Chapter 6
Catalogues and Constellations
Abstract Constellations in the night sky have been important to many cultures.
Astronomers have adopted the Greek constellations to provide a regional map for
the location of objects. Since before the invention of the telescope, astronomers have
been classifying and cataloguing objects, so that there are now in excess of 200 such
catalogues. Thus, knowing which catalogue is most appropriate to the task at hand
is an important tool in observational astronomy.
6.1 Introduction
Astronomers like to order things, to find them, to identify what they are, and to put
them into neat pigeonholes, perhaps not always successfully, as the ongoing problem
with Pluto testifies. Clearly, with 200 billion stars in the Milky Way and 200 billion
galaxies, not to mention the billions of solar system objects, nebulae, supernova
remnants, X-ray sources, exoplanets, masers, radio sources, etc., there is a lot to
catalogue.
Consequently, there is a very large number of astronomical catalogues (in excess of
200), some of which have considerable overlap and some that have a small number of
members. This chapter is here to help you to identify an object type from a catalogue
and highlight the more important and
6.2 Constellations, Asterisms, and Bright Stars
Many cultures have used the heavens to tell stories and illustrate their cultural
mythologies. Stars were grouped to form images in a time when skies were darker,
the night more intimidating, and imaginations perhaps more vivid than in more
modern times. These imaginary figures became the constellations. The stars within
the constellations are just random associations with no actual physical connection
between members of any one constellation; however, they have an important role
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. Gallaway, An Introduction to Observational Astrophysics,
Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43551-6_6
63
Catalogues and Constellations
Abstract Constellations in the night sky have been important to many cultures.
Astronomers have adopted the Greek constellations to provide a regional map for
the location of objects. Since before the invention of the telescope, astronomers have
been classifying and cataloguing objects, so that there are now in excess of 200 such
catalogues. Thus, knowing which catalogue is most appropriate to the task at hand
is an important tool in observational astronomy.
6.1 Introduction
Astronomers like to order things, to find them, to identify what they are, and to put
them into neat pigeonholes, perhaps not always successfully, as the ongoing problem
with Pluto testifies. Clearly, with 200 billion stars in the Milky Way and 200 billion
galaxies, not to mention the billions of solar system objects, nebulae, supernova
remnants, X-ray sources, exoplanets, masers, radio sources, etc., there is a lot to
catalogue.
Consequently, there is a very large number of astronomical catalogues (in excess of
200), some of which have considerable overlap and some that have a small number of
members. This chapter is here to help you to identify an object type from a catalogue
and highlight the more important and
6.2 Constellations, Asterisms, and Bright Stars
Many cultures have used the heavens to tell stories and illustrate their cultural
mythologies. Stars were grouped to form images in a time when skies were darker,
the night more intimidating, and imaginations perhaps more vivid than in more
modern times. These imaginary figures became the constellations. The stars within
the constellations are just random associations with no actual physical connection
between members of any one constellation; however, they have an important role
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. Gallaway, An Introduction to Observational Astrophysics,
Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43551-6_6
63