What Are Constellations? Constellations are groups of stars that when viewed together, and ‘connected’, form some form of picture. Some of the most well known constellations include Ursa Major, (or the Big Dipper, pictured above), Orion, Ursa Minor (or the Little Dipper), and Cassiopeia. They can be very useful if you know where they are located. For example, the North Star, or Polaris, is located in the Ursa Minor constellation. Navigators have used this star for thousands or years in order to find the direction north.
It requires imagination in order to locate constellations. Many of them don’t seem to look like anything, but if you look at them long enough, and use a little bit of imagination, you can easily make out the pictures that the constellations are supposed to represent.
So why are constellations worth showing on the 7 Wonders of the Universe Tour? The answer to that is simple. It is usually hard for people to make out the pictures in constellations, so we feel that it if important for us to teach people how to locate and make out constellations. They exist because of the imagination and dedications of hundreds of astronomers, philosophers, poets, and other such people. It is usually hard in the big city to even see the stars at night, so we feel we want big city people to have the opportunity to go up and see all the beautiful constellations up close and personal.
