Fortune Telling Collection - Zodiac Guide - What is a constellation? What's the role?

What is a constellation? What's the role?

Constellation refers to the stars in the sky. Since ancient times, humans have associated the three or five stars with mythical figures or artifacts. The synthesis of these superstitions is called "constellation". Constellations have played an extremely important role in the popularization of astronomy.

The importance of constellations has been relatively reduced in modern times, but for night sky lovers, constellations have not lost their charm. Through its fascinating legend, whenever there is a major astronomical phenomenon, astronomers, popular science workers and the media will always set off an astronomical upsurge in society, especially among young people.

In order to facilitate the study and observation of many stars in the sky, people divide the starry sky into several regions, and each region is a constellation. It's hard to say clearly when humans began to have the concept of constellation. This astronomical knowledge was known long before there was a historical record. The name of the constellation probably comes from the sailors who sailed early. The origin of constellations may be completely different between civilizations in different regions, but with the expansion and mutual influence of civilizations, the culture of constellations also includes the process of integration.

Extended data:

Identify—

Constellations have long been regarded as an important symbol for sailors and travelers to distinguish their directions. With the development of science and technology, the role of constellations in direction identification has gradually weakened, but spacecraft still determine their position and course by identifying bright stars. For starry sky lovers, the identification of constellations is often the identification of bright stars.

In the northern hemisphere, the Polaris in Ursa minor is the most important basis for determining the direction in the starry sky. It can be seen from celestial coordinate system that the height of Polaris is consistent with the local latitude; But in fact, because the North Star is not bright, people usually use the Big Dipper to find the North Star, so as to determine the direction.

Extend the handle of Beidou (β to α) by 5 times to find Polaris. In the case of low accuracy requirements, it can be considered that the direction of Polaris is the north. In the low latitudes of the northern hemisphere, the Big Dipper will fall below the horizon. At this time, according to the "M" (or "W") Cassiopeia opposite the Big Dipper, the position of the North Star can be determined.

Baidu encyclopedia-constellation