stars and constellations

5. Use the following slides as
desired.
Slides arefrom
http://www.cs.wright.edu/~tkprasad/AstronomyMedley/U4_Constellation
s.ppt

6. Ursa Major
• Ursa Major, the Great Bear, is visible in the Northern Hemisphere
all year long.
• Ursa Major is thebest knownof the constellation and it appears
in every referenceknown.
• The story behind it:
– Callisto was changedto a bear because ofZeus'sjealousy and transferred
herto the sky. This is improbable, as theconstellation was already well
established before this time. Thedrawings all showa bear with a long
tail, again not likely correctsince bearshave no tails. Themost likely
explanation for the bearsis the fact that Native Americanscalled the
constellations the bear, but instead ofthe tail they depict the bear being
chased aroundthe pole by sevenbraves.

7. Ursa Major

8. Ursa Major
CircumpolarConstellation

9. How to find the Big Dipper

10. Ursa Minor
• Ursa Minor,the LittleBear, is visible in the Northern
Hemisphere all year long.
• Ursa Minor is mostly knownfor Polaris, the North Star
whichmay be found at the end of the handle.
• The story behind it:
– Ursa Minor doesnot have any mythology attached to it, it was
created in the 6th century B.C. as a navigational aid for sailors
outof a long forgotten constellation called the Dragon's wing.

11. Ursa Minor
CircumpolarConstellation

12. Cepheus
• The story behind it:
– Cepheus was the King of Ethiopia. He married Cassiopeia and they
had a daughter Andromeda. Cassiopeia was incredibly beautiful but
immensely vain. She was also proud of her daughter's beauty. In fact
she continually boasted that the two of them were more beautiful than
any of the fifty sea nymphs who attended Poseidon's court.
– These nymphs (the Nereids) complained to Poseidon, who felt he had
to defend his own reputation. So he sent a flood to devastate Cepheus'
kingdom. The oracles told Cepheus that in order to save his people he
must sacrifice his daughter to a great sea monster: Andromeda was
tied to a rock along the coastline, dressed only in her jewelry. The
monster would be along in due time to take his prize.
– At that moment Perseus came flying by. He had just killed the Gorgon
Medusa and was carrying the severed head back to Athene. To make a
long story short, he saved her then turned everyone into stone by
showing them the severed head.
– Poseidon then put the stone frozen Cepheus and Cassiopeia into the
heavens, but with a twist: he made the vain Cassiopeia spin around on
her chair, spending half the year upside down. As for Cepheus,
Poseidon gave him a number of medium sized stars that go to make his
square face with a pointed crown.

13. Cepheus
Circumpolar Constellation

14. Cassiopeia
• This constellation is at the edge of the Milky
Way galaxy and has the shape of a "W".
• The story behind it:
– Cassiopeia had been the wife of Cepheus.
Because she thought herself more beautiful than
the daughters of Nereus, a god of the sea, she
angered the god Poseidon. To punish her, her
daughter was chained to a rock of the coast as a
sacrifice for a sea monster. Andromeda was
saved from death by Perseus. To learn humility
Cassiopeia was banned to the sky hanging half of
the time head downward.

15. Cassiopeia
Circumpolar Constellation

16. Draco
• Draco, the Dragon, used to hold
special significance as the location of
the pole star, butduetothe Earth's
precession, the pole has shifted to
Polaris in Ursa Minor.
• Thestory behind it:
– ThedragonisLadon,theguardianof
the'golden apples' ofimmortality
whichgrew inthe gardenof
Hesperides, beyondthe River of
Time,in thelandofdeath.Itis Ladon
whichHercules kills inhis11th labor
to get thegoldenapples.

17. Draco

18. Circumpolar Constellations

19. Circumpolar Constellations

20. Circumpolar Constellations

21. Circumpolar Constellations

22. Circumpolar Constellations

23. Circumpolar
Constellations

24. Orion
• Orion is the master of the winter skies. He lords over the
heavens from late fall to early spring, with his hunting dog
Sirius trailing at his feet.
• The story behind it: (Orion holding a bow)
– Orion was a handsome and famous hunter. The Battle-Goddess
Anat fell in love with him, but when he refused to lend her his
bow, she sent another man to steal it. This chap bungled the job,
and wound up killing Orion and dropping the bow into the sea.
This is said to explain the astronomical fact that Orion and the
Bow (an older version of the constellation) drops below the
horizon for two months every spring.
• Another story behind it: (Orion holding an animal)
– Orion was known as the "dweller of the mountain", and was
famous for his prowess both as a hunter and as a lover. But
when he boasted that he would eventually rid the earth of all the
wild animals, his doom may have been sealed. The Earth
Goddess sent the deadly scorpion to Orion to kill him. Orion
engaged the scorpion in battle but quickly realized its amour was
impervious to any mortal's attack. Orion then jumped into the sea
and died. In his eternal hunting, Orion is careful to keep well
ahead of the scorpion. Orion has disappears over the horizon by
the time Scorpio rises in the east, as it becomes his turn to rule
the evening sky.

25. Orion Not a circumpolar constellation, but a seasonal constellation
Betelgeuse, the right arm of Orion (or "armpit" as the name suggests), glows with a
dull red.
Rigel, in the opposite corner of the constellation, is much brighter.

26. • Orion
•Onthe left: TheHunter-Orion
•Inthe middle: Name:TheBull-Taurus
•Onthe right: Name: TheGreaterDog-CanisMajor

27. • On the left: The Lion - Leo
– There is a record of the Lion in an astronomical poem from
Greece in the 3rd or 4th century B.C.
• In the middle: The Herdsman - Böötes
• On the right: The Virgin - Virgo
– At first, this constellation was recognized as the figure of a stalk
of wheat, and then was introduced to the Greeks and become the
figure of a virgin who holds a stalk of wheat, linking it with Greek
mythology and legend.

28. • On the left: The Crab - Cancer
– Its name is Cancer in Latin, which is the same name as the disease,
cancer. This disease was named after the shell of the crab, which is
similar to the shape of breast cancer.
• In the middle: The Scorpion - Scorpio
– The Scorpion has existed since the oldest of times. After sunset, around
the 7th of July, you can see it in the shape of a large S above the
southern horizon where the milky way is streaming down. The figure of
this constellation was originally the figure of a scorpion with scissors.
Later the scissors were separated to become the Balance.
• On the right: The Archer - Sagittarius
– The Archer has been recognized since the Babylonian era. At that time it
was the figure of a man with a bow in his hand, not the present figure of
the half man half horse which is recognized in Greek mythology.

29. • On the left and in the middle: Andromeda
– The Andromeda constellation is famous for containing the
Andromeda Nebula, the closest galaxy to our Milky Way.
Andromeda was chained up for a sea monster to devour her.
– Andromeda is also the daughter of Cassiopeia & Cepheus
• On the right: The Fishes, Pisces
– In ancient Babylon, this constellation was viewed as the figure of
a mermaid tied together with a swallow with a fish tail. The
present figure appeared in a 3rd or 4th century B.C. Greek
poem.

30. Signs
Of The
Zodiac
Fromour perspective
on earth, the suntakes
a path throughthe sky
(known as the ecliptic).
It passes throughthese
constellations.

31. EclipticConstellations& ZodiacSigns
• A band of 12 constellations around the sky
entered on the ecliptic (apparent path of
the sun on the earth as the earth revolves
around it).
• Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, Taurus, Virgo,
Capricorn, Gemini, Libra, Aquarius,
Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces.

32. Ecliptic Constellations

33. Andromeda Antlia Apus Aquarius
Aquila Ara Aries Auriga
Boötes Caelum Camelopardalis Cancer
Canes Venatici Canis Major Canis Minor Capricornus
Carina Cassiopeia Centaurus Cepheus
Cetus Chamaeleon Circinus Columba
Coma Berenices Corona Australis Corona Borealis Corvus
Crater Crux Cygnus Delphinus
Dorado Draco Equuleus Eridanus
Fornax Gemini Grus Hercules
Horologium Hydra Hydrus Indus
Lacerta Leo Leo Minor Lepus
Libra Lupus Lynx Lyra
Mensa Microscopium Monoceros Musca
Norma Octans Ophiuchus Orion
Pavo Pegasus Perseus Phoenix
Pictor Pisces Piscis Austrinus Puppis
Pyxis Reticulum Sagitta Sagittarius
Scorpius Sculptor Scutum Serpens
Sextans Taurus Telescopium Triangulum
Triangulum Australe Tucana Ursa Major Ursa Minor
Vela Virgo Volans Vulpecula