Constellations

There are 88 constellations, named from ancient times with modern names added as the southern hemisphere sky became more well known. Named originally for the shapes of animals, mythological figures and human-made objects, the constellations now comprise designated areas of the sky with borders, much like an atlas of the Earth. None of the stars in each constellation have any relationship to each other apart from the human ability to make patterns. The stars can be highly variable in their ditances from Earth and from another perspective in the galaxy the patterns would not hold up. The historical constellations have, however, become a convenient method to divide the sky for study. Each constellation contains Deep Sky Objects: binary stars, star clusters, nebulae and external galaxies. Click on the links for each constellation to see descriptions of any deep sky objects I have observed.