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Some Well Known Asterisms: Plough Big Dipper Ursa Major

The document discusses constellations and asterisms. It defines constellations as patterns of stars designated by the IAU and asterisms as simpler patterns within or spanning constellations. The Plough/Big Dipper is provided as a well-known example of an asterism within the constellation of Ursa Major. The document also discusses how the IAU standardized constellation boundaries and lists some major northern and southern hemisphere circumpolar constellations that never dip below the horizon.

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Hazel L Ibarra
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99 views

Some Well Known Asterisms: Plough Big Dipper Ursa Major

The document discusses constellations and asterisms. It defines constellations as patterns of stars designated by the IAU and asterisms as simpler patterns within or spanning constellations. The Plough/Big Dipper is provided as a well-known example of an asterism within the constellation of Ursa Major. The document also discusses how the IAU standardized constellation boundaries and lists some major northern and southern hemisphere circumpolar constellations that never dip below the horizon.

Uploaded by

Hazel L Ibarra
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Eighty-eight of the traditional and modern Western constellations (based on


Babylonian and Greek constellations of two to five thousand years ago) have
been designated as "official" constellations by the IAU (the International
Astronomical Union). most asterisms are relatively new. Many are small patterns within a
constellation, and some are large patterns made of bright stars from multiple constellations.
Generally an asterism is a simple pattern that is easy to recognize.

Some well known asterisms


The Plough, for example, (also known as the Big Dipper) is a pattern of seven stars within the
constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear. It is undoubtedly the most famous asterism in the
sky, and not just because it is useful as a guide to other stars and constellations. All the stars in
constellation lie at different distances from the Earth. While a constellation looks like its stars are
the same distance away, in reality that is only because stars vary in size and brightness.
Generally, when two stars appear to be the same magnitude in the sky they are actually many
light years apart.
Many constellations are well-known: such as Orion, Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, Cygnus. These are
some of the famous star patterns you first learn when you begin stargazing.

Making constellations official


The International Astronomical Union formally recognized the 48 constellations of the
Northern Hemisphere, and their boundaries, in 1928. They published an official list in
1930. The naming of the constellations of the Southern Hemisphere, however, is a little
more complicated.

A circumpolar constellation stays above the horizon


From an observer’s perspective, from sunset to dawn the sky appears to revolve around
one fixed point in the sky. This location in the heavens is what the Earth’s axis points at:
the celestial pole.

In the Northern Hemisphere, Polaris (the pole star) lies very close to the celestial pole.
The Southern Hemisphere does not have a bright star marking that location. The
constellations that revolve around the celestial pole but do not dip below the horizon
during the night and are circumpolar constellations. In other words, for an observer
these constellations will never set. Your location on Earth determines which
constellations are circumpolar.

There are five major circumpolar constellations in the Northern Hemisphere: Ursa
Major, Ursa Minor, Draco, Cassiopeia and Cepheus. The Southern Hemisphere has
three: Crux, Centaurus and Carina.

Learning to identify constellations


A budding astronomer can easily learn the constellations. Start by finding the brighter
stars and constellations, and remember, it does take practice! There are many excellent
resources and planetarium-type programs available free online. It is certainly worth
learning the constellations, even if we sometimes strain to see what the ancients did.

Bottom line: Constellations and asterisms are patterns of stars. Some asterisms consist
of stars from different constellations, and some asterisms are part of one constellation.

six of the seven stars of the Big Dipper are the brightest
stars in Ursa Major. The dimmest of the seven stars is Megrez
at magnitude 3.32. This star marks the juncture of the handle
and bowl portion of the dipper. The next star up the handle, at
magnitude 1.76, is the brightest star in Ursa Major: Alioth. The
star at the very tip of the handle is magnitude 1.85 Alkaid, the
third brightest in Ursa Major.

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