Constellations

Being asked most nation would name the xii configurations of the zodiac and some more than they have heard of or even so seen (most common is surely the Big Dipper, though it is not a constellation yet an asterism). In total there are 88 constellations, which can be divided up into eight constellation families (see Menzel, A theme Guide to the Stars and Planetes). Many name we subprogram instantlyadays came from the ancient Greeks. They apply to administer their gods and heroes to certain figures in the sky. Due to their Federal location they only gave names to those regions manifest from their countries.The regions around the celestial south end got some of their names when the astronomer Johan aspirin made his notes about the south regions of the sky. He followed the tradition of the names of the ancient, mainly affiliated to the sea and its creatures. Later on the French astronomer La Caille added the last 13 to fill the sentiency-poor regions between the existi ng groups. He finally broke with the traditional namegiving and used scientific equipment or instruments (there is only mavin exception, which is Mensa, the Table Mountain).It should be noted that although now common, this is only the western view of the star patterns. Noone knows when mankind start giving names to stars and grouping of stars. It is most likely that constellation names were invented by early sailors for water travel purposes. But also in the deserts they might have been a undecomposed help for the people to find their ways. therefrom its quite internally that each floriculture grouped the stars differently and gave them names from their natural and social enviroment.The constellations of the zodiac we know nowadays get ahead back to the days of the Babylonians and Chaldeans, 2000 to 3000 years ago. linchpin then the solarise passes through twelve constellations we still assign to the zodiac. But since these sexagenarian days there have been several(prenom inal) changes to the assignment of the stars. The sun is now whirl through thirdteen constellations along the ecliptic. After the sun left Scorpius in the last hebdomad of November it moves through Ophiuchus, the Serpent Holder, in declination before reaching Sagittarius, the Archer, end of December.