What is a Constellation?

Did you know the definition of a constellation is “a group of stars forming a recognizable pattern that is named?” 

The fun shapes we find in our stars are sometimes named after the star pattern’s shape or form and sometimes identified with a mythological figure, such as the centaur. Centaur appears in Allie’s Moon Games Book 2, Clara and the Constellations Play Kickball!

Modern astronomers divide the sky into 88 constellations with defined boundaries. The names of our constellations range from the well-known Big Dipper and Orion to lesser-known, such as Mensa or “Table Mountain/Plateau” and Crux or “Cross” taken from the Christian religious symbol.

When I present at schools, I love sharing the many different constellations and asking kids about their favorite animals to see if we can find a related constellation. I can almost always come up with something from the list of 88 constellations, and we have fun looking up the images of each one named.

*Definition taken from The Oxford Dictionary