Did you know there are 88 constellations in the night sky? Let's learn about the constellations and other star formations, their history, their connection to the zodiac, and how to find some of them.

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Disappointed you didn't mention the most famous star whose name is directly related to its constellation:

Alpha Centauri

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Back in July, I was pretty darned bored at work, so I printed out a list of the 88 modern constellations and decided so see if I could make a rhyme out of them. It was pretty slow going, until I decided to use the Constellation Families in the Wikipedia Article as a starting point.


This is what I wound up with:

notovny's Constellation Rhyme:

Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Canes Venatici,
Draco, Bootes, Coma Berenices,
Leo Minor, Corona Borealis,
Lynx and then there's Camelopardalis

Leo, Virgo, and Aquarius,
Taurus, Gemini, Sagittarius,
Capricornus, Cancer, Aries,
Libra, Scorpius, and Pisces

Perseus, Cassiopeia,
Triangulum, and Auriga,
Cetus, Lacerta, Pegasus,
Andromeda and Cepheus

Hercules, Cygnus, Crux, Aquilla,
Ophiuchus, Vulpecula
Corona Australis, Crater, Hydra,
Triangulum Australe, Ara, Lyra
Sagitta, Scutum, Sextans, Corvus,
Serpens, Lupus, and Centaurus.

Orion, Monoceros
Canis Major, Canis Minor, and Lepus.

Eridanus and Equuleus,
Pyxis, Piscis Austrinus,
Delphinus and Carina,
Puppis, Vela, and Columba.

Norma, Mensa, Telescopium,
Sculptor, Pictor, Horologium,
Octans, Caelum, Microscopium,
Circinus, Fornax, Antlia, Reticulum.

Chameleon, Volans, and Dorado
Phoenix, Apus, Musca, Pavo
Grus, Tucana, and Hydrus
One more Constellation: Indus.

Yeah, the rhymes,rhythms, and phrasing gets a bit forced at times. I'd defend myself by saying "I'm not a professional poet/songwriter," but that's generally a pretty poor excuse.

I wound up recording a sloppy mp3 version that contains numerous hideous mispronunciations. Should probably go back and edit it at some point.

Did you know that Carina (the Keel) Vela (the Sail) and Puppis (the Stern) used to make a much larger, no longer existing, ancient constellation called Argo Navis, which translates into 'Jason's Ship' from the ancient Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts?

Eric

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This was my short movie on constellations which I put on YouTube

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A very good video demonstration on how constellations appear from two different perspectives.

Eric

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“Out yonder there was this huge world, which exists independently of us human beings and which stands before us like a great, eternal riddle, at least partially accessible to our inspection and thinking. The contemplation of this world beckoned like a liberation.” - Albert Einstein

My Astronomy Site
My Geology Site

Fraser and Pamela,

You guys got sidereal and solar days mixed up in the podcast. It is the Solar day that is about four minutes longer as the Earth needs to rotate about a degree more to get the sun in the same position in the sky as opposed to the stars. The stars rise about 4 minutes earlier each night, which is why the sidereal day is only about 23h 56m 4.1s in length.

Taras