constellation
Other forms: constellations
When you spot the Big Dipper in the night sky, you're looking at part of the constellation called "Ursa Major." A constellation is a group of stars that forms a pattern and has been given a name based on its shape.
The visible night sky is divided into 88 constellations by astronomers. Organizing the stars into specific shapes and patterns helps when people study them, since they're broken down into manageable sections. A constellation can also be a cluster of things, like a constellation of freckles on your friend's nose. The stella in the middle of the word constellation means "star" in Latin, while the entire word means "set with stars."
Definitions of constellation
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a configuration of stars as seen from the earthexamples:Andromedaa constellation in the northern hemisphere between Cassiopeia and Pegasus; contains the Andromeda galaxyAntliaa faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Hydra and VelaApusa constellation in the polar region of the southern hemisphere near OctansAquariusa zodiacal constellation in the southern hemisphere; between Capricornus and PiscesAquilaa constellation in the Milky Way near Cygnus; contains the star AltairAraa constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and NormaArgoformerly a large constellation in the southern hemisphere between Canis Major and the Southern Cross; now divided into Carina and Pyxis and Puppis and VelaAriesa small zodiacal constellation in the northern hemisphere; between Pisces and TaurusCharioteera conspicuous constellation in the northern hemisphere; between Great Bear and Orion at edge of Milky WayBootesa constellation in the northern hemisphere near Ursa MajorCaeluma constellation in the southern hemisphere near Columba and EridanusCancera small zodiacal constellation in the northern hemisphere; between Leo and GeminiCanis Majora constellation to the southeast of Orion; contains SiriusCanis Minora constellation to the east of Orion; contains ProcyonCapricornusa faint zodiacal constellation in the southern hemisphere; between Sagittarius and AquariusCarinaa keel-shaped constellation in the southern hemisphere; contains the start CanopusCassiopeiaa W-shaped constellation in the northern hemisphere near PolarisCentaurusa conspicuous constellation in the southern hemisphere near the Southern CrossCepheusa faint constellation in the northern hemisphere near Cassiopeia and the pole starCetusa large constellation on the equator near Pisces and AquariusChamaeleona faint constellation in the polar region of the southern hemisphere near Apus and MensaCircinusa small faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Musca and Triangulum AustraleColumbaa constellation in the southern hemisphere near Puppis and CaelumComa Berenicesa constellation in the northern hemisphere between Ursa Major and Bootes; contains a cluster of some 10,000 galaxiesCorona Borealisa small constellation in the northern hemisphere between Bootes and HerculesCorvusa small quadrilateral constellation in the southern hemisphere near VirgoCratera faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Hydra and CorvusCygnusa constellation in the northern hemisphere between Pegasus and Draco in the Milky Way; contains a black holeDelphinusa constellation in the northern hemisphere near Pegasus and AquilaDoradoa constellation in the southern hemisphere near Reticulum and Pictor; contains most of the Large Magellanic CloudDragona faint constellation twisting around the north celestial pole and lying between Ursa Major and CepheusEridanusa constellation in the southern hemisphere near Fornax and CetusFornaxa faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Cetus and PhoenixGeminia zodiacal constellation in the northern hemisphere between Taurus and Cancer on the eclipticGreat Beara constellation outside the zodiac that rotates around the North StarCranea small constellation in the southern hemisphere near PhoenixHerculesa large constellation in the northern hemisphere between Lyra and Corona BorealisHydraa long faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near the equator stretching between Virgo and CancerHydrusa constellation in the southern hemisphere near the south celestial poleIndusa faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and TucanaLeoa zodiacal constellation in northern hemisphere between Cancer and VirgoLepusa constellation in the southern hemisphere near Orion and ColumbaLibraa small faint zodiacal constellation in the southern hemisphere; between Virgo and ScorpiusLittle Beara constellation outside the zodiac that rotates around the North StarLupusa constellation in the southern hemisphere near CentaurusLyraa small constellation in the northern hemisphere near Cygnus and Draco; contains the star VegaMensaa faint constellation in the polar region of the southern hemisphere and containing part of the Large Magellanic CloudMicroscopiuma faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Sagittarius and CapricornusMuscaa small constellation in the polar region of the southern hemisphere near the Southern Cross and ChamaeleonNormaa small constellation in the southern hemisphere near Lupus and Ara in the Milky WayOctansthe constellation that includes the southern celestial poleOphiuchusa large constellation in the equatorial region between Hercules and ScorpiusHuntera constellation on the equator to the east of Taurus; contains Betelgeuse and RigelPavoa small constellation near the South Pole between Tucana and AraPegasusa constellation in the northern hemisphere near Andromeda and PiscesPerseusa conspicuous constellation in the northern hemisphere; between Auriga and Cassiopeia and crossed by the Milky WayPhoenixa constellation in the southern hemisphere near Tucana and SculptorPictora constellation in the southern hemisphere near Dorado and ColumbaPiscesa large faint zodiacal constellation; between Aquarius and AriesPuppisa constellation in the southern hemisphere between Vela and Canis Major that shaped like the stern of a boatPyxisa constellation in the southern hemisphere near Puppis and AntliaReticuluma small constellation in the southern hemisphere near Dorado and HydrusSagittaa small constellation in the northern hemisphere between Cygnus and Aquila and crossed by the Milky WaySagittariusa large zodiacal constellation in the southern hemisphere; between Scorpius and CapricornusScorpiusa large zodiacal constellation between Libra and SagittariusSculptora faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Phoenix and CetusSerpensa constellation in the equatorial region of the northern hemisphere near Ophiuchus and Corona BorealisCrux Australisa small conspicuous constellation in the southern hemisphere in the Milky Way near CentaurusTaurusa zodiacal constellation in the northern hemisphere near Orion; between Aries and GeminiTelescopiuma small constellation in the southern hemisphere near AraTrianguluma small northern constellation near Perseus between Andromeda and AriesTriangulum Australea small bright constellation in the polar region of the southern hemisphere near Circinus and ApusTucanaa large faint constellation in the southern hemisphere containing most of the Small Magellanic CloudVelaa constellation in the southern hemisphere between Carina and PyxisVirgoa large zodiacal constellation on the equator; between Leo and LibraVolansa small constellation in the polar region of the southern hemisphere near Dorado and CarinaVulpeculaa constellation in the northern hemisphere near Cygnus and Sagittatype of:natural objectan object occurring naturally; not made by man
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an arrangement of parts or elementssynonyms: configurationtypes:redundancy(electronics) a system design that duplicates components to provide alternatives in case one component failschunking, unitisation, unitization(psychology) the configuration of smaller units of information into large coordinated unitsloop, loop topologythe topology of a network whose components are serially connected in such a way that the last component is connected to the first componentmesh, mesh topologythe topology of a network whose components are all connected directly to every other componentphysical topologythe appearance of the networklogical topologythe way the network works
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