars. You will see what
appears to be hundreds of
stars bursting from a “fuzzy”
center. It is a globular
cluster and is 25,000 lightyears away from the Earth.
Cassiopeia—”the Queen”
Cassiopeia was the mother of
Andromeda who always
bragged about how beautiful
she and her daughter were.
For most of the year, she
looks very regal sitting
correctly on her throne, but
the rest of the year she
appears upside down as
punishment for being so
boastful. In the fall, she
appears as a flattened “W” in
the sky.
The Little Dipper
The Little Dipper is
also called Ursa
Minor. The star at
the end of the tail
is Polaris or the
North Star. The
North Star is
about 50 times
larger than our own
Sun!
:
Bootes—”the Herdsman”
To find this constellation,
you find the star in the end
of the handle of the Big
Dipper—Alkaid. It arcs
toward the star Arcturus,
which is the brightest star
in the constellation and the
fourth brightest in the night
sky. Arcturus is the closest
giant star to Earth and is an
orange color. It is only 36
light-years away from our
planet. Bootes was put in the
heavens to guard Earth
against the Great Bear or
the Big Dipper which is close
by.
GLOSSARY
light-year: a unit of astronomical
distance equivalent to the distance
that light travels in one year, which is
9.4607 × 1012 km, nearly 6 trillion miles.
Summer Triangle: this is not an actual
constellation. It is a pattern to help
you find 3 constellations during the
summer months—Lyra, Cygnus, and
Aquila.
Pictures used in this power point were found
in images using Google as the search engine.
Bibliography
The Stargazers Guide to the Galaxy by
Q. L. Pearce and illustrated by Mary Ann
Fraser.