CONSTELLATIONS

AND STARS
There are about 48 old constellations. Today astronomers recognize 88 (44 in each
hemisphere) dividing all of the entire sky.

THE GREAT BEAR AND THE SEVEN STARS

Probably the most famous group of stars is the Big Dipper. It is a part of the
constellation called Ursa Major. It resembles a bear in many civilizations. The handle
of the Dipper is the tail of the bear curving away from the bowl. It has the seven
bright stars in it namely, Alkaid, Alcor & Mizar (appear as one), Alioth, Megrez,
Phecda, Merak and Dhube. Two of these that form outer wall of the bowl are called
the Pointers, directed towards the Polaris when joined in a line from bottom upward.

THE LITTLE BEAR AND POLARIS:

Five major constellations are always visible above the horizon from our latitudes:
Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, Cepheus and Draco. They all revolve once in 24
hours around the North Star and stars in these are known as Circumpolar stars. Ursa
Minor or the Little Bear is well known for being the host of Polaris, positioned very
close to the celestial north pole. Actually the Polaris revolves in radius of 1 degree
about the North celestial pole.
Polaris is the brightest star in the Ursa Minor. It is part of 7 well known stars similar
to Big Dipper. The handle in it curves towards the bowl unlike Big Dipper.

CASSIOPEIA

Cassiopeia lies on the other side of the pole from Ursa Major, almost directly opposite
the Big Dipper. One can sees the seven stars with naked eyes. Sometimes people
visualize it as part of a Crown of the Egyptian queen Cassiopeia, other people see it as
an inclined chair or throne.

 CEPHEUS

NEXT TO CASSIOPEIA is her husband the king Cepheus, known for some of the
well-studied variable stars. Cepheus forms a shape resembling the cap of a clown. Its
wedge corner is very close to Polaris and is one of the circumpolar stars. The brightest
star in this constellation is called Aldemarin, meaning the arm. It stays close to his
queen.
Draco, the Dragon

Another famous constellation near the North Pole is Draco meaning Dragon placed
beneath the Ursa Minor. It is the dragon that the giant Hercules faces up to. Two
known stars in it are called Etamin (tip of Dragon's head) and Thuban in the tail (3rd
last star) of the dragon. Etamin is 80 ly away.

THE DRAGON

THE ORION AND ITS BRIGHT STARS

Next to the Big Dipper, Orion is the most well known constellation of all. Its shape
and group of bright stars dominate the winter sky. It contains more bright stars
clustered together than any other single group. To the ancients, the figure represented
the giant Orion, placed in the heavens, in a heroic gesture holding the shield against
Taurus the mighty Bull. The bull on the other hand, with fire darting out from its eye
(marked by Aldebaran), is about to charge with its splendid long horns. Orion stands
with his right arm holding a great club uplifted in the air, ready to strike. Over his left
arm hangs a lion's skin that he holds up as a shield before him to stop the raging bull.
With a bit of imagination, it is not difficult to observe in this constellation, a colossal
figure and a story behind it.
Orion contains two of the 1st magnitude bright stars, Betelgeuse and Rigel.
Betelgeuse marks the right shoulder or armpit, while Rigel forms the left foot. First,
the Betelgeuse rises, pushing its red face. Betelgeuse is a red giant, deep red in color.
It is also known as an irregular Variable star, changing its brightness but not regularly.

Rigel appears about 15 to 20 minutes after Betelgeuse. The Celestial equator lies
between the two so that Rigel is a southern hemisphere star and Betelgeuse is a
northern hemisphere star. With Aldebaran, the two form a triangle, called Winter
triangle, dominating the winter sky. Except for Deneb, Rigel (1300 ly) and Betelgeuse
(500 ly) are the most distant stars to reach us. Red and cooler the enormous
Betelgeuse is 17,000 times brighter than sun. Rigel, blue-white and very hot although
smaller than its sisters, nevertheless it is 150,000 times brighter than sun. The belt of
Orion is made of three dazzling stars of 2nd magnitude that are referred to as "bands
of Orion," by Job. These lie in a straight line three degrees long. The upper star
(actually a double star) of the three forming the belt, lies on the celestial equator. The
three stars of Orion's belt are sometimes called "Three kings." Hanging from the belt
is a curved line of 3 stars known as sword of Orion. The central star of the sword is
hazy, what is known as the Famous Orion Nebula that exploded out as Supernova. In
it lies the cluster of four stars called Orion Trapezium, can only be seen when
observed with high resolution spectroscope. The fourth star is called Saiph. It forms
one corner of the large approximate trapezium with three other stars - Betelgeuse,
Rigel and Bellatrix outlining the Orion's body,. Its location forms the right knee of the
mighty hunter. Bellatrix signifies a "Female Warrior." Saiph means sword, the shape
of the object obtained by extending from Dagger stars to it.

Orion is in the center of the galaxy that marches in brilliant procession across the
winter sky in all its beauty and grandeur, inspiring innumerable admirers throughout
ages among host of civilizations. Orion comes into view in October between 9 and 10
p.m. It brings the news of nightly frost of the coming winter. During November and
December, Orion is undoubtedly the most beautiful and dominating constellation in
the night sky. In February, one observes it in the southern sky at 9 p.m. In March and
April, it is rushing furiously down the western sky. In the middle of May, it is
completely gone from the night sky.

BOOTES AND ARCTURUS

The constellation Bootes is in a figure of a Kite in the sky. It rises about 8 O'clock
early in March. Bootes is easily located by the very bright star called Arcturus located
in the extended arc of the handle of Big Dipper.

ARCTURUS

A bright star in the extended arc of the handle of the Big Dipper that no one will miss.
Following the curve of the handle about 30 degrees, or until you see the first
brilliantly bright star. Its bright beam flowed down more than 2600 years ago upon the
patient Prophet Job (Ayub in Arabic, peace be upon him) and is named by him.

About 10 O'clock in the evening of February (spring) it first appears (rises). On the 1st
of March it appears 8 O'clock in the evening. Arcturus is almost overhead in early
evening of July. Arcturus and Capella are almost equally bright. Arcturus is tinged
with a bit of red, hinting its surface temperature colder than the sun and Capella.
Arcturus is a red giant star. It has exhausted hydrogen as its primary fuel and now
relying on secondary sources to escape extinction. Its center is much hotter than the
sun, the extra heat resulted in its expansion of the size. After a few thousand years, it
may explode, forming a white dwarf. It is 37 ly away. It is approaching earth at the
rate of 2(1/2) miles per second, makes it appear ever bright or same bright and it lies
in Constellation Bootes and its brightest star. Bootes means "watcher of the bear", a
title derived from its proximity to Ursa Major.

CAPELLA
It is the nearest to the north star among the 21 brightest. Draw a line through the
Polaris at right angle to the pointers, you should find Capella at 45 degrees from the
polaris on the opposite side of the Big Dipper's handle. It can also be found by a line
drawn from bottom corner of the Big Dipper's Bowl on the handle side, and passing
the line through the mid point of the pointers to a distance of 50 degrees or to the first
bright star. Capella, Vega and Arcturus are brightest stars in the northern hemisphere
of the sky. Capella is up above the horizon 21 hours. This makes it possible to observe
it sometime every night. Capella first appears in the evening in August at about 10
O'clock during first part of the month and stays in the sky until June, always
appearing before midnight. In October, it rises almost exactly in the northeast just as
the sun is setting.

Capella is a giant star yellow in color and 100 times brighter than the sun. Yet, it has
the same surface temperature as the sun. It is 46 ly away from us. Never seen
separately, it is a binary star, revolving around its companion in 100 days. Wizard
spectroscope has made its family secret out. One of 21 bright stars, Capella is in
Auriga constellation.

CASTOR & POLLUX

In the constellation called Gemini or the twins, two closely placed (four and a half
degrees apart) bright stars appear in the eastern gate of the horizon about the same
time as Betelgeuse and Rigel. In November, the twin stars become very prominent in
the early evening sky and Castor leads the way. They reach the meridian in 8 hours.
Castor and Pollux were known to the ancients as exerting favorable influence during
navigation. A figurehead representing the two often formed the ship's head. The
Apostle Paul, while ship wrecked in the island of Melita, sailed from it in a ship of
Alexandria whose sign was Castor and Pollux that brought a prosperous voyage to his
friends in Rome.
The constellation Gemini is the third spring sign of the Zodiac and is reputed to bring
good weather in early June. The rainy Hyades, including Aldebaran were first to
disappear, followed by stormy Orion and the ill-omened Dog star with it. It is in a
comparatively serene night sky, the twin stars, beloved of the sailors, shine side by
side like two eyes ever vigilant to protect the world under.

The twin stars may produce immense admiration for closeness of friendship between
the two. In reality, the two are moving in different directions without much
connection or fondness to each other. Castor at 47 ly and Pollux at 33 ly, are widely
separated and are different in spectral types. Pollux is yellow like our sun while
Castor is white like Vega.

The bond between the two is not real and yet Castor has a companion star greenish
yellow in color. The two are separated by an arc of four seconds. It was a common
practice of the ancients to swear by Castor and Pollux (the Gemini).

 CORONA BOREALIS

Also called Northern Crown, Corona Borealis is a semicircle of stars. Its chief star is
called Alphecca, comes into view one and a quarter hours after Arcturus. The group of
seven twinkling bright stars is a beautiful sight for observation and enjoyment in the
night sky. The entire constellation is only 15 degrees wide.
 SAGITTARIUS

The shape of a tea pot, this is a remarkable shape that appears in the night sky close to
Milky way.

Constellation Sagittarius, also called The Milk Dipper (lies in the Milky way)

HERCULES CONSTELLATION

HERCULES

Hercules holds a bow in his outstretched arm. Just shot an arrow to the Dragon or
possibly to the bird nearby. Hercules is located directly north of Scorpius.