The Constellations

The majority of the common constellations date back to ancient times, but the exact list that we have today did not come into being until the early 20th century. Between 1922 and 1930, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) passed a series of resolutions which divided the celestial sphere into 88 defined areas with proper spellings and abbreviations. The constellations all fit on the celestial sphere like puzzle pieces on a giant 3-D spherical puzzle. Historically speaking, the word constellation was used in reference to a group of stars that represented an object of some sort (like the Big Dipper or Orion). Today, however, the word constellation officially is in reference to the "puzzle pieces" or divisions of the celestial sphere that contain these stars. The common star groups and shapes, like the big dipper, are now called asterisms.

Each constellation name has two forms: the nominative, for use when you're talking about the constellation itself, and the genitive, or possessive, which is used in star names. For instance, Hamal, the brightest star in the constellation Aries (nominative form), is also called Alpha Arietis (genitive form), meaning literally "the Alpha of Aries." This doesn't make life very easy for amateurs, but as the old saying goes, "it is what it is." We have included a chart below outlining the abbreviations and names of each of the 88 constellations.

The Origin of Constellations

Constellations, and their names, are things that humans simply "made up." Various cultures over the centuries have divided and organized the stars in various different ways, though a few sky patterns appear to be universal amongst many. Most likely, this is the result of a common origin—particularly Babel. In other words, if we assume that the night sky was broken up into "constellations" or groups, or patterns, before Babel, then after God divided the people at Babel, they all would have taken their constellations (or knowledge of the night sky) with them in their various "people groups."

However, today, with the exception of a handful of constellations, the night sky has been seen differently by every generation and culture. So, how did we get such strange and varied names for our constellations today—from Greek, Roman, and ancient cultures? In short, when navigators in the 15th century began to explore the seas, they ventured down past the equator and began to notice stars that were not in Ptolemy's catalog. They then organized these new stars into new constellations (mostly stars in the Southern Hemishpere). Later, with the advent of the telescope, astronomers began to create additional constellations to fill in the gaps between the new ones and the traditional ones.

Then, when Rome conquered the Greek-speaking world in around 30 B.C., all of the Greek constellation names were wither translated or transliterated into Latin (which was the language of the Roman Empire). This is why the constellations have both Greek and Latin names and it is also why Latin become the standard language for scientific nomenclature. Yes, it can be very confusing, but as the old saying goes, "it is what it is."

Today, the names of the constellations are kept consistent throughout the world by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).