A constellation is a group of stars that forms an imaginary outline or pattern on the celestial sphere, typically representing an animal, mythological person or creature, a god, or an inanimate object.
Thuban, designation Alpha Draconis, is a star in the constellation of Draco. A relatively inconspicuous star in the night sky of the Northern Hemisphere, it is historically significant as having been the north pole star from the 4th to 2nd millennium BC.
Ursa Major is a constellation in the northern sky, whose associated mythology likely dates back into prehistory. Its Latin name means "greater she-bear", standing as a reference to and in direct contrast with nearby Ursa Minor, the lesser bear. In antiquity, it was one of the original 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy, and is now the third largest constellation of the 88 modern constellations.
Ursa Minor, also known as the Little Bear, is a constellation in the Northern Sky. Like the Great Bear, the tail of the Little Bear may also be seen as the handle of a ladle, hence the North American name, Little Dipper: seven stars with four in its bowl like its partner the Big Dipper. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations. Ursa Minor has traditionally been important for navigation, particularly by mariners, because of Polaris being the North Star.
Traditional Chinese astronomy has a system of dividing the celestial sphere into asterisms or constellations, known as "officials".
A circumpolar star is a star, as viewed from a given latitude on Earth, that never sets below the horizon due to its apparent proximity to one of the celestial poles. Circumpolar stars are therefore visible from said location toward the nearest pole for the entire night on every night of the year.
Chinese astrology is based on the traditional astronomy and calendars. The development of Chinese astrology is tied to that of astronomy, which came to flourish during the Han Dynasty.
Beta Ursae Minoris, formally named Kochab, is the brightest star in the bowl of the Little Dipper asterism, and only slightly fainter than Polaris, the northern pole star and brightest star in Ursa Minor. Kochab is 16 degrees from Polaris and has an apparent visual magnitude of 2.08. The distance to this star from the Sun can be deduced from the parallax measurements made during the Hipparcos mission, yielding a value of 130.9 light-years.
The Ursa Major Moving Group, also known as Collinder 285 and the Ursa Major association, is a nearby stellar moving group – a set of stars with common velocities in space and thought to have a common origin in space and time. In the case of the Ursa Major group, all the stars formed about 300 million years ago. Its core is located roughly 80 light years away. It is rich in bright stars including most of the stars of the Big Dipper.
Chi Ursae Majoris, formally named Taiyangshou, is a star in the constellation of Ursa Major. It is approximately 246 light-years from the Sun.
The Big Dipper (US) or the Plough is a large asterism consisting of seven bright stars of the constellation Ursa Major; six of them are of second magnitude and one, Megrez (δ), of third magnitude. Four define a "bowl" or "body" and three define a "handle" or "head". It is recognized as a distinct grouping in many cultures.
In astronomy, a circumpolar constellation is a constellation that never sets below the horizon, as viewed from a location on Earth. Due to Earth's rotation and axial tilt with respect to the Sun, the stars and constellations can be divided into two categories. Those stars and constellations that never rise or set are called circumpolar. The rest are divided into seasonal stars and constellations.
Chinese star names are named according to ancient Chinese astronomy and astrology. The sky is divided into star mansions and asterisms. The system of 283 asterisms under Three Enclosures and Twenty-eight Mansions was established by Chen Zhuo of the Three Kingdoms period, who synthesized ancient constellations and the asterisms created by early astronomers Shi Shen, Gan De and Wuxian. Since the Han and Jin Dynasties, stars have been given reference numbers within their asterisms in a system similar to the Bayer or Flamsteed designations, so that individual stars can be identified. For example, Deneb is referred to as 天津四.
The flag of the Community of Madrid is crimson red, with seven five-pointed stars in silver, placed four and three in the centre of the field.
The Three Stars mansion is one of the twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the western mansions of the White Tiger. This collection of seven bright stars is visible during winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
The Inuit have traditional names for many constellations, asterisms and stars. A number of these constellations overlap with, or can be found within, more commonly known western constellations:
Struve 1694 is a double star in the constellation Camelopardalis.
Constellation families are collections of constellations sharing some defining characteristic, such as proximity on the celestial sphere, common historical origin, or common mythological theme. In the Western tradition, most of the northern constellations stem from Ptolemy's list in the Almagest, and most of the far southern constellations were introduced by sailors and astronomers who traveled to the south in the 16th to 18th centuries. Separate traditions arose in India and China.
The Four Advisors is a traditional Chinese asterism found in the Purple Forbidden enclosure. It consists of four stars found in the modern constellations of Ursa Minor and Camelopardalis and represents the four assistants of ancient emperors. During the Qing dynasty, a star from the constellation Draco was added to the asterism.
