Constellation Handbook By: Matt Ewalt For thousands of years people have looked into the stars and imagined pictures of people and animals. These images were given names and stories. Today, we call these stars constellations. In this handbook, you will find pictures of constellations, when you can view them in the night sky, and the story behind the constellation.
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Constellation Handbook
By: Matt Ewalt
For thousands of years people have
looked into the stars and imagined
pictures of people and animals.
These images were given names and
stories. Today, we call these stars
constellations.
In this handbook, you will find
pictures of constellations, when you
can view them in the night sky, and
the story behind the constellation.
Can be seen in the night sky from November until February.
Orion is deemed the master of the winter skies.
A mythic tale of Orion go as far back as the Hittites, who flourished from the Second
Millennium BC to around 1200 BC.
In this story, Orion was a handsome and famous hunter. The Battle-Goddess Anat fell in love
with him, but when he refused to lend her his bow, she sent another man to steal it. When the
man tried to steal the bow he ends up killing Orion and dropping the bow in the sea. This is said
to explain the astronomical fact that Orion drops below the horizon for two months every spring.
Stars that make up his belt: Anilam, Alnitak, and Mintaka. Legend claims these starts are the
three wise men that followed the star marking the birth of Christ. [3]
Also known as the “Big Dipper”, it is the
3rd largest constellation in the night sky.
It can be seen at anytime.
Zeus who is married once had affair with a
woman named Callisto. Callisto went on to
have a son named Arcas. Angry at Callisto
Zeus’s wife turns her into a bear. Time goes
by, and some time later Arcas comes across a
bear in the woods while he’s hunting. The
bear just so happened to be Callisto. As
Arcas prepared to kill the bear Jupiter
stopped him. Arcas was transformed into a
bear like his mother and the two were taken
up into the sky. Zeus’s wife was annoyed
that the pair should be given such honor, and
took her revenge by convincing Poseidon to
forbid them from bathing in the sea. It is for this reason that Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are both
circumpolar constellations, never dipping beneath the horizon when viewed from northern
latitudes. [1]
Also known as the “Little Dipper”
Ursa Minor is the home of the North Star and can be seen at anytime in the Northern
Hemisphere. Ursa Minor is said to have been introduced by the Greek philosopher Thales around
600 BC. For as long as ships have sailed the seas Polaris has been an essential guiding star. [3]
(See previous story about Ursa Major)
Best seen in the month of November around 9pm.
Cassiopeia was the wife of Cepheus and the mother of Andromeda. Poseidon was angered by
Cassiopeia because how vain she was. A huge whale was sent by Poseidon to destroy the entire
country but Cepheus was told he could sacrifice his daughter Andromeda to the whale to stop it.
But before Andromeda could be sacrificed, Perseus came to her rescue.
“For most of the year Cassiopeia is high in the sky on her throne. But during the spring months,
she appears upside down along the northern horizon.”[1]
Can be seen in the night sky around April 18th
-May 14th
.
Brightest star: Hamal
According to the story of Aries, there were once two children that were to be sacrificed to appease the
gods. The only thing that saved the two children from being killed was a ram. In order to honor the ram
he would be remembered forever.
Zeus put the ram's golden fleece up in the stars, the constellation of Aries represents that golden