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Constellations
By: Anna Bracale
Constellations
A constellation is what astronomers call an
asterism. An asterism is a group of celestial
bodies (usually stars) that appear to form a
visible pattern in the sky. Constellations were
created by ancient people to be able to
recognize stars in the sky. The shapes of
constellations resemble objects familiar to
people.
Aries
Aries also called "The Ram", is an ancient
constellation which was very important since
the sun passed through it at the vernal
equinox. The vernal equinox is the point at
which the Sun appears to cross the celestial
equator from south to north. Aries' stars are
rather faint except for alpha and beta, which
are only second magnitude stars.
Pegasus
Pegasus, the winged horse, flew out of the head
of Medusa when Perseus killed her. Pegasus
went alone to Olympus, where he was used by
Zeus to carry around his thunderbolts.
Pegasus is a easy to notice constellation
which includes the so-called "Great Square of
Pegasus". The stars are generally second and
third magnitude.
Leo
The first on the list of Heracles' jobs was the task of killing
the Nemean Lion, a giant beast that roamed the hills
and the streets of the Peloponnesian villages,
devouring whomever it met. The animal's skin was
immune to iron, bronze, and stone and Heracles'
arrows bounced off the lion. So Heracles wrestled with
the beast and choked it to death. As the story goes, the
lion found its way to the heavens to stand for the great
battle fought with Heracles. Leo is a very small
constellation and, unlike so many other constellations,
it is very easy to recognize.
Lynx
The name Lynx never stood for the animal.
Hevelius, the inventor of the constellation,
said that anyone who wanted to study the
stars here should have eyes like a lynx. As with
many other small constellations invented by
Hevelius, Lynx is nothing more than a bumpy
line.
Cygnus
Cygnus, The Swan, is one of the more obvious
asterisms in the summer skies. Swans occur
throughout the Greek myths. Often one of the
higher gods had occasion to transform himself
into a swan, usually to impress some
attractive queen. Cygnus is a very bright
constellation , with the stars being generally
third and fourth magnitude.
Chamaeleon
Chamaeleon is one of a dozen
constellations created by Johann Bayer in
1603 for his star atlas Uranometria. Like
most of these, Chamaeleon is very far to
the south. The asterism is supposed to
represent a chameleon.
Cetus
Although Cetus is supposed to be a whale, the
constellation was considered to be the
monster about to devour Andromeda before
Perseus could come to the rescue. Cetus' stars
are very faint, but there are a few well known
stars here. Such as UV Ceti, which is actually a
pair of red dwarfs 9 light years away, and Mira.
Bibliography
Aries. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2009.
<http://www.dibonsmith.com/ari_con.htm>.
Cetus. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2009.
<http://www.dibonsmith.com/cet_con.htm>.
Chamaelon. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2009.
<http://www.dibonsmith.com/cha_con.htm>.
Cygnus. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2009.
<http://www.dibonsmith.com/cyg_con.htm>.
Leo. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2009.
<http://www.dibonsmith.com/leo_con.htm>.
Lynx. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2009.
<http://www.dibonsmith.com/lyn_con.htm>.
Pegasus. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2009.
<http://www.dibonsmith.com/peg_con.htm>.