Constellations

The 88 Constellations

Humans are pattern-seeking animals. We can distinct patterns from the rest and this is the reason why we are so good at Maths and Science! This pattern seeking was used to the fullest while recognizing shapes among the stars. That’s what constellations are! They are patterns of stars! Most of the Northern stars have been visible to the more enlightened sections of the human civilization for thousands of years. The southern stars were first plotted into constellations as late as the 16th Century! 

Ancient Roman and Ancient Greek constellations still dominate our viewpoint of the heavens. However, these are not the only constellations that have been seen by human beings. Different civilizations look upon stars with different view-points; one group of humans may see a bear, but some other group might seen a rhino depending on nature that’s prevalent around them. 

In ancient times, the subtle changes in the sky were taken into account by the people for determining their fortunes. The twelve signs of the zodiac were actually the twelve constellations through which the Solar System bodies travelled; they didn’t travel through any other constellation. Why? Well, most of the bodies in the solar system are equally inclined, so when viewing from Earth, they appear to move only throughout this line, which is called the Ecliptic. By the way, Solar System bodies here refers to those objects in the Solar System that were known in ancient times – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Moon and the Sun. 

Orion. Betelgeuse and Rigel are it’s most prominent stars

You may have noticed something. In the previous paragraph, I used past tense while describing the fact that solar system bodies move only through twelve constellations. Why is that? Well, because, now a thirteenth constellation is also in the path of the Solar System bodies, Ophiuchus. That’s why horoscopes are no more than games made for the amusement of the current generations!

 How is this possible? It is an effect called precession. Over time, due to the wobbles of the Earth’s axis caused by the gravitational influences from all around the Earth, the axis points to a different part in the sky. When this happens, other bodies appear as if they are moving through different places! In fact, the current pole star, Polaris, is one of the few dozen stars that will be
Pole stars in the future or were pole stars in the past! How do we know this? Science, of course. 

In modern times, there are 88 constellations. These groups of stars which still carry the myths and legacies of ancient times, are still important to us scientifically. They give us a way to organize the stars and look for them in the night sky. Some of the more famous constellations are Orion the hunter, Ursa Major, Canis Major, the twelve zodiac constellations and many more. Many consider the big dipper as a constellation in its own right. However, the Big Dipper is merely a part of the constellation of Ursa Major; it is what we call an Asterism! 

Constellations are just one of the infinite number of evidences of the brilliance and pattern-seeking nature of the human mind. Our relationship with the stars has been ever dwindling; they were of the utmost importance in ancient times, but are steadily losing their value. Nevertheless, we are children of the stars and because of this, we shall always have an intimate relationship with our mothers. How are we the children of stars? 

The Big Bang forged only four elements; Hydrogen, Helium and trace amounts of Lithium and Beryllium. We are made mostly of Carbon. Where did this Carbon originate from? The answer- Stars. Stars, when they get older, start fusing Helium and the steady process resulted in the formation of heavier atoms which were flung out into orbit when the star died. Everything that is on this Earth once found its place at the center of a nuclear fusion powerhouse!