Constellations
Have you ever looked into the night sky and made shapes out of the stars? Do you see lots of stars where you live? Do you know the name of the closest star to earth?
One of the earliest descriptions of constellations can be found in an epic poem titled Phaenomena, written by Aratus, a Greek poet living around 250 BC. The poem, 732 versus in length, attempts to describe the patterns and purpose of the constellations while offering clues, based on the locations of the stars, of weather to come; a celestial almanac written in a time when mythological creatures ruled, Zeus was god and the earth was believed to be a stationary orb in the center of the universe.
The word constellation is of Latin origin that can be translated as “set with stars.” Making sense of the night sky by mapping out the stars helped in navigation, kept alive the legends of ancient gods and heros and was as an indicator of the seasons to come.
The word constellation is of Latin origin that can be translated as “set with stars.” Making sense of the night sky by mapping out the stars helped in navigation, kept alive the legends of ancient gods and heros and was as an indicator of the seasons to come.
