*CONSTELLATIONS
Lesson 3
Orion: The Hunter
* This is how the constellation looks like?
*Polaris, commonly known as
the North Star, is the
brightest star in the
constellation Ursa Minor
(Little Dipper). It is very
close to the North Celestial
Pole, making it the current
northern pole star.
*Polaris stands almost
motionless in the sky and all
the stars of the Northern sky
*The POLARIS
appear to rotate around it.
* In the Philippines, to locate Polaris, face North and
locate the Big Dipper. Two stars (Merak and Dubhe) in
the Big Dipper are called pointer stars because they
seem to point to Polaris.
*While the rotation of the Earth on its axis caused the
apparent nightly movement of the stars across the sky,
the revolution is responsible for the fact that we can
see different parts of the sky at different parts of the
year.
*An observer from Earth will be able to see the stars on
the night side. The stars on the same side as the sun
cannot be seen because sunlight overpowers all the
starlights.
* We see different star patterns through the year
*During summer, in the Philippines, the
constellations of Orion and Taurus are not visible
at night. They will be visible again as the cold
season begin. During that time, Scorpius will not
be seen in the night sky.
*As the Earth revolves around its orbit, the stars
that were concealed by the bright light of the Sun
in the previous months will appear in the night
sky.
* We see different star patterns through the year
*Examples of Constellations
*Examples of Constellations
*Examples of Constellations
*Examples of Constellations
*Examples of Constellations
*Examples of Constellations
*Examples of Constellations
*Examples of Constellations
* CONSTELLATION SEEN IN MANILA (March Night Sky 9 PM)
* CONSTELLATION SEEN IN MANILA (June Night Sky 9 PM)
* CONSTELLATION SEEN IN MANILA (September Night Sky 9 PM)
* CONSTELLATION SEEN IN MANILA (December Night Sky 9 PM)
*The first use for constellations was probably religious. People
thought that the gods lived in the heavens and that they created
them. Many cultures believed that the positions of the stars were
their God's way of telling stories. So it seemed natural to recognize
patterns in the sky, give them names, and tell stories about them.
We inherited the names for our constellations from the Greeks.
And they named the constellations after their mythological heroes
and legends. So behind every constellation there is a story. For
example, to the ancient Greeks, Orion was a great hunter. He was
the son of Neptune (god of the sea). But the same stars were
considered to depict Osiris by the Egyptians. Each different culture
developed their own interpretation.
* HOW EARLY PEOPLE USED CONSTELLATIONS
* While constellations were associated with religion, they also
have practical uses. Before the calendars, people had no
way of determining when to sow or harvest except by
looking at these patterns in the sky. Ancient people
developed a way to remember the patterns by giving them
names and stories.
* HOW EARLY PEOPLE USED CONSTELLATIONS
* For example, in the northern hemisphere, the constellation
Orion indicates the coming of cold season. The
constellations made it easier for them to recognize and
interpret patterns in the sky. For example, Gemini is seen
in the Philippines during the months of April and May.
Farmers interpreted the appearance of Gemini as the end of
the planting season and it signified rich harvest.
* HOW EARLY PEOPLE USED CONSTELLATIONS
GEMINI
* HOW EARLY PEOPLE USED CONSTELLATIONS
* Table 1: Stars and Constellations Used by
Matigsalug Manobo of Bukidnon
* Table 1: Stars and Constellations Used by
Matigsalug Manobo of Bukidnon
* Illustration of constellation used by Matigsalug Manobo of Bukidnon
* Illustration of constellation used by Matigsalug Manobo of Bukidnon
* Illustration of constellation used by Matigsalug Manobo of Bukidnon
*Another use of constellations was in
navigation. The Polaris is widely used in
navigation because it does not change its
position at any time of the night or year. Also,
one can figure out his/her latitude just by
looking at how high Polaris appears in the night
sky. This allowed sailors to find their way as
they sail across the seas.
* HOW EARLY PEOPLE USED CONSTELLATIONS
* The constellations are used today by astronomers to determine
the location and name of the stars. When astronomers go to
conferences they like to share their research with others. And
usually they will want to tell someone which stars or objects
they may be looking at. If they just give the coordinates
(numbers) the other person is not likely to have an immediate
idea of where the star is located in the sky. But if you say that
the star's name is Alpha Tau then you will know that is the
brightest star in the Taurus constellation. The stars are named
based on the constellation they are in (all stars are in some
constellation). The naming goes from brightest to dimmest star
and is designated by the Greek alphabet. For example Beta Ori
is the second brightest star in Orion (also called Rigel).
* The sun, the moon, and the planets 1. Libra
travel on a set path through the sky 2. Scorpio
known as the ecliptic as the Earth
rotates. The list of 13 constellations 3. Sagittarius
they pass through are known as the 4. Capricorn
stars of the Zodiac. The Zodiac 5. Aquarius
constellations' names are:
6. Pisces
1. Aries
7. Ophiuchus (The name of this large
2. Taurus constellation means “serpent-bearer” in
3. Gemini Greek. The ancient astronomer Ptolemy
included Ophiuchus in his list of 48
4. Cancer constellations. (It used to be referred to
5. Leo as Serpentarius, which has the same
*The Zodiac
meaning.) It is still one of the 88 modern
6. Virgo constellations.
*In astronomy, the zodiacal constellations are a
convenient way of marking the ecliptic (the
Sun's path across the sky) and the path of the
moon and planets along the ecliptic. Modern
astronomy still uses tropical coordinates for
predicting the positions the Sun, Moon, and
planets, except longitude in the ecliptic
coordinate system is numbered from 0° to
360°, not 0° to 30° within each sign.
*Astrologers use 12 of these constellations as signs of
the Zodiac, omitting Ophiuchus, to make predictions.
Unlike astronomy, astrology is not a science. Signs
differ from constellations, bearing only a loose
reference to one another. The sign of Pisces, for
instance, corresponds to the rise of the constellation
of Aquarius. Ironically, if you are born under a
particular sign, that constellation it is named for is not
visible at night. Instead, the sun is passing through it
around that time of year, making it a daytime
constellation that can't be seen.
