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A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. [1] The first constellations were likely defined in prehistory. People used them to relate stories of their beliefs, experiences, creation, and ...
These former constellations are often found in older books, star charts, or star catalogues. The 88 modern constellation names and boundaries were standardised by Eugene Delporte for the IAU in 1930, under an international agreement, removing any possible astronomical ambiguities between astronomers from different countries. [3]
The constellations were named mostly for exotic animals reported in the travel journals of that period, and were copied in Johann Bayer's influential celestial atlas Uranometria in 1603. The group includes Hydrus , Dorado , Volans , Apus , Pavo , Grus , Phoenix , Tucana , Indus , Chamaeleon , and Musca .
Each IAU constellation has an official three-letter abbreviation based on the genitive form of the constellation name. As the genitive is similar to the base name, the majority of the abbreviations are just the first three letters of the constellation name: Ori for Orion/Orionis, Ara for Ara/Arae, and Com for Coma Berenices/Comae Berenices.
In this list, a star is identified by a lower-case letter of the Greek alphabet, followed by the Latin name of its parent constellation. The Bayer designation uses the possessive form of a constellation's name, which in almost every case ends in is, i or ae; um if the constellation's name is plural (see genitive case for constellations). In ...
The following lists of constellations are available: IAU designated constellations – a list of the current, or "modern", constellations; Former constellations – a list of former constellations; Chinese constellations – traditional Chinese astronomy constellations; List of Nakshatras – sectors along the Moon's ecliptic
The depictions of the constellations in Urania's Mirror are redrawings from those in Alexander Jamieson's A Celestial Atlas, published about three years earlier, and include unique attributes differing from Jamieson's sky atlas, including the new constellation of Noctua the owl, and Norma Nilotica – a measuring device for the Nile floods – held by Aquarius the water bearer.
Star catalogues after Three Stars Each include the MUL.APIN list named after the first Babylonian constellation MUL APIN, "the Plough", which is the current Triangulum constellation plus Gamma Andromedae. It lists, among others, 17 or 18 constellations in the zodiac.