Nelmida, Henriane P., Padul, Bryan L.

Topic: “Identify star patterns that can be seen at particular times of the year (SCIENCE-Quarter IV-5)”.

Star- self-luminous gaseous spheroidal celestial body of great mass which produces energy by
means of nuclear fusion reactions.
Constellations – comes from the Late Latin term cōnstellātiō, which can be translated as "set of stars";
- pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate
object.
Asterism – a pattern of stars that is not a constellation.
IAU- International Astronomical Union; acts as the recognized authority for assigning designations and
names to celestial bodies (stars, planets, asteroids, etc.) and any surface features on them. There are 88
constellations.

Some of Known Constellation

Ursa Major
-resembles of a big bear and is the third larger constellation in
the night sky. It includes the big dipper, which is composed of
the seven stars.

Ursa Minor or the little bear

- Contains a group of the stars known as the little Dipper. The
handle of the dipper serves as the little bear’s tail and the
dipper’s cup, is the bear’s thigh. The most famous star in the
Ursa Minor is Polaris. It is also called North Star, since its
position always point to the earth’s north pole.

Cassiopeia
- Consists of five stars that seems to form letter. It represents
the queen Cassiopeia of the mythical kingdom of Ethiopia.

Orion
- Orion’s belt is also an asterism. Orion’s right shoulder is a red
supergiant star called Betelgeuse. A bluish-white star called
Rigel is found on Orion’s left knee.

Aquarius
- one of the constellations of the zodiac. It is located in
the Northern celestial hemisphere between Pisces to the
west and Taurus to the east.

Taurus
- one of the constellations of the zodiac. It is
located in the Northern celestial hemisphere between
Pisces to the west and Taurus to the east.

Usefulness of Constellations
Constellations are always helpful to people. They use the appearance of certain stars to forecast the
weather. When stars are visible, they expect fair weather. But, when stars are hidden behind the clouds, the
next day may be cloudy or rainy.
Constellations are helpful to navigations too. Navigators use their knowledge in astronomy in the
conduct of their work. When the navigators are lost at sea, they refer the Polaris, which is in Ursa Minor. They
use Polaris as their guiding star. Polaris is a fixed star. It is used as a compass to find direction. It is located
at the north. By using Polaris, it is easy to find south, east and west direction.