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Constellations
Constellations have fascinated astronomers for centuries. They are arbitrary formations of stars perceived as a figure or design, especially one of 88 recognized groups named after characters from classical mythology and various common animals and objects. Questions about the various constellations of stars are what this category is all about.
3,677 Questions
How many light years between Alkaid and Merak stars of the big dipper?
They are about 25.6 light years apart in the earths sky.
How many light years away from Earth is Pegasus constellation?
The question doesn't make sense, just as it doesn't make sense how far "up" is. "Up" starts right here. Similarly, a constellation is (roughly speaking) a direction in space, so it starts right here, and goes all the way to infinity (or however far the Universe goes on, which is at least 46 billion light-years).
Who discovered Ursa Major and when?
The Ursa Major was known to astronomers before the medieval period,therefore the exact person is unknown.This is known as the ancient Indians called it "The Saptarishi"(Seven Saints,namely Kritu,Pulah,Pulatsya,Atri,Angira,Vashishtha,and Mareech)and believed that the sages had been grouped together.
Name a bright object that over serveral days changes its shape you n the sky?
Well the moon does this.
What is the longitude of Ursa Major?
It does not have a longitude. Only things on Earth have longitude. The stars in Ursa Major are located in the sky by using declination and right ascension. The star in Ursa Major where the "handle" meets the "bowl" is Megrez. Its Right Ascension (RA) is 12 hours 15 minutes and 47.521 seconds. This is the measure that is "like" longitude. Its Declination is 56 degrees 59 minutes and 15.84 seconds. These are the celestial coordinates, and won't mean much to you without the aid of charts. Celestial coordinates for a given object at a given time will be the same for any observer anywhere on earth. Of course, not every object is visible to all observers at any time. But these celestial coordinates, given in right ascension (RA), corresponding to longitude on the earth's surface, and declination (Dec), corresponding to latitude on the earth's surface, will be the same whether the object specified can be seen by you or not.
RA is measured in units of time: hours, minutes and seconds, through 24 hours (starting with the 0 hour) and Dec is measured in degrees, minutes and seconds, from +90 (north) to -90 (south) degrees, with 0 degrees at the equator. This is like the earth's coordinate system blown up and "pasted" to the stars, but with the zero point fixed against the stars. The position of stars is "constant" figuring from this system, except that there is a slow and constant drift of these coordinates for reasons beyond this answer's scope (see First Point of Aries).
There is another completely different coordinate system that can be used by any observer no matter where they are on earth (altazimuth coordinates). Of course, the results you get will be unique to you, since this system is centered at your location. This system uses the observer's true horizon as zero degrees altitude and altitude goes up to 90 degrees (the point exactly above you, the zenith- not the point exactly above the pole). The equivalent of longitude is "azimuth", and this is measured along the observer's horizon clockwise, starting at exactly north (zero degrees).
Usually it would be the coordinates of a single star that would be useful, and not the coordinates of a constellation that is stretched out over a big chunk of sky.
Stars usually don't have "trails". If you see a "shooting star", that is not really a star, but a piece of dust that happens to fall into the atmosphere. It is also possible that you confuse this with pictures you saw of comets.
What is a constellation and how many constellations cover the entire sky?
Roughly speaking, a constellation is a direction in the sky. The introductory paragraph of the Wikipedia summarizes the concept quite well: 'In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around patterns that represent the shapes that give the name to the constellations. When astronomers say an object is "in" a given constellation, they mean it is within the boundaries of one of these defined areas of sky, as the patterns may have several variants in its representation.'
In modern astronomy, there are 88 or 89 constellations, depending on how you count.
What was the code word in the underground railroad song for the big dipper?
The code word for the Big Dipper in the underground railroad song was "Follow the Drinking Gourd." This was a reference to using the constellation of the Big Dipper as a navigational guide to escape to the North.
Is there anymore hidden zodiac constellation?
There is one zodiac constellation that is not included in the traditional zodiac calendar. That constellation is Ophiuchus, and it lies between Scorpius and Sagittarius. This means there are 13 zodiac constellations.
Constellations cannot be "hidden," so to speak. They are a fabrication of the human mind and would not exist elsewhere in the universe as we see them on Earth. Currently, we have 88 constellations (some of which are Northern hemisphere constellations, others of which are Southern hemisphere constellations) and their boundaries (constellations are not just the stars that make up a shape, but every celestial object in a defined region in the sky) fill the entire sky.
What group of stars comprise the constellation Ursa Major?
Stars are scattered randomly across the sky. Apart from the rare exceptions, the stars that make up constellations have absolutely nothing to do with each other except that they're close to the same direction from the solar system. The stars which make up the Big Dipper are actually hundreds of light years away from each other. They just look like they are close together, because the naked eye cannot discern the actual magnitude or distance.
AnswerThe stars that make up this constellation are: Merak, Dubhe, Megrez, Mizar, Alioth, Al Caid, Al Cor.
What constellation is used to determine earth's north?
The constellation Ursa Minor contains the star Polaris, which is the pole star.
Two stars in Ursa Major, Merak and Dubhe, form a pair line that points to Polaris. They are the stars on the edge of the "Big Dipper."
Why is Wilt Chamberlain called the big dipper?
He got the name "Big Dipper" because he used to have to dip down to walk through doors because of his height.
Stars which appear to revolve around Polaris and do not set go below the horizon are called?
All stars appear to travel in circles around the celestial pole. The ones that are
so close to the pole that they never set below the horizon are described as
"circumpolar" stars. The size of that region of the sky as seen from your location
depends on your latitude. At the north or south pole, the entire sky is included.
At the equator, none of it is.
What constellation's are in line with earth?
That would depend on where you looked at it from. All constellations depend on where they are seen from. If our planet were orbiting around a different star, most, if not all the constillations would look different. If you are on the Earth, it's not in any constellation.
Is Orion's belt cracking open?
"Orion's Belt" is not an object. It's the name that ancient human observers gave to
a group of three stars that have no relationship to each other, but appear almost in
a line as seen from Earth. There's nothing there to crack open, and there's not even
a "there" there, so, sure enough, it isn't.
What constellation are the Seven Sisters found in?
The Seven Sisters are also known as the Pleiades.
The constellation is Taurus (The Bull). The 'sisters' are located on the left shoulder of the bull.
A pattern or picture outlined by stars is called?
in astronomy, asterism is when stars APPEAR to be forming a picture or pttern.
When where constellations invented?
Creating a constellation is like looking at a mountain and saying it looks like a dog, so when you take the path, head for the dog mountain. Same with stars. Patterns are given names and pictures so you can relate wher eyou are going to. Canis Major the big dog looks like a dog in the setting west, not in the east when it rises. In fact Anubis is the man with the dog head because the shift in rising looks like a stick man. The dog is the stick man laying on his right side, the man is the dog standing on his tail and hind leg.
