Question

What is constellation? Name any two constellations.

Answer 1

Hint: We know that constellation is one of the very basic terms in astronomy. We know that constellations are related to stars. We could name any two among the 88 constellations that are formally accepted by the international astronomical union (IAU). Also, give a brief description about the two.

Complete answer:
A constellation is a group of stars that together form specific patterns. They are easily recognizable in the night sky and there are 88 official constellations.
The stars that form the constellation may not be necessarily next to each other as they are distributed in vast space in three dimensions. Hence, different stars forming a part of a constellation may be at different distances from earth but may appear to be on the same plane as they are being viewed from very far. The variation is also seen in size and temperature along with the difference in distance from earth.
Aries and Ursa major are the two examples of constellations.
You may be familiar with the zodiac, they are the constellations that fall on the plane of elliptic and aries is one among them. Aries represents the horn of a ram and ursa major represents the great bear.

Note:
Not all the billions of stars form shapes for constellations but all of them fall within the boundaries of the known 88 constellations. A star's location is marked by the coordinates of the celestial sphere. Most of the names of these constellations are derived from ancient Roman, Greek and middle eastern cultures.