Constellations and Asterisms

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A Constellation is a loose organization of a pattern of stars representing and object or an area of the sky. The stars in a constellation look as if they are the same distance from the Earth but they are not! They can be 1,000 of light years or better in distance from each other. There are 88 major constellations of which many are name after Greek and Roman Mythology. The constellations are divided into three areas of projections, The North Polar, Mercator and South Polar constellations. The North Polar constellations cannot be seen from the south while, the south polar cannot be seen from the north. The Mercator can see both some of the north and the south polar constellations.

An Asterism is a part of a constellation that may represent another object in within the constellation but is not a constellation itself. For example the "Big Dipper" is an asterism because it belongs to the constellation "Ursa Major."