by Star*Hopper » Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:03 pm
Depends on what you think a 'constellation' actually is.
A constellation is roughly equivalent to something like the bounded states on a map of, eg, the USA. It's an area of the sky, delineated by boundaries. Constellations, and their boundaries, have changed many times over history, and have practically always varied with various civilizations.
The 'stick figures' most people think are THE constellations (they aren't) are only a caricatural representation of (usually) their namesake....and the individual figures we are subjected to, are HIGHLY arbitrary. It's actually unusual to see sky charts from two independant sources whose 'figures' completely agree.
Incidentally, those stick figures usually represent, or contain what is known as an 'asterism'. For example, many people think the 'Big Dipper' is a constellation -- it isn't. It is rather, an asterism in the constellation's caricature for Ursa Major, or, the Big Bear.
Depends on what you think a 'constellation' actually is.
A constellation is roughly equivalent to something like the bounded states on a map of, [i]eg[/i], the USA. It's an area of the sky, delineated by boundaries. Constellations, and their boundaries, have changed many times over history, and have practically always varied with various civilizations.
The 'stick figures' most people think are THE constellations (they aren't) are only a caricatural representation of (usually) their namesake....and the individual figures we are subjected to, are [u]HIGHLY[/u] arbitrary. It's actually unusual to see sky charts from two independant sources whose 'figures' completely agree.
Incidentally, those stick figures usually represent, or contain what is known as an 'asterism'. For example, many people think the 'Big Dipper' is a constellation -- it isn't. It is rather, an asterism in the constellation's caricature for Ursa Major, or, the Big Bear.