Constellations
About the Author: This information bite is by Sonal Nagesh of 6C. Governed by a curious mind, she loves to read and explore scientific facts

Constellations are a group of stars in the night sky which make images of humans and animals. Each constellation is given a name after some animals and mythological creatures. They are viewed before sunrise and after sunset. Here are some famous constellations.

Ursa Major – Great bear or Saptarishi Mandal

  

Orion the Hunter

Canis Major

Hydra

Zodiac Constellations
There are 12 zodiac constellations:
●    Taurus (Bull)
●    Gemini (Twins)
●    Cancer (Crab)
●    Leo (Lion)
●    Virgo (Virgin)
●    Libra (Scales)
●    Scorpius (Scorpion)
●    Sagittarius (Archer)
●    Capricorn (Goat)
●    Aquarius (Aquarius)
●    Pisces (2 Fish)
●    Aries (Ram)

Original uses of constellations
●    Ancient Farmers used constellations to tell them when to plant and harvest their crops (crop cycle –

when they see one constellation, they used to plant one crop, when they see another, they used to harvest it)
●    Constellations have also been used for navigation
●    Constellations are used to locate other objects such as galaxies, nebulae, etc.
●    Constellations were also used to tell time  
Few more points
●    There are two pointers in Ursa Major (Dubhe and Merak) which point to the North star in Ursa Minor
●    Canis major is the greater dog and has the brightest star in the sky – Sirius
●    Hydra is a water snake and is the largest constellation in the sky
●    Orion is also called The Hunter and has a star (Betelgeuse) which is 650 times bigger than the sun