Constellation

A constellation is an officially recognised formation of stars. Ancient astronomers perceived figures, often men or animals, in the night sky, thus ordering its apparent chaos. Such figures were arbitrarily chosen so numerous ancient constellations were independently imagined by different cultures, including those of China and India. The 88 modern constellations which comprise the entire sky, however, derive from civilisations further west. Their boundaries were defined by the International Astronomical Union in 1925. The majority of them are ancient constellations, and have names often associated with Greek mythology while others, mainly situated south of the celestial equator, were introduced in the age of exploration by European explorers and are named after scientific instruments or newly found animal species.

A Greek letter followed by the Latin genitive (possessive) case of a constellation name is conventionally used to designate the brighter stars in a group. For example, the fifth-brightest star in the constellation Eridanus is given a name consisting of the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet and the name of the constellation: "epsilon Eridani", meaning "fifth (star) of Eridanus". The order of brightness is not strictly adhered to, however; for example, β Orionis (Rigel) is brighter than α Orionis (Betelgeuse).

History of the Western constellations

Most constellations have their origins in the ancient Greek, Egyptian and Babylonian cultures. They are mentioned in the Book of Job, as in this apostrophe:

31 "Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades?

Can you loose the cords of Orion?

32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons

or lead out the Bear with its cubs?

In the third century BC Aratos of Soli composed Phainomena, a didactic poem about the mythology of the constellations, which was the basis of the catalog of 48 constellations by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy:

• the 12 constellations of the Zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius and Pisces
• 21 northern constellations: Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco, Cepheus, Bootes, Corona Septentrionalis, Hercules, Lyra, Cygnus, Cassiopea, Perseus, Andromeda, Triangulum, Auriga, Pegasus, Equuleus, Delphinus, Sagitta, Aquila, Ophiuchus and Serpens
• 15 southern constellations: Cetus, Eridanus, Lepus, Orion, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Argo, Hydra, Crater, Corvus, Centaurus, Lupus, Ara, Corona Meridionalis and Piscis Australis.

At the end of the 16th century the Dutch sailors Pieter Dirckszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman suggested twelve new constellations: Apis, Apus Indica, Chamaeleon, Dorado, Grus, Hydrus, Indus, Pavo, Phoenix, Triangulum Australe, Tucana and Piscis Volans. In 1603 these were added by Johann Beyer to his important atlas Uranometria, as well as Coma Berenices.

The Gdansk astronomer Johann Hevelius added 10 further constellations in his maps, published in 1690 (Firmamentum Sobiescianum and Prodomus Astronomiæ): Canes Venatici, Lacerta, Leo minor, Lynx, Uraniæ Sextans, Scutum Sobiescianum, Triangulum Minus, Vulpecula & Anser, Cerberus and Mons Mænalus.

In 1751, the French astronomer abbot Nicolas Louis de Lacaille went to the Cape of Good Hope for the purpose of determining the sun's parallax by observations of the parallaxes of Mars and Venus, and incidentally to make observations on the other southern hemisphere stars. In 1763, Lacaille published the results of this successful undertaking, the observations of ten thousands stars, in his Coelum australe stelligerum. This work introduced 14 new constellations that were named after scientific instruments and artist's tools:

1. L'atelier du sculpteur, Apparatus Sculptoris (Sculptor)
2. Le fourneau chymique, Fornax Chemica (Fornax)
3. L'horloge (Horologium)
4. Le réticule romboïde, Reticulum Rhomboidalis (Reticulum)
5. Le burin du graveur, Cæla Sculptoris (Caelum)
6. Le chevalet du peintre, Equuleus Pictoris (Pictor)
7. La boussole, Pyxis Nautica (Pyxis)
8. La machine pneumatique, Antlia Pneumatica (Antlia)
9. L'octans (Octans)
10. Le compas (Circinus)
11. L'équerre & la règle, Norma et Regula (Norma)
12. Le télescope (Telescopium)
13. Le microscope (Microscopium)
14. La montagne de la table, Mons Mensae (Mensa)

List of the 88 modern constellations

Latin name	Latin genitive	International abbreviation	Number of stars	English name	German name
Andromeda	Andromedae	And	139	Andromeda	Andromeda
Antlia	Antliae	Ant	85	Pump	Luftpumpe
Apus	Apodis	Aps	67	Swallow	Paradiesvogel
Aquarius	Aquarii	Aqr	276	Cup-bearer	Wassermann
Aquila	Aquilae	Aql	146	Eagle	Adler
Ara	Arae	Ara	86	Altar	Altar
Aries	Arietis	Ari	80	Ram	Widder
Auriga	Aurigae	Aur	144	Charioteer	Fuhrmann
Boötes	Bootis	Boo	140	Herdsman	Bootes, Ochsentreiber
Caelum	Caeli	Cae	28	Sculptor's Chisel	Grabstichel
Camelopardis	Camelopardalis	Cam	138	Giraffe	Giraffe
Cancer	Cancri	Can	92	Crab	Krebs
Canes Venatici	Canum Venaticorum	CVn	88	Hunting Dogs	Jagdhunde
Canis Major	Canis Majoris	CMa	178	Great Dog	Großer Hund
Canis Minor	Canis Minoris	CMi	37	Little Dog	Kleiner Hund
Capricornus	Capricorni	Cap	134	Horned Goat	Steinbock
Carina	Carinae	Car	268	Keel	Schiffskiel
Cassiopeia	Cassiopeiae	Cas	126	Cassiopeia	Cassiopeia
Centaurus	Centauri	Cen	389	Centaur	Centaur
Cepheus	Cephei	Cep	159	Cepheus	Cepheus
Cetus	Ceti	Cet	321	Whale	Wal
Chamaeleon	Chamaeleontis	Cha	50	Chameleon	Chamaeleon
Circinus	Circini	Cir	48	Compass	Kompass
Columba	Columbae	Col	112	Dove	Taube
Coma Berenices	Comae	Com	70	Berenice's Hair	Haar der Berenike
Corona Australis	Coronae Australis	CrA	49	Southern Crown	Südliche Krone
Corona Borealis	Coronae Aorealis	CrB	31	Northern Crown	Nördliche Krone
Corvus	Corvi	Crv	53	Raven	Rabe
Crater	Crateris	Crt	53	Bowl	Becher
Crux	Crucis	Cru	54	(Southern) Cross	Kreuz
Cygnus	Cygni	Cyg	197	Swan	Schwan
Delphinus	Delphini	Del	31	Dolphin	Delfin
Dorado	Doradus	Dor	43	Dolphin-fish	Schwertfisch
Draco	Draconis	Dra	200	Dragon	Drache
Equuleus	Equulei	Equ	16	Foal	Füllen
Eridanus	Eridani	Eri	293	Eridanus	Eridanus
Fornax	Fornacis	For	110	Furnace	Chemischer Ofen
Gemini	Geminorum	Gem	106	Twins	Zwillinge
Grus	Gruis	Gru	106	Crane	Kranich
Hercules	Herculis	Her	227	Hercules	Hercules
Horologium	Horologii	Hor	68	Clock	Pendeluhr
Hydra	Hydrae	Hya	393	Hydra	Wasserschlange
Hydrus	Hydri	Hyi	64	Snake	Männliche Wasserschlange
Indus	Indi	Ind	84	American Indian	Indianer
Lacerta	Lacertae	Lac	48	Lizard	Eidechse
Leo	Leonis	Leo	161	Lion	Löwe
Leo Minor	Leonis Minoris	LMi	40	Smaller Lion	Kleiner Löwe
Lepus	Leporis	Lep	103	Hare	Hase
Libra	Librae	Lib	122	Balance	Waage
Lupus	Lupi	Lup	159	Wolf	Wolf
Lynx	Lyncis	Kyn	87	Lynx	Luchs
Lyra	Lyrae	Lyr	69	Lyre	Leier
Mensa	Mensae	Men	44	Table	Tafelberg
Microscopium	Microscopii	Mic	69	Microscope	Mikroskop
Monoceros	Monocerotis	Mon	165	Unicorn	Einhorn
Musca	Muscae	Mus	75	Fly	Fliege
Norma	Normae	Nor	64	Square	Winkelmaß
Octans	Octantis	Oct	88	Octant	Oktant
Ophiuchus	Ophiuchi	Oph	209	Ophiuchus	Schlangenträger
Orion	Orionis	Ori	186	Orion	Orion
Pavo	Pavonis	Pav	129	Peacock	Pfau
Pegasus	Pegasi	Peg	178	Pegasus	Pegasus
Perseus	Persei	Per	136	Perseus	Perseus
Phoenix	Phoenicis	Phe	139	Phoenix	Phönix
Pictor	Pictori	Pic	67	Easel	Maler
Pisces	Piscium	Psc	128	Fish (plural)	Fische
Piscis Austrinus	Piscis Austrini	PsA	75	Southern Fish	Südliche Fische
Puppis	Puppis	Pup	313	Poop	Hinterdeck
Pyxis	Pyxidis	Pyx	65	Box	Kompass
Reticulum	Reticuli	Ret	34	Net	Netz
Sagitta	Sagittarae	Sge	18	Arrow	Pfeil
Sagittarius	Sagittarii	Sgr	298	Archer	Schütze
Scorpius	Scorpii	Sco	185	Scorpion	Skorpion
Sculptor	Sculptoris	Scl	131	Sculptor	Bildhauer
Scutum	Scuti	Sct	33	Shield	Schild
Serpens	Serpentis	Ser	123	Snake	Schlange
Sextans	Sextantis	Sex	75	Sextant	Sextant
Taurus	Tauri	Tau	188	Bull	Stier
Telescopium	Telescopii	Tel	87	Telescope	Fernrohr
Triangulum	Trianguli	Tri	227	Triangle	Dreieck
Triangulum Australe	Trianguli Australis	TrA	46	Southern Triangle	Südliches Dreieck
Tucana	Tucanae	Tuc	81	Toucan	Tukan
Ursa Major	Ursae Maioris	UMa	227	Great Bear	Großer Bär
Ursa Minor	Ursae Minoris	UMi	54	Little Bear	Kleiner Bär
Vela	Velorum	Vel	248	Sails	Segel
Virgo	Virginis	Vir	271	Virgin	Jungfrau
Volans	Volantis	Vol	46	Flying Fish	Fliegender Fisch
Vulpecula	Vulpeculae	Vul	62	Little Fox	Füchschen

Note that Serpens is in two non-contiguous portions but is counted as a single constellation.