By Madhavi Pothukuchi
25 May 2022
Image source: Alamy
Have you ever looked up at the stars and wondered how such random celestial bodies come together and make such beautiful patterns? Let’s learn the first story written in the stars!
Image source: Alamy
Constellations are a group of stars that can be seen in a pattern or design. These patterns are usually visible to help astronomers locate other stars and navigate the vast sky.
Image source: Alamy
Every ancient culture and civilisation has looked up at the stars and interpreted these patterns differently until 1930 when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) identified 88 official constellations, which became accepted globally.
Image source: Alamy
The IAU divided the night sky into imaginary sections, each containing a constellation. Any stars surrounding the constellation are considered a part of it in the scope of astronomy. Smaller clusters of stars that form part of the constellation or are near it are called Asterisms.
Image source: Alamy
If you observe the constellations every day for a year, you would see them moving towards the west as the year passes, which happens because the Earth revolves around the Sun. It also causes the night sky to look different in the summer and winter.
Image source: Alamy
Most ancient cultures have studied their versions of astronomy and have found constellations. The earliest mentions can be found on inscribed stones and clay writings from Mesopotamia, dating back to 3000 BC. The ancient Greeks and the Chinese had their lists of constellations too.
Image source: Alamy
Most constellations, like Centaurus, Hercules, and Hydrus, are named after the original Greek constellations listed by the astronomer Ptolemy. Some ‘modern’ constellations were identified in the 1600s and 1700s, like Pavo (Peacock) and Camelopardalis (Giraffe).
Image source: Alamy
Constellations are also an integral part of Astrology, in the form of zodiac signs. Each of the 12 zodiac signs is a constellation covering a whole year and is best spotted depending on the alignment of the Earth’s orbit at different times in the year.
Image source: Alamy