Constellation Guide and Associated Mythology

Constellation guide to the 88 official constellations which divide up the sky. Learn the mythology, deep space objects and meteor showers.

Constellation guide to the 88 official constellations which divide up the sky. These constellations are used to help navigate the celestial sphere. The Constellations are patterns in the sky which have been invented and have deep mythology behind them. Constellations cover massive areas in the sky and as such are very easy to find.

Constellations are usually one of the first things new astronomers start observing, and something many professionals ignore in their exploration of deep space. Constellations aren't real objects, they are a figment of our creative imaginations.

Over the millennia we have grouped stars to form imaginary outlines or meaningful patterns on the celestial sphere, typically representing animals, mythological people or gods, mythological creatures, or manufactured devices. The entire sky is divided up into 88 areas, each one a constellation. They help us navigate the night sky, and navigate the Earth.

Constellation names, like the names of stars, come from a variety of sources and each has a different story and meaning to it. Some of the constellations have very familiar names, such as Leo, Gemini, Virgo and Aquarius. These are some of the 12 constellations which form the Zodiac. The Zodiac constellations follow the line of the ecliptic. The ecliptic is the apparent path of the Sun on the celestial sphere.

Not all of the constellations are visible from any one point on Earth. The star maps are typically divided into maps for the northern hemisphere and maps for the southern hemisphere. The season of the year can also affect what constellations are visible from where you are located on Earth.

The Big Dipper, shown above, isn't official, but one of the many unofficial constellations called Asterisms. An asterism might form part of an official constellation, like the Big Dipper, which is composed of the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major. Or the constellation might be made up of stars from different constellations. For example, the three points of the Summer Triangle asterism are Deneb, Altair, and Vega, which are the brightest stars in the constellations Cygnus, Aquila, and Lyra, respectively.

>h2>Constellation Guide List of the 88 Constellations

You can view more about each of the individual constellations and their mythology in the links below.