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Constellations

Asterisms: Signposts in the Sky

May 11, 2012

Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday on Twitter Humans have been grouping stars into patterns since the beginning of time, each culture placing its own myths and folklore in the sky, but it wasn’t until 1930 that the International Astronomical Union (IAU) divided the sky into 88 constellations each [...]

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Galaxy Names

February 15, 2010

Galaxy names come in a bewildering range of forms; from descriptive (e.g. Whirlpool Galaxy, Black Eye Galaxy, The Eyes), to ones that seem to relate to a constellation (e.g. Andromeda Galaxy, Hydra A, Leo I), to ones named after a person (e.g. Stephan’s Quintet, Malin I, Mayall’s Object), to letter+number combinations (e.g. the Messier catalog [...]

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Astronomy Without A Telescope – Let’s Go Around The Room

February 6, 2010

My dog keeps me in touch with the universe. There are important reasons why he has to go out into the backyard about 9pm and then again around 5.00am – and at both times there are stars out. He has this very particular sound, the canine equivalent of ahem, to let me know it’s time. [...]

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Star Map

January 15, 2010

A star map or star chart is one of the most basic tools for finding constellations, galaxies, and stars in the sky. You may download star maps, which are also known as star charts, from the Web. Just enter either the keywords “star map” or “star chart” on your favorite search box. Either that or [...]

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Constellations and Stars

January 4, 2010

What are the constellations? We know the ones from the Western and Eastern Zodiac for fortune telling and we also know where to find the Big Dipper; however, most of us don’t really know what the constellations are and how they came to be. In essence constellations are arbitrary groupings of stars that mankind has [...]

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