Stars and Constellations

• What constellation is this?

  Cassiopeia

  
• What constellation is this?

  Orion

  
• What constellation is this?

  Cygnus

  
• What constellation is this?

  The Southern Cross

  
• What is this asterism?

  The Plough

  
• What asterism is this?


  The Great Square of Pegasus

  
• What asterism is this?


  The Summer Triangle

  
• What asterism is this?


  Orion's Belt

  
• What is a constellation? 


  A group of stars that form a recognisable pattern.
• How many constellations are there?


  88
• What is an asterism?


  A smaller pattern of stars that either stand alone or are linked to a wider constellation.
• What are optical double stars?


  Two stars that appear to be really close together and can usually only be distinguished by a telescope.
• What are open clusters?


  A crowded group of stars with no particular pattern.
• What are globular clusters?


  A group of stars that have more in the centre and fewer on the outside and held together by gravity.
• What is a nebulae?


  A cloud of dust and gas in the night sky.
• What are comets?


  The frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system, composed of dust, rock and ice and usually have 1 or 2 tails.
• What are meteors?


  Bright streaks of light that cross the sky and leave in just a few seconds.
• What is a supernova?


  A colossal explosion of a star and look like a bright new point of light that are visible for a few weeks before slowly fading.
• What are aurorae?


  Bright green curtains of light in the sky.
• What do artificial satellites look like?


  Fast moving bright points of light across the sky.
• What do aircrafts look like?


  Flashing red lights moving fast across the sky.
• What are circumpolar stars?


  A star that rotates over the course of a year without 'rising' or 'setting' below the horizon.
• What is culmination?

  The point at which an object reaches it highest point in its motion across the sky as it crosses an observer's meridian.
• What is the celestial sphere?


  An apparent sphere that surround the Earth with Earth in the centre that is used to map the night sky.
• How do you know if a star is circumpolar?


  If the Polar Distance (90-dec) < Observer's Latitude