CONTENTS Pictures in the Sky Ancient Mesopotamia Ancient Greece Ptolemy's List The Zodiac IO I2 Star Maps 14 The Modern List of Constellations 18 Northern and Southern Constellations 20 22 Constellations in Spring Constellations in Summer 24 Constellations in Fall 26 Constellations in Winter 28 30 Glossary For More Information 31 Index 32
PICTURES IN THE SKY For thousands of years people have looked at stars and identified patterns Connecting the stars in their minds people saw imaginary pictures of animals and objects These star patterns are called constellations In scientific terms constellations are not real The stars in constellations The Big Dipper is an easily seen pattern in the night
are often very far away from each other and therefore not close enough to form patterns They only appear close together to us on Earth Constellations are like a map making it an easy way for scientists to locate certain stars in the sky They have also been used for navigation on land and at sea for ages Many cultures have built legends and stories around constellations giving them special meaning The word constellation comes from two Latin words con meaning with and stella meaning star A sailor can navigate by looking at the
