stars and constellations

• polaris - north star
• polaris - tip of little dipper's "handle"
• sirius - brightest star in the night sky
• sirius - "dog star"
• ursa major - "big bear"
• ursa major - contains the big dipper
• ursa minor - "little bear"
• ursa minor - contains little dipper
• canis major - "big dog"
• canis major - contains sirius
• canis minor - "little dog"
• orion - the hunter
• proxima centauri - closest star to earth but is too small to be seen from the night sky
• alpha centauri - closest star on earth that is visible in the night sky
• pegasus - winged horse
• constellation - official group of stars
• asterism - obvious pattern or group of stars with a popular name
• light year - distance that light travels in one year
• milky way - galaxy where solar system is
• supernova - explosion of a big star
• black hole - remains of a supernova explosion with very strong gravity from which nothing can escape