Adrian Dening's Stars Over Somerset

Wednesday, 24 January 2024 17:00

Monday 29th January to Sunday 4th February 2024

It's a bit quiet on the astronomy front next week, with nothing particularly remarkable to see, but of course there are always plenty of regular targets to spot. Probably the most obvious are the various constellations of stars.

Now what exactly is a constellation? A constellation is defined as an area of the sky that contains visible stars forming a perceived pattern or shape. They date back to early mythology with different countries and cultures inventing their own.

Probably one of the most obvious is the constellation of Orion that is very easy to identify at this time of year. If you venture outside around 7pm, Orion will be located towards the south east, with the constellation of Gemini to the left of it and Taurus above.

In Greek mythology, Orion is "The Hunter". In contrast, Indian culture considered the constellation to represent Nataraja, "The Cosmic Dancer" and some European cultures it is referred to as an "Archer".

To solve all this confusion, back in 1922 the International Astronomical Union formally accepted 88 different constellations.

Astronomers also talk about "asterisms" and these are just small patterns of stars that look like particular shapes. They might be located within a constellation. For example, the "belt" of Orion with the stars Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka is considered to be an asterism, as is the "Sword of Orion" that hangs below the belt with the Great Orion Nebula M42 contained within it.