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Constellations are patterns in the night sky often formed by the most

prominent stars to the naked eye. Technically a constellation defines not


just the group of stars that form their patterns but also the region of sky in
which it rests.
There are 88 constellations across the sky between the northern and
southern hemispheres and, in both these parts of the celestial sphere,
these patterns of stars differ. The current list, which includes constellations
such as Orion, Cassiopeia, Taurus and the Plough, has been recognised by
the International Astronomical Union (IAU) since around 1922 and are
based on the 48 which were previously identified by Greek astronomer
Claudius Ptolemy.
Constellations often carry names and take the shape of gods,
hunters, princesses, objects and mythical beasts associated with Greek
mythology however, at times, it requires quite an imagination to draw out
what some constellations are supposed to represent! Some of the most
obvious stars in a constellation are often given names and in general, the

most visible stars of each constellation are assigned Greek letters with the
brightest taking on the first letter of the greek alphabet (alpha), the second
brightest taking beta and so on. As an example, the brightest star in Lyra is
Vega which is also called alpha Lyrae.
Constellations make excellent signposts when it comes to making
your way around the night sky make sure you check out our beginners
guide to astronomy in issue 8 of All About Space!

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