2006-06-09 22:34:05 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Primary & Secondary Education
"Con-" means together and "stellar" means to do with stars so "constellation" means a group of stars, taken together as a whole, because they are in much the same line of sight as one another, as seen from Earth.
That doesn't mean they are near one another in space. eg in Orion, the two brightest stars Sirius and Betelgeuse are our near neighbours, but the other stars in Orion are much further away.
In hundreds of thousands of years' time, the motion of stars will mean the constellations will then look rather different from now. Polaris may no longer be the North Pole Star for example.
Constellations are simply chance arrangements of stars that made patterns to the eye, which when the Ancients looked at the Heavens, they interpreted as mythological creatures and Gods and Heroes. The Chinese, similarly, thought a solar eclipse was a Dragon eating the Sun.
The members of a constellation have no connection with one another. The order we see amongst them is imposed by the human mind.
2006-06-09 23:01:32 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
A constellation is a group of fixed stars, arbitrarily considered together and usually named with reference to an imaginary outline enclosing them.
Although the stars exist by themselves, constellations are human inventions. Over more than 8000 years astronomers, astrologers and other wise men who studied the Universe created them for the purpose of bringing more order to the sky at night. Constellations help us tell which stars are which. On a really dark night, you can see about 1000 to 1500 stars. Trying to tell which is which is hard. The constellations help by breaking up the sky into more managable bits.
2006-06-10 00:05:53 · answer #2 · answered by Magic Gatherer 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A constellation is a group of stars which makes up a shape. Some constellations are : Orion's belt, Orion, The plough, and many more.
2006-06-09 22:45:41 · answer #3 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Constellation is a group of stars which has a definite pattern.
For eg-Ursamajor(Great Bear),Ursa Minor(Little Bear) and Orion
2006-06-09 22:57:34 · answer #4 · answered by sweety 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Back in early civilizations, people did not know the nature of the night sky, and they named sets of stars visible from earth for their shapes, or after figures in their faiths. Some were named later, such as big and little dipper, since other groups of stars were already named.
2006-06-09 22:42:22 · answer #5 · answered by Pup 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
configuration: an arrangement of parts or elements; "the outcome depends on the configuration of influences at the time"
a configuration of stars as seen from the earth
2006-06-09 22:38:41 · answer #6 · answered by simonkcie 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
a group of stars offen making some recognisable pattern in sky like small dipper.
2006-06-09 22:37:28 · answer #7 · answered by coolbabe 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
a group of stars
2006-06-15 11:21:47 · answer #8 · answered by doganjo 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
group of stars
2006-06-09 22:37:52 · answer #9 · answered by sister 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
figures in stars like the big dipper and such
2006-06-09 22:36:03 · answer #10 · answered by The Whopper 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋