Topic 3.1 - Constellations Flashcards
On a clear, moonless night, well away from light pollution sources, about how many stars is it possible to see with the naked eye?
2000
Since when have stars been grouped in patterns?
Since antiquity (ancient/classical times before the middle ages)
What is a constellation?
An area of sky containing a pattern of stars
What is an asterism?
Smaller groups of stars that form familiar shapes such as the plough
Describe nebulae.
Faint, fuzzy patches of light
What is the name of the brightest star in the night sky?
Sirius
What star does the Orion belt point to.
Aldebaran
What is the Pleiades?
An open cluster of relatively young stars
What 3 stars does the asterism the Winter Triangle contain?
Betelgeuse, Sirius and Procyon
Apart form names, how else are stars labelled?
With Greek letters α, β, γ, δ, ε… In this scheme, α is the brightest, β is the second brightest and so on. To complete the labelling, the greek letter is followed by a shortened three-letter version of the genitive case of the constellation name. e.g. gem (gemini)
Give some examples of how the greek letter star labelling system works.
γ Gem = The 3d brightest star in Gemini
β Ori = The 2nd brightest star in Orion
ε UMi = The 5th brightest star in Ursa Minor
Who by and when was the greek letter star labelling system introduced?
Johann bayer early in the 17th century
Who by and when was the first list of constellations published?
Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy) in 150 AD in his compendium called The Almagest
Where did a lot of the work in the Almagest originate?
Hiparchus of Nicaea
What sort of things did the farmers, shepherds, navigators and desert-travellers name their constellations after?
Heroes and heroines from the legends and the mythological stories that they had heard
