Teacher’s Guide for Discussion

Lesson 3.2: Constellation

Grade 9, Quarter 3
 Observers in ancient times imagined group of stars
that form pictures of animals, objects and people.
These imaginary group of stars are called
CONSTELLATIONS.
 Many of these constellations have names that can be
traced back to early Babylonians and Greek
civilizations, but nearly all cultures have different
names for constellations. For example, the Greek
called the large constellation Orion which means
hunter and is prominent in the night sky all over the
world in winter. Early Filipinos visualized the same
group of stars as Balatik, a trap used in hunting wild
pigs. Christian Filipinos named the three stars (at
Orion’s belt) Tatlong Maria or Tres Marias.
Betelgeuse

Tatlong Maria Rigel

The POLARIS
 Polaris, commonly known as the North Star, is the
brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor (Little
Dipper). It is very close to the North Celestial Pole,
making it the current northern pole star.
 Polaris stands almost motionless in the sky and all the
stars of the Northern sky appear to rotate around it.
 In the Philippines, to locate Polaris, face North and
locate the Big Dipper. Two stars (Merak and Dubhe) in
the Big Dipper are called pointer stars because they
seem to point to Polaris.
We see different star patterns
through the year
 While the rotation of the Earth on its axis caused the
apparent nightly movement of the stars across the sky ,
the revolution is responsible for the fact that we can
see different parts of the sky at different parts of the
year.
 An observer from Earth will be able to see the stars on
the night side. The stars on the same side as the sun
cannot be seen because sunlight overpowers all the
starlights.
 During summer, in the Philippines, the constellations
of Orion and Taurus are not visible at night. They will
be visible again as the cold season begin. During that
time, Scorpius will not be seen in the night sky.
 As the Earth revolves around its orbit, the stars that
were concealed by the bright light of the Sun in the
previous months will appear in the night sky.
Examples of Constellations
Aldebaran

Pleiades (star
cluster, made
up of seven
stars)
Suggested Additional Teaching/
Instructional Tool
 Download “Stellarium” at www.stellarium.org this
software renders a 3D photo-realistic skies in real time
with OpenGL. It displays stars, constellations, planets,
nebulae and others things like ground, landscape,
atmosphere, etc.
 Tip: Identify the type of software in your PC (e.g.:
Linux, Windows 32 bit, Windows 64 bit, etc.) for an
efficient and faster download.
(Manila Night Sky)
CONSTELLATION SEEN IN MANILA (March Night Sky 9 PM)
CONSTELLATION SEEN IN MANILA (June Night Sky 9 PM)
CONSTELLATION SEEN IN MANILA (September Night Sky 9 PM)
CONSTELLATION SEEN IN MANILA (December Night Sky 9 PM)
Suggested Videos
 Pictures in the sky: the origin and history of the
constellations ( a conference with Dr. Ian Ridpath of
the Royal Society of Science; it shows the description of
some known constellation along with a brief history/
mythology about it)
 http://youtu.be/nZm-QaKqS-Y
 The first use for constellations was probably religious.
People thought that the gods lived in the heavens and
that they created them. Many cultures believed that the
positions of the stars were their God's way of telling
stories. So it seemed natural to recognize patterns in
the sky, give them names, and tell stories about them.
We inherited the names for our constellations from the
Greeks. And they named the constellations after their
mythological heroes and legends. So behind every
constellation there is a story. For example, to the
ancient Greeks, Orion was a great hunter. He was the
son of Neptune (god of the sea). But the same stars
were considered to depict Osiris by the Egyptians. Each
different culture developed their own interpretation.
 While constellations were associated with religion,
they also have practical uses. Before the calendars,
people had no way of determining when to sow or
harvest except by looking at these patterns in the sky.
Ancient people developed a way to remember the
patterns by giving them names and stories.
 For example, in the northern hemisphere, the
constellation Orion indicates the coming of cold
season. The constellations made it easier for them to
recognize and interpret patterns in the sky. For
example, Gemini is seen in the Philippines during the
months of April and May. Farmers interpreted the
appearance of Gemini as the end of the planting
season and it signified rich harvest.
GEMINI
 Table 1: Stars and Constellations Used by
Matigsalug Manobo of Bukidnon
Local Name Month of Related Western
Appearance Agricultural Equivalent
Activity
Baha December to Learing of forest Taurus
February
Pandarawa January Start of planting Pleiades
what kind of crops
to be planted
Balatik February Start of planting Orion’s Belt
and setting of
traps to protect the
crops from
animals
Local Name Month of Related Western
Appearance Agricultural Equivalent
Activity
Malihe March Planting of rice,
corn or vegetables
Gibbang April and May End of planting Gemini
season; signifies
rice harvest
Malara May Stop planting Canis Minor
Lepu Late May Time to clean or Aquila
clear the fields
while waiting for
harvest time
Buwaya June Start of rainy
season
Illustration of constellation used by Matigsalug
Manobo of Bukidnon

Taurus (Baha) Pleiades (Pandarawa)

Orion’s Belt (Baha) Gemini (Gibbang)
Canis Minor (Malara) Aquila (Lepu)
 Another use of constellations was in navigation. The
Polaris is widely used in navigation because it does not
change its position at any time of the night or year.
Also, one can figure out his/her latitude just by
looking at how high Polaris appears in the night sky.
This allowed sailors to find their way as they sail across
the seas.
 The constellations are used today by astronomers to
determine the location and name of the stars. When
astronomers go to conferences they like to share their
research with others. And usually they will want to tell
someone which stars or objects they may be looking at. If
they just give the coordinates (numbers) the other person
is not likely to have an immediate idea of where the star is
located in the sky. But if you say that the star's name is
Alpha Tau then you will know that is the brightest star in
the Taurus constellation. The stars are named based on
the constellation they are in (all stars are in some
constellation). The naming goes from brightest to
dimmest star and is designated by the Greek alphabet.
For example Beta Ori is the second brightest star in
Orion (also called Rigel).
The Zodiac
 The sun, the moon, and the planets travel on a set path
through the sky known as the ecliptic as the Earth
rotates. The list of 13 constellations they pass through
are known as the stars of the Zodiac. The Zodiac
constellations' names are:
1. Capricorn 6. Cancer 11. Ophiuchus
2. Aquarius 7. Leo 12. Sagittarius
3. Aries 8. Virgo
4. Taurus 9. Libra
5. Gemini 10. Scorpio
 In astronomy, the zodiacal constellations are a
convenient way of marking the ecliptic (the Sun's path
across the sky) and the path of the
moon and planets along the ecliptic. Modern
astronomy still uses tropical coordinates for predicting
the positions the Sun, Moon, and planets, except
longitude in the ecliptic coordinate system is
numbered from 0° to 360°, not 0° to 30° within each
sign.
 Astrologers use 12 of these constellations as signs of
the Zodiac, omitting Ophiuchus, to make predictions.
[Unlike astronomy, astrology is not a science. Signs
differ from constellations, bearing only a loose
reference to one another. The sign of Pisces, for
instance, corresponds to the rise of the constellation of
Aquarius. Ironically, if you are born under a particular
sign, that constellation it is named for is not visible at
night. Instead, the sun is passing through it around
that time of year, making it a daytime constellation
that can't be seen.
Capricorn Aquarius
Sagitarrius Pisces
Sagitarrius
Aries Cancer
Leo Ophiuchus