WHAT ARE CONSTELLATIONS?

HOW MANY CONSTELLATIONS ARE THERE?

The word constellation refers to a certain area of the sky along with all the stars in it. Till now the sky has been divided into 88 constellations in all. Various constellations have different shapes.

To begin with, ancient Babylonians discovered 12 constellations that are the basis of astrology. These twelve constellations were named during 2500-2000 B.C.

Later on, the Greek and the Roman astronomers observed a number of more constellations in the two-thirds of the northern sky and named them after animals and mythological characters. By the time of Ptolemy (100 A.D.), the number of known constellations had reached 48.

Between 1400's and 1700's European sailors explored the southern seas and observed more constellations in the one-third of the remaining (southern) sky. These constellations were named after scientific instruments, and animals. Thus the number of constellations came to be 88 in all.

In some constellations, there are well known groups of stars. These groups are called asterisms. The big dipper is an asterism in the constellation Ursa Major (Great Bear). Little Dipper is another asterism located in the Ursa Minor (Little Bear).

Remember that some of the 88 constellations can be seen only during certain periods of the year because of the revolution of the earth around the sun.

CONSTELLATIONS USED IN ASTROLOGY

The 12 constellations used in astrology are:

1.Aries (Ram)

2.Taurus (Bull)

3.Gemini (Twins)

4.Cancer (Crab)

5.Leo (Lion)

6.Virgo (Virgin)

7.Libra (Scales)

8.Scorpio (Scorpion)

9.Sagittarius (Archer)

10.Capricorn (Goat)

11.Aquarius (Water-carrier)

12.Pisces (Fishes)