The Constellations

Quick Links

• Why Are There Constellations?
• IAU and the 88 Constellations
• Constellation Figures
• Constellation Names
• Charts and Tables
• More Information
• Acknowledgements
• References

Why Are There Constellations?

Ever since people first wandered the Earth, great significance has been given to objects seen in the sky. Ancient peoples noticed that the rising and setting points of the Sun and the Moon, as well as the visibility of stars, change throughout the year. Therefore, all cultures have long traditions of using astronomy as a tool of survival. They developed astronomical methods for navigation in space and time, in particular, to determine their calendars: to measure equinoxes and solstices and to predict the seasonal behaviour of nature. For the Inuit in the far north, this was the prediction of the return of the Sun; for the Egyptians, it was the flood of the Nile; for the Babylonians and others in the monsoon zone, it was the predominant direction of the wind; and for the Aboriginal Australians, it was the emu’s breeding cycle. 

How Humans Made Constellations

The images interpreted by cultural groups from patterns of stars depend on the natural environment and cultural habits: only people who have seen emus can interpret such a bird in an arbitrary pattern in the sky. The effect of human cognition that makes us see patterns in arbitrary configurations (like clouds, mountain chains, or stars) is studied by gestalt psychology. Several network analysis studies have shown that the stellar patterns were grouped in similar ways all over the Earth (Bucur 2021, 2022; Kemp et al., 2022). However, humans are also social animals and love to exchange. As we invented languages and symbols, we learned to exchange knowledge and communicate with others of our species. Observations of the skyscape and celestial patterns have always been exchanged among people of various cultures. 

Practical Application

In particular, the Chinese and the Inca both grouped their constellations according to the four seasons. In the case of the Inca, each season was accompanied by “dark constellations”: constellations formed from the dark clouds in the Milky Way, not from stars (Gullberg et al., 2020; e.g., Figure 1). The animals seen in this procession indicate events in nature: when the constellation of the “Llama nursing its offspring” appears, llama babies are born, when Fox appears, fox babies are born, when then the constellations of the Snake and the Toad appear, it is the wet season, and so on.

The ancient Chinese constructed tiny constellations, some consisting of only one to three stars. However, these small constellations were grouped into super-constellations, covering extended areas and dividing the sky roughly into quarters. Their names are not similarly directly linked to nature as the Inca constellations, though they are also rooted in nature-based belief systems.

The 88 IAU Constellations

Figure 3: The front cover of the IAU book edition: Delporte’s Délimitation scientifique des constellations. Image Credit: Michael E. Bakich library

By the 19th century, over a hundred constellations could be found on various star charts since there was nothing to stop astronomers from inventing new figures between the existing ones, which they often did to flatter a patron or monarch. In the 19th century, there were several changes in the scientific method and research focus. Many variable stars were discovered, stellar transients were investigated, and astrophysics with electric measurements of brightnesses and spectra of stars was developed. With the high number of investigated stars, new nomenclatures emerged, many of them relying on the constellation names. Therefore, one of the IAU’s first tasks after its formation was to define an internationally agreed set of constellations. At its first General Assembly held in Rome in 1922, the IAU’s Commission on Notations and Units agreed on a list of 88 constellations covering the entire sky, with three-letter abbreviations of their Latin names. These are the 88 IAU constellations that are still recognised today, as described in more detail below.

But these constellations still lacked officially defined boundaries, and this was the next task to be tackled. At the second IAU General Assembly held in Cambridge, England, in 1925, Eugène Delporte of the Royal Observatory in Brussels presented proposals for a clearly defined system of constellation boundaries drawn along lines of right ascension and declination, the celestial equivalents of longitude and latitude on Earth. The IAU took up the suggestion and appointed Delporte to prepare official boundaries with the specific requirement that all known variable-brightness stars should remain within the constellation to which they had already been assigned. This resulted in some awkward-looking outlines.

Delporte’s new boundaries were approved by the IAU at its General Assembly at Leiden in 1928, and the results were published in 1930 in Délimitation Scientifique des Constellations along with an accompanying Atlas Céleste. So constellations, which started out as imaginary patterns of stars, became scientifically defined areas of sky. Nowadays, when astronomers say something is “in” a given constellation, they mean it is simply within those defined boundaries, not that it is part of any star pattern.

Constellation Figures

In contrast to the historical and Indigenous concepts of constellations as patterns of light points in the night sky, such as the Chinese star chains or the lists of stars under a common headline in historical star catalogues, the IAU defines a constellation as an area in the sky surrounded by its boundary. The boundaries indicated by sky coordinates are the defining quantity. Note that these boundaries, though the standard recognised by the IAU, are not necessarily universally utilised: many cultures have had their own asterisms for hundreds or thousands of years and continue to use them.

In star maps or charts, it is common to mark line patterns representing the shapes that give the name to the constellations. For IAU constellations, no stick figures or figurative painting styles are formally defined. Consequently, the same constellation may have several variants in its visual representation.

In addition to the constellation line patterns, there are also asterism line patterns. Asterisms are distinct from constellations. They are patterns or shapes of stars that are not related to the known constellations but are widely recognised. Examples include: the seven bright stars in Ursa Major, known as “the Plough” in Europe, “the Big Dipper” in America and “the Northern Dipper” traditionally in China; and the “Summer Triangle”, a large triangle seen in the summer and autumn night sky of the northern hemisphere, composed of the bright stars (from three different constellations) Altair, Deneb and Vega. Asterisms can even consist of star clusters (like “the Seven Sisters”, or the Pleiades cluster), groups of star clusters (like “the Golden Gate of the Ecliptic” consisting of the Pleiades and Hyades clusters) or of only one bright star (like the Greek star Capella or the Chinese single star-asterisms). 

Significance

It should be realised that the groups of stars that made up the original constellation patterns have, in most cases, no physical connection with each other. All constellations are a matter of perspective. They are simply our Earth-based interpretation of two-dimensional star patterns on the celestial sphere, composed of stars of various different brightnesses and at widely differing distances from Earth.

IAU Constellation Names

Each Latin constellation name has two forms: the nominative, used when talking about the constellation itself, and the genitive, or possessive, used in star names. For instance, Hamal, the brightest star in the constellation Aries (nominative form), is also called Alpha Arietis (genitive form), meaning literally “the alpha of Aries”.

The table below includes the Latin names for each IAU constellation, their abbreviated names and a chart showing their boundaries. These are a mix of the ancient Greek patterns recorded by Ptolemy in addition to some more “modern” patterns observed later by astronomers.

Pronunciation of Constellation Names

Experienced astronomers, both professional and amateur, may pronounce constellation names differently but have no trouble understanding each other. There is no single correct way to pronounce a constellation name, and several sources address the issue. See, for example:

• Sky & Telescope web page on constellations names and pronunciation
• A link to the text “Latin Pronunciation Demystified “ is available on http://www.ai.uga.edu/mc/latinpro.pdf
• Rumrill (1936) “Star Name Pronunciation” 

• Charts and tables

  The charts below were produced in collaboration with Sky & Telescope magazine (Roger Sinnott and Rick Fienberg). Alan MacRobert's constellation patterns, drawn in green on the charts, were influenced by those of H. A. Rey but, in many cases, were adjusted to preserve earlier traditions. Each chart was produced using the J2000 epoch. The images are released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
  
  

  Quick links : And , Ant, Aps, Aqr, Aql, Ara, Ari, Aur, Boo, Cae, Cam, Cnc, CVn, CMa, CMi, Cap, Car, Cas, Cen, Cep, Cet, Cha, Cir, Col, Com, CrA, CrB, Crv, Crt, Cru, Cyg, Del, Dor, Dra, Equ, Eri, For, Gem, Gru, Her, Hor, Hya, Hyi, Ind, Lac, Leo, LMi, Lep, Lib, Lup, Lyn, Lyr, Men, Mic, Mon, Mus, Nor, Oct, Oph, Ori, Pav, Peg, Per, Phe, Pic, Psc, PsA, Pup, Pyx, Ret, Sge, Sgr, Sco, Scl, Sct, Ser, Sex, Tau, Tel, Tri, TrA, Tuc, UMa, UMi, Vel, Vir, Vol, Vul , Chart text legend

  Charts Graphical Legend
  
  

  Charts

  Name / Pronunciation	Abbr.	English Name	Genitive / Pronunciation	Downloads
  Andromeda an-DRAH-mih-duh	And	the Chained Maiden	Andromedae an-DRAH-mih-dee	Constellation charts GIF (117 KB) PDF (829 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (2 KB)
  Antlia ANT-lee-uh	Ant	the Air Pump	Antliae ANT-lee-ee	Constellation charts GIF (111 KB) PDF (815 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Apus APE-us, APP-us	Aps	the Bird of Paradise	Apodis APP-oh-diss	Constellation charts GIF (155 KB) PDF (836 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Aquarius uh-QUAIR-ee-us	Aqr	the Water Bearer	Aquarii uh-QUAIR-ee-eye	Constellation charts GIF (124 KB) PDF (879 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Aquila ACK-will-uh, uh-QUILL-uh	Aql	the Eagle	Aquilae ACK-will-ee, uh-QUILL-ee	Constellation charts GIF (108 KB) PDF (820KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Ara AIR-uh, AR-uh	Ara	the Altar	Arae AIR-ee, AR-ee	Constellation charts GIF (114 KB) PDF (807 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Aries AIR-eez, AIR-ee-yeez	Ari	the Ram	Arietis uh-RYE-ih-tiss	Constellation charts GIF (118 KB) PDF (805 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Auriga aw-RYE-guh	Aur	the Charioteer	Aurigae aw-RYE-ghee	Constellation charts GIF (122 KB) PDF (381 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Boötes bo-OH-teez	Boo	the Herdsman	Boötis bo-OH-tiss	Constellation charts GIF (147 KB) PDF (823KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Caelum SEE-lum	Cae	the Engraving Tool	Caeli SEE-lye	Constellation charts GIF (97 KB) PDF (780 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Camelopardalis cuh-MEL-oh- PAR-duh-liss	Cam	the Giraffe	Camelopardalis cuh-MEL-oh- PAR-duh-liss	Constellation charts GIF (156 KB) PDF (888 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (2 KB)
  Cancer CAN-ser	Cnc	the Crab	Cancri CANG-cry	Constellation charts GIF (108 KB) PDF (814 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Canes Venatici CANE-eez (CAN-eez) ve-NAT-iss-eye	CVn	the Hunting Dogs	Canum Venaticorum CANE-um (CAN-um) ve-nat-ih-COR-um	Constellation charts GIF (106 KB) PDF (790 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Canis Major CANE-iss (CAN-iss) MAY-jer	CMa	the Great Dog	Canis Majoris CANE-iss (CAN-iss) muh-JOR-iss	Constellation charts GIF (134 KB) PDF (849 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Canis Minor CANE-iss (CAN-iss) MY-ner	CMi	the Lesser Dog	Canis Minoris CANE-iss (CAN-iss) mih-NOR-iss	Constellation charts GIF (83 KB) PDF (766 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Capricornus CAP-rih-CORN-us	Cap	the Sea Goat	Capricorni CAP-rih-CORN-eye	Constellation charts GIF (98 KB) PDF (818 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Carina cuh-RYE-nuh, cuh-REE-nuh	Car	the Keel	Carinae cuh-RYE-nee, cuh-REE-nee	Constellation charts GIF (143 KB) PDF (882 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Cassiopeia CASS-ee-uh-PEE-uh	Cas	the Seated Queen	Cassiopeiae CASS-ee-uh-PEE-ye	Constellation charts GIF (139 KB) PDF (846 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Centaurus sen-TOR-us	Cen	the Centaur	Centauri sen-TOR-eye	Constellation charts GIF (178 KB) PDF (549 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Cepheus SEE-fyoos, SEE-fee-us, SEF-ee-us	Cep	the King	Cephei SEE-fee-eye, SEF-ee-eye	Constellation charts GIF (200 KB) PDF (873 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (2 KB)
  Cetus SEE-tus	Cet	the Sea Monster	Ceti SEE-tie	Constellation charts GIF (122 KB) PDF (873 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Chamaeleon cuh-MEAL-yun, cuh-MEAL-ee-un	Cha	the Chameleon	Chamaeleontis cuh-MEAL-ee-ON-tiss	Constellation charts GIF (183 KB) PDF (834 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Circinus SER-sin-us	Cir	the Drawing Compass	Circini SER-sin-eye	Constellation charts GIF (131 KB) PDF (818 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Columba cuh-LUM-buh	Col	the Dove	Columbae cuh-LUM-bee	Constellation charts GIF (99 KB) PDF (797 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Coma Berenices COE-muh BER-uh-NICE-eez	Com	the Bernice's Hair	Comae Berenices COE-mee BER-uh-NICE-eez	Constellation charts GIF (101 KB) PDF (788 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Corona Australis cuh-ROE-nuh aw-STRAL-iss3	CrA	the Southern Crown	Coronae Australis cuh-ROE-nee aw-STRAL-iss3	Constellation charts GIF (107 KB) PDF (787 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Corona Borealis cuh-ROE-nuh bor-ee-AL-iss3	CrB	the Northern Crown	Coronae Borealis cuh-ROE-nee bor-ee-AL-iss3	Constellation charts GIF (89 KB) PDF (771 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Corvus COR-vus	Crv	the Crow	Corvi COR-vye	Constellation charts GIF (74 KB) PDF (763 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Crater CRAY-ter	Crt	the Cup	Crateris cruh-TEE-riss	Constellation charts GIF (75 KB) PDF (787 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Crux CRUCKS, CROOKS	Cru	the Southern Cross	Crucis CROO-siss	Constellation charts GIF (119 KB) PDF (811 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Cygnus SIG- SIG-nu	Cyg	the Swan	Cygni SIG-nye	Constellation charts GIF (174 KB) PDF (866 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Delphinus del-FINE-us, del-FIN-us	Del	the Dolphin	Delphini del-FINE-eye, del-FIN-eye	Constellation charts GIF (81 KB) PDF (767 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Dorado duh-RAH-do	Dor	the Swordfish	Doradus duh-RAH-dus	Constellation charts GIF (108 KB) PDF (795 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Draco DRAY-co	Dra	the Dragon	Draconis druh-CONE-iss	Constellation charts GIF (153 KB) PDF (898 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (2 KB)
  Equuleus eh-QUOO-lee-us	Equ	the Little Horse	Equulei eh-QUOO-lee-eye	Constellation charts GIF (69 KB) PDF (749 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Eridanus ih-RID-un-us	Eri	the River	Eridani ih-RID-un-eye	Constellation charts GIF (167 KB) PDF (941 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (2 KB)
  Fornax FOR-naks	For	the Furnace	Fornacis for-NAY-siss	Constellation charts GIF (108 KB) PDF (811 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Gemini JEM-uh-nye, JEM-uh-nee	Gem	the Twins	Geminorum JEM-uh-NOR-um	Constellation charts GIF (122 KB) PDF (832 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Grus GRUSS, GROOS	Gru	the Crane	Gruis GROO-iss	Constellation charts GIF (127 KB) PDF (829 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Hercules HER-kyuh-leez	Her	the Hercules	Herculis HER-kyuh-liss	Constellation charts GIF (156 KB) PDF (829 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Horologium hor-uh-LOE-jee-um	Hor	the Clock	Horologii hor-uh-LOE-jee-eye	Constellation charts GIF (107 KB) PDF (788 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Hydra HIGH-druh	Hya	the Female Water Snake	Hydrae HIGH-dree	Constellation charts GIF (127 KB) PDF (929 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (2 KB)
  Hydrus HIGH-drus	Hyi	the Male Water Snake	Hydri HIGH-dry	Constellation charts GIF (143 KB) PDF (821 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Indus IN-dus	Ind	the Indian	Indi IN-dye	Constellation charts GIF (131 KB) PDF (834 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Lacerta luh-SER-tuh	Lac	the Lizard	Lacertae luh-SER-tee	Constellation charts GIF (124 KB) PDF (812 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Leo LEE-oh	Leo	the Lion	Leonis lee-OH-niss	Constellation charts GIF (142 KB) PDF (820 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Leo Minor LEE-oh MY-ner	LMi	the Lesser Lion	Leonis Minoris lee-OH-niss mih-NOR-iss	Constellation charts GIF (103 KB) PDF (799 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Lepus LEEP-us, LEP-us	Lep	the Hare	Leporis LEP-or-iss	Constellation charts GIF (94 KB) PDF (787 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Libra LEE-bruh, LYE-bruh	Lib	the Scales	Librae LEE-bree, LYE-bree	Constellation charts GIF (111 KB) PDF (819 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Lupus LOOP-us	Lup	the Wolf	Lupi LOOP-eye	Constellation charts GIF (137 KB) PDF (857 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Lynx LINKS	Lyn	the Lynx	Lyncis LIN-siss	Constellation charts GIF (111 KB) PDF (796 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Lyra LYE-ruh	Lyr	the Lyre	Lyrae LYE-ree	Constellation charts GIF (91 KB) PDF (776 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Mensa MEN-suh	Men	the Table Mountain	Mensae MEN-see	Constellation charts GIF (161 KB) PDF (827 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Microscopium my-cruh-SCOPE-ee-um	Mic	the Microscope	Microscopii my-cruh-SCOPE-ee-eye	Constellation charts GIF (87 KB) PDF (776 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Monoceros muh-NAH-ser-us	Mon	the Unicorn	Monocerotis muh-NAH-ser-OH-tiss	Constellation charts GIF (110 KB) PDF (821 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Musca MUSS-cuh	Mus	the Fly	Muscae MUSS-see, MUSS-kee	Constellation charts GIF (134 KB) PDF (828 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Norma NOR-muh	Nor	the Carpenter's Square	Normae NOR-mee	Constellation charts GIF (118 KB) PDF (803 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Octans OCK-tanz	Oct	the Octant	Octantis ock-TAN-tiss	Constellation charts GIF (140 KB) PDF (821 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Ophiuchus OFF-ee-YOO-kus, OAF-ee-YOO-kus	Oph	the Serpent Bearer	Ophiuchi OFF-ee-YOO-kye, OAF-ee-YOO-kye	Constellation charts GIF (175 KB) PDF (854 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (2 KB)
  Orion oh-RYE-un, uh-RYE-un	Ori	the Hunter	Orionis or-eye-OH-niss	Constellation charts GIF (181 KB) PDF (873 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Pavo PAY-vo	Pav	the Peacock	Pavonis puh-VOE-niss	Constellation charts GIF (143 KB) PDF (859 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Pegasus PEG-us-us	Peg	the Winged Horse	Pegasi PEG-us-eye	Constellation charts GIF (136 KB) PDF (868 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (2 KB)
  Perseus PER-see-us, PER-syoos	Per	the Hero	Persei PER-see-eye	Constellation charts GIF (127 KB) PDF (836 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Phoenix FEE-nix	Phe	the Phoenix	Phoenicis fuh-NICE-iss	Constellation charts GIF (119 KB) PDF (828 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Pictor PICK-ter	Pic	the Painter's Easel	Pictoris pick-TOR-iss	Constellation charts GIF (108 KB) PDF (794 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Pisces PICE-eez, PISS-eez	Psc	the Fishes	Piscium PICE-ee-um, PISH-ee-um	Constellation charts GIF (87 KB) PDF (859 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Piscis Austrinus PICE-iss (PISS-iss) aw-STRY-nus	PsA	the Southern Fish	Piscis Austrini PICE-iss (PISS-iss) aw-STRY-nye	Constellation charts GIF (87 KB) PDF (778 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Puppis PUP-iss	Pup	the Stern	Puppis PUP-iss	Constellation charts GIF (185 KB) PDF (868 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Pyxis PIX-iss	Pyx	the Mariner Compass	Pyxidis PIX-ih-diss	Constellation charts GIF (84 KB) PDF (775 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Reticulum rih-TICK-yuh-lum	Ret	the Reticle	Reticuli rih-TICK-yuh-lye	Constellation charts GIF (107 KB) PDF (786 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Sagitta suh-JIT-uh	Sge	the Arrow	Sagittae suh-JIT-ee	Constellation charts GIF (90 KB) PDF (773 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Sagittarius SAJ-ih-TARE-ee-us	Sgr	the Archer	Sagittarii SAJ-ih-TARE-ee-eye	Constellation charts GIF (163 KB) PDF (878 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Scorpius SCOR-pee-us	Sco	the Scorpion	Scorpii SCOR-pee-eye	Constellation charts GIF (194 KB) PDF (874 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Sculptor SCULP-ter	Scl	the Sculptor	Sculptoris sculp-TOR-iss	Constellation charts GIF (119 KB) PDF (810 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Scutum SCOOT-um, SCYOOT-um	Sct	the Shield	Scuti SCOOT-eye, SCYOOT-eye	Constellation charts GIF (120 KB) PDF (784 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Serpens SER-punz	Ser	the Serpent	Serpentis ser-PEN-tiss	Constellation charts (Serpens Caput) GIF (112 KB) PDF (780 KB) TIF Constellation boundary (Serpens Caput) TXT (1 KB) Constellation charts (Serpens Cauda) GIF (126 KB) PDF (791 KB) TIF Constellation boundary (Serpens Cauda) TXT (1 KB)
  Sextans SEX-tunz	Sex	the Sextant	Sextantis sex-TAN-tiss	Constellation charts GIF (83 KB) PDF (782 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Taurus TOR-us	Tau	the Bull	Tauri TOR-eye	Constellation charts GIF (115 KB) PDF (832 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Telescopium tel-ih-SCOPE-ee-um	Tel	the Telescope	Telescopii  tel-ih-SCOPE-ee-eye	Constellation charts GIF (148 KB) PDF (834 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Triangulum try-ANG-gyuh-lum	Tri	the Triangle	Trianguli try-ANG-gyuh-lye	Constellation charts GIF (89 KB) PDF (764 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Triangulum Australe try-ANG-gyuh-lum aw-STRAL-ee	TrA	the Southern Triangle	Trianguli Australis try-ANG-gyuh-lye aw-STRAL-iss	Constellation charts GIF (124 KB) PDF (815 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Tucana too-KAY-nuh, too-KAH-nuh	Tuc	the Toucan	Tucanae too-KAY-nee, too-KAH-nee	Constellation charts GIF (127 KB) PDF (806 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Ursa Major ER-suh MAY-jur	UMa	the Great Bear	Ursae Majoris ER-suh muh-JOR-iss	Constellation charts GIF (174 KB) PDF (885 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Ursa Minor ER-suh MY-ner	UMi	the Little Bear	Ursae Minoris ER-suh mih-NOR-iss	Constellation charts GIF (135 KB) PDF (800 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Vela VEE-luh, VAY-luh	Vel	the Sails	Velorum vee-LOR-um, vuh-LOR-um	Constellation charts GIF (131 KB) PDF (850 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Virgo VER-go	Vir	the Maiden	Virginis VER-jin-iss	Constellation charts GIF (98 KB) PDF (831 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Volans VOH-lanz	Vol	the Flying Fish	Volantis vo-LAN-tiss	Constellation charts GIF (123 KB) PDF (812 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)
  Vulpecula vul-PECK-yuh-luh	Vul	the Fox	Vulpeculae vul-PECK-yuh-lee	Constellation charts GIF (124 KB) PDF (805 KB) TIF Constellation boundary TXT (1 KB)

  
  Charts Text Legend
  

  Each constellation comes with the following basic information:

• Name
• Pronunciation of the name
• Abbreviation
• English Name
• Genitive
• Pronunciation of the genitive
• Chart for screen view (GIF)
• Chart for printing (PDF in A4 format)
• Boundary coordinates (TXT)

Explanation of the fields:

1. The name is the Latin name adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1930.
2. Pronunciation as described above.
3. Abbreviation, the standard three-letter form of the Latin name.
4. The popular name in English.
5. The genitive is the possessive form of the constellation’s name in Latin. For example, alpha Orionis is the alpha star in the constellation of Orion.
6. Pronunciation as described above.
7. Chart in GIF format, 1000 pixels wide.
8. Chart in PDF format, to be printed in A4 format.
9. A text file containing a set of coordinates that defines the boundaries of the constellations in the sky. The format is:
   HH MM SS.SSSS| DD.DDDDDDD|XXX
   
   Where:
   HH MM SS.SSSS defines the right ascension hour, minute and second with J2000 coordinates
   DD.DDDDDDD defines the declination with J2000 coordinates
   XXX is the abbreviation of the constellation name
   | is the separator of the fields
   
   Example:
   22 57 51.6729| 35.1682358|AND

More Information

• Report from the 1922 IAU General Assembly

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the contributions of WGSN President, Susanne M. Hoffmann, IAU OAO Deputy Director, Kelly Blumenthal, WGSN Vice President, Eric Mamajek, and WGSN members Robert H. van Gent, Ian Ridpath and Javier Mejuto (Honduras National Outreach Coordinator), IAU Director of Communications, Lars Lindberg Christensen (originator of the first version of this Theme), and the Head of the IAU Webteam, Raquel Yumi Shida.

References

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