Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Constellations 
Name: Mary
Status: N/A
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 1993 - 1999
Question:
How do stars form into constellations?

Replies:
Constellations are human inventions. Usually the stars that make up a constellation have no relation to each other; they're generally not part of the same cluster (an exception is the Big Dipper; many of its stars actually do belong to a single open cluster.) A very bright star that is very far away may look similar to a dimmer star that is closer; and if we see two (or more) similar-looking stars in the same part of the sky, it is not unreasonable to associate them. It is believed that the constellations were originally invented thousands of years ago as an aid for learning the stars so that they could be used for navigation by sailors.

RC Winther


Click here to return to the Astronomy Archives

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory
n b