Page 75 - DK Children's Encyclopedia

Constellations SEE ALSO

▸ ▸ Ancient Greece
p.18

Ancient civilizations looked at the night sky and ▸ ▸ Galaxies p.116
grouped stars into patterns or constellations to ▸ ▸ Myths and
represent heroes, creatures, and objects. As the Earth legends p.178

moves, the constellations appear to move across the sky. ▸ ▸ Navigation p.182
The stars are all at different distances from the Earth. ▸ ▸ Seasons p.221
▸ ▸ Stars p.242
This star is called
Menkent, meaning
Modern constellations “shoulder of
Astronomers today look at 88 the Centaur.”
constellations. Some can be seen from
both the north and south parts of the
world, others from only one or the other.

This star
is called
Mizar.

Betelgeuse is a red
supergiant star. Centaurus
Ursa Major This constellation
Also known as the Big Dipper, represents a half-man,
Ursa Major (“great bear”) can half-horse creature
only be seen from the northern from Greek myth. It is
half of Earth. only visible from the
southern half of Earth.
Navigation
Ancient sailors used the constellations to find
where they were. By looking at the pattern of stars
they could work out where they were on Earth. One
key signpost was Polaris, the North Star.
Orion’s
belt Over thousands of
years, stars shift and
constellations
change their
shape.

Orion
The hunter, Orion, is one of the
most well-known constellations.
Three bright stars line up to make
Orion’s belt.
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