Constellation

Constellation

Group

of stars that of
form a certain pattern.

Astronomers

listed a
total 88 constellations.

Constellation

English Name

Constellation

English Name

Andromeda

Andromeda

Draco

Dragon

Aquarius

Water Bearer

Gemini

Twins

Ara

Altar

Hydra

Water Snake

Aries

Ram

Leo

Lion

Cancer

Crab

Orion

Orion

Canis Major

Great Dog

Pisces

Fishes

Capricornus

Sea Goat

Sagittarius

Archer

Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia

Ursa Major

Great Bear

Crux

Southern Cross

Ursa Minor

Little Bear

Locating Stars and Constellations

Ursa Major, Ursa Minor and Cassiopeia

are constellations visible in the North
Sky.

Ursa Major can easily located because

it contains the seven stars called
plough.

The edge of the bowl is pointing to

the Polaris, the North Star.

Polaris is located at the end of the

Little Dipper in the constellation Ursa
Minor.

Stars

Constellation

Brightness

Months observed

Deneb

Cygnus

65, 500

July, August,
September

Rigel

Orion

59, 700

Januray, February,
March

Pollux

Gemini

34, 000

February, March, April

Betelguese

Orion

19, 700

January, February,
March

Spica

Virgo

15, 000

April, May, June

Antares

Scorpius

6, 550

May, June, July

Aldebaran

Taurus

180

December, January,
February

Capella

Auriga

150

December, January,
February

Arcturus

Bootes

105

April, May, June

Regulus

Leo

92

March, April, May

Uses of Constellation

Constellations Tell General Direction

Constellations
navigators.

are

useful

Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Cassiopeia

and Polaris tell the north direction.

The Orion constellation

Earth`s east and west.

The
Southern
Cross
or
Crux
constellation is located at the
southern hemisphere and tells the
south sky.

tells

to

the

Constellations Measure and Tell

Season

Babylonians divide the stars

along the sun`s path into 12
constellations. These are 12
zodiac sign.

Sagittarius, Capricorn and

Aquarius are visible during
winter.

Pisces, Taurus, and Aries are

visible during spring season.

Gemini, Cancer, and Leo are

visible during summer.

Virgo, Libra, and Scorpio are

Constellations are used to locate

Stars and Galaxies

Constellations
are
used
by
astronomers to locate stars, nebulae
and galaxies.

The Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral

galaxy that can be seen in the
northern
hemisphere
in
the
Andromeda constellation

Astronomical
Instruments and Their
Uses

The Optical Telescope

It collects visible light from the outer

space.

These telescopes
varieties:

1.

come

in

two

Refracting telescope- collects

and focuses light into a glass lens
and then focus the light directly
into the eyepiece.

2. Reflecting telescope- reflects light

on a glass mirror and send it to the
eyepiece.

Reflecting telescope

Refracting telescope

The Hale Telescope

It has 5-meter mirror that can gather

tremendous amounts of light. When
coupled by electric camera, which is
supersensitive to light, it can see
galaxies billions of light years away.

The Radio Telescope

A large curved material dish or an

antenna that resembles a parabolic
satellite TV dish.

It collects radio waves and reflects

them to a focus point above the
center of the dish.

The sensitive receiver of the

telescope converts them into an
electrical signal, which is interpreted
by a computer.

Satellites

Satellites have a great impact on

human life by tracking weather and
providing fast telephone, TV and
radio communication.

Other
satellites
function
as
astronomical observations that look
at distant stars.