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In contemporary astronomy, 88 constellations are recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Each constellation is a region of the sky bordered by arcs of right ascension and declination, together covering the entire celestial sphere. Their boundaries were officially adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1928 and published in 1930.

The ancient Mesopotamians and later the Greeks established most of the northern constellations in international use today, listed by the Roman-Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy. The constellations along the ecliptic are called the zodiac. When explorers mapped the stars of the southern skies, European astronomers proposed new constellations for that region, as well as ones to fill gaps between the traditional constellations. Because of their Roman and European origins, every constellation has a Latin name. In 1922, the International Astronomical Union adopted three-letter abbreviations for 89 constellations, the modern list of 88 plus Argo. After this, Eugène Joseph Delporte drew up boundaries for each of the 88 constellations so that every point in the sky belonged to one constellation. When astronomers say that an object lies in a particular constellation, they mean that it is positioned within these specified boundaries.

History

Some constellations are no longer recognized by the IAU, but may appear in older star charts and other references. Most notable is Argo Navis, which was one of Ptolemy's original 48 constellations. In the 1750s the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille divided this into three separate constellations: Carina, Puppis, and Vela.

Modern constellations

The 88 constellations depict 42 animals, 29 inanimate objects, and 17 humans or mythological characters.

Abbreviations

Each IAU constellation has an official three-letter abbreviation based on the genitive form of the constellation name. As the genitive is similar to the base name, the majority of the abbreviations are just the first three letters of the constellation name: Ori for Orion/Orionis, Ara for Ara/Arae, and Com for Coma Berenices/Comae Berenices. In some cases, the abbreviation contains letters from the genitive not appearing in the base name (as in Hyi for Hydrus/Hydri, to avoid confusion with Hydra, abbreviated Hya; and Sge for Sagitta/Sagittae, to avoid confusion with Sagittarius, abbreviated Sgr). Some abbreviations use letters beyond the initial three to unambiguously identify the constellation (for example when the name and its genitive differ in the first three letters): Aps for Apus/Apodis, CrA for Corona Australis, CrB for Corona Borealis, Crv for Corvus. (Crater is abbreviated Crt to prevent confusion with CrA.) When letters are taken from the second word of a two-word name, the first letter from the second word is capitalised: CMa for Canis Major, CMi for Canis Minor. Two cases are ambiguous: Leo for the constellation Leo could be mistaken for Leo Minor (abbreviated LMi), and Tri for Triangulum could be mistaken for Triangulum Australe (abbreviated TrA).

In addition to the three-letter abbreviations used today, the IAU also introduced four-letter abbreviations in 1932. The four-letter abbreviations were repealed in 1955 and are now obsolete, but were included in the NASA Dictionary of Technical Terms for Aerospace Use (NASA SP-7) published in 1965. These are labeled "NASA" in the table below and are included here for reference only.

List

For help with the literary English pronunciations, see the pronunciation key. There is considerable diversity in how Latinate names are pronounced in English. For traditions closer to the original, see Latin spelling and pronunciation.

Asterisms

Various other unofficial patterns exist alongside the constellations. These are known as "asterisms". Examples include the Big Dipper/Plough and the Northern Cross. Some ancient asterisms, for example Coma Berenices, Serpens, and portions of Argo Navis, are now officially constellations.

See also

• Lists of astronomical objects
• List of constellations by area
• Biblical names of stars
• Lists of stars by constellation
• Constellation family
• Galactic quadrant

Notes

1. The constellations Camelopardalis, Columba, and Monoceros, formed by Petrus Plancius in 1592 and in 1613, are often erroneously attributed to Jacob Bartsch and Augustin Royer.

References

1. ^ "The Constellations". International Astronomical Union. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
2. ^ Eugène Delporte; International Astronomical Union (1930). Délimitation scientifique des constellations. At the University press.
3. Russell, Henry Norris (1922). "The New International Symbols for the Constellations". Popular Astronomy. 30: 469. Bibcode:1922PA.....30..469R.
4. "Constellations". Ian Ridpath. Archived from the original on 16 July 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
5. "The Constellations". International Astronomical Union. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
6. NASA Dictionary of terms for Aerospace Use – table V, Constellations
7. ^ OED, 2nd edition
8. ^ Random House Dictionary
9. "Comae Berenices". Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
10. "Definition of dorado". Collins English Dictionary. Archived from the original on 28 November 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
11. Serpens may be divided into Serpens Cauda (serpent's tail) and Serpens Caput (serpent's head), but these disjoint areas are considered part of the same constellation by the IAU.

External links

• The Constellations 1 – Ian Ridpath's list of constellations.
• Ian Ridpath's Star Tales: Constellation Mythology and History – Ian Ridpath's Star Tales.
• VizieR – CDS's archive of constellation boundaries. The text file constbnd.dat gives the 1875.0 coordinates of the vertices of the constellation regions, together with the constellations adjacent to each boundary segment.

v t e Constellation history
v t e 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy after 150 AD Andromeda Aquarius Aquila Ara Argo Navis Aries Auriga Boötes Cancer Canis Major Canis Minor Capricornus Cassiopeia Centaurus Cepheus Cetus Corona Australis Corona Borealis Corvus Crater Cygnus Delphinus Draco Equuleus Eridanus Gemini Hercules Hydra Leo Lepus Libra Lupus Lyra Ophiuchus Orion Pegasus Perseus Pisces Piscis Austrinus Sagitta Sagittarius Scorpius Serpens Taurus Triangulum Ursa Major Ursa Minor Virgo Category
v t e The 41 additional constellations added in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries Vespucci or Corsalius early 16c: Crux Triangulum Australe Vopel 1536: Coma Berenices Keyser & de Houtman 1596: Apus Chamaeleon Dorado Grus Hydrus Indus Musca Pavo Phoenix Tucana Volans Plancius 1613: Camelopardalis Columba Monoceros Habrecht 1621: Reticulum Hevelius 1683: Canes Venatici Lacerta Leo Minor Lynx Scutum Sextans Vulpecula de Lacaille 1763: Antlia Caelum Carina Circinus Fornax Horologium Mensa Microscopium Norma Octans Pictor Puppis Pyxis Sculptor Telescopium Vela
v t e Obsolete constellations (including Ptolemy's Argo Navis) Anguilla Anser Antinous Apes Aranea Argo Navis Asterion Bufo Cancer Minor Cerberus Chara Custos Messium Felis Honores Friderici/Gloria Frederici Gallus Globus Aerostaticus Hippocampus Hirudo Jordanus Leo Palatinus Lilium Limax Lochium Funis Lumbricus Machina Electrica Malus Manis Mons Maenalus Musca Borealis Noctua Officina Typographica Patella Phaethon Polophylax Psalterium Georgianum/Harpa Georgii Quadrans Muralis Ramus Pomifer Robur Carolinum Rosa Scarabaeus Sceptrum Brandenburgicum Sceptrum et Manus Iustitiae Solarium Tarandus/Rangifer Taurus Poniatovii Telescopium Herschelii Testudo Tigris Triangulum Minus Turdus Solitarius Vespa obsolete constellation names Apis Phoenicopterus Serpentarius Xiphias Vultur cadens Vultur volans

v t e 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy after 150 AD
Andromeda Aquarius Aquila Ara Argo Navis Aries Auriga Boötes Cancer Canis Major Canis Minor Capricornus Cassiopeia Centaurus Cepheus Cetus Corona Australis Corona Borealis Corvus Crater Cygnus Delphinus Draco Equuleus Eridanus Gemini Hercules Hydra Leo Lepus Libra Lupus Lyra Ophiuchus Orion Pegasus Perseus Pisces Piscis Austrinus Sagitta Sagittarius Scorpius Serpens Taurus Triangulum Ursa Major Ursa Minor Virgo
Category

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