constellation

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

noun
a configuration of stars as seen from the earth

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examples:
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Andromeda
a constellation in the northern hemisphere between Cassiopeia and Pegasus; contains the Andromeda galaxy

Antlia
a faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Hydra and Vela

Apus
a constellation in the polar region of the southern hemisphere near Octans

Aquarius
a zodiacal constellation in the southern hemisphere; between Capricornus and Pisces

Aquila
a constellation in the Milky Way near Cygnus; contains the star Altair

Ara
a constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma

Argo
formerly a large constellation in the southern hemisphere between Canis Major and the Southern Cross; now divided into Carina and Pyxis and Puppis and Vela

Aries
a small zodiacal constellation in the northern hemisphere; between Pisces and Taurus

Charioteer
a conspicuous constellation in the northern hemisphere; between Great Bear and Orion at edge of Milky Way

Bootes
a constellation in the northern hemisphere near Ursa Major

Caelum
a constellation in the southern hemisphere near Columba and Eridanus

Cancer
a small zodiacal constellation in the northern hemisphere; between Leo and Gemini

Canis Major
a constellation to the southeast of Orion; contains Sirius

Canis Minor
a constellation to the east of Orion; contains Procyon

Capricornus
a faint zodiacal constellation in the southern hemisphere; between Sagittarius and Aquarius

Carina
a keel-shaped constellation in the southern hemisphere; contains the start Canopus

Cassiopeia
a W-shaped constellation in the northern hemisphere near Polaris

Centaurus
a conspicuous constellation in the southern hemisphere near the Southern Cross

Cepheus
a faint constellation in the northern hemisphere near Cassiopeia and the pole star

Cetus
a large constellation on the equator near Pisces and Aquarius

Chamaeleon
a faint constellation in the polar region of the southern hemisphere near Apus and Mensa

Circinus
a small faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Musca and Triangulum Australe

Columba
a constellation in the southern hemisphere near Puppis and Caelum

Coma Berenices
a constellation in the northern hemisphere between Ursa Major and Bootes; contains a cluster of some 10,000 galaxies

Corona Borealis
a small constellation in the northern hemisphere between Bootes and Hercules

Corvus
a small quadrilateral constellation in the southern hemisphere near Virgo

Crater
a faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Hydra and Corvus

Cygnus
a constellation in the northern hemisphere between Pegasus and Draco in the Milky Way; contains a black hole

Delphinus
a constellation in the northern hemisphere near Pegasus and Aquila

Dorado
a constellation in the southern hemisphere near Reticulum and Pictor; contains most of the Large Magellanic Cloud

Dragon
a faint constellation twisting around the north celestial pole and lying between Ursa Major and Cepheus

Eridanus
a constellation in the southern hemisphere near Fornax and Cetus

Fornax
a faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Cetus and Phoenix

Gemini
a zodiacal constellation in the northern hemisphere between Taurus and Cancer on the ecliptic

Great Bear
a constellation outside the zodiac that rotates around the North Star

Crane
a small constellation in the southern hemisphere near Phoenix

Hercules
a large constellation in the northern hemisphere between Lyra and Corona Borealis

Hydra
a long faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near the equator stretching between Virgo and Cancer

Hydrus
a constellation in the southern hemisphere near the south celestial pole

Indus
a faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Tucana

Leo
a zodiacal constellation in northern hemisphere between Cancer and Virgo

Lepus
a constellation in the southern hemisphere near Orion and Columba

Libra
a small faint zodiacal constellation in the southern hemisphere; between Virgo and Scorpius

Little Bear
a constellation outside the zodiac that rotates around the North Star

Lupus
a constellation in the southern hemisphere near Centaurus

Lyra
a small constellation in the northern hemisphere near Cygnus and Draco; contains the star Vega

Mensa
a faint constellation in the polar region of the southern hemisphere and containing part of the Large Magellanic Cloud

Microscopium
a faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Sagittarius and Capricornus

Musca
a small constellation in the polar region of the southern hemisphere near the Southern Cross and Chamaeleon

Norma
a small constellation in the southern hemisphere near Lupus and Ara in the Milky Way

Octans
the constellation that includes the southern celestial pole

Ophiuchus
a large constellation in the equatorial region between Hercules and Scorpius

Hunter
a constellation on the equator to the east of Taurus; contains Betelgeuse and Rigel

Pavo
a small constellation near the South Pole between Tucana and Ara

Pegasus
a constellation in the northern hemisphere near Andromeda and Pisces

Perseus
a conspicuous constellation in the northern hemisphere; between Auriga and Cassiopeia and crossed by the Milky Way

Phoenix
a constellation in the southern hemisphere near Tucana and Sculptor

Pictor
a constellation in the southern hemisphere near Dorado and Columba

Pisces
a large faint zodiacal constellation; between Aquarius and Aries

Puppis
a constellation in the southern hemisphere between Vela and Canis Major that shaped like the stern of a boat

Pyxis
a constellation in the southern hemisphere near Puppis and Antlia

Reticulum
a small constellation in the southern hemisphere near Dorado and Hydrus

Sagitta
a small constellation in the northern hemisphere between Cygnus and Aquila and crossed by the Milky Way

Sagittarius
a large zodiacal constellation in the southern hemisphere; between Scorpius and Capricornus

Scorpius
a large zodiacal constellation between Libra and Sagittarius

Sculptor
a faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Phoenix and Cetus

Serpens
a constellation in the equatorial region of the northern hemisphere near Ophiuchus and Corona Borealis

Crux Australis
a small conspicuous constellation in the southern hemisphere in the Milky Way near Centaurus

Taurus
a zodiacal constellation in the northern hemisphere near Orion; between Aries and Gemini

Telescopium
a small constellation in the southern hemisphere near Ara

Triangulum
a small northern constellation near Perseus between Andromeda and Aries

Triangulum Australe
a small bright constellation in the polar region of the southern hemisphere near Circinus and Apus

Tucana
a large faint constellation in the southern hemisphere containing most of the Small Magellanic Cloud

Vela
a constellation in the southern hemisphere between Carina and Pyxis

Virgo
a large zodiacal constellation on the equator; between Leo and Libra

Volans
a small constellation in the polar region of the southern hemisphere near Dorado and Carina

Vulpecula
a constellation in the northern hemisphere near Cygnus and Sagitta

type of:
natural object
an object occurring naturally; not made by man
noun
an arrangement of parts or elements

synonyms: configuration

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types:
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redundancy
(electronics) a system design that duplicates components to provide alternatives in case one component fails

network topology, topology
the configuration of a communication network

chunking, unitisation, unitization
(psychology) the configuration of smaller units of information into large coordinated units

bus, bus topology
the topology of a network whose components are connected by a busbar

loop, loop topology
the topology of a network whose components are serially connected in such a way that the last component is connected to the first component

star, star topology
the topology of a network whose components are connected to a hub

mesh, mesh topology
the topology of a network whose components are all connected directly to every other component

physical topology
the appearance of the network

logical topology
the way the network works

type of:
design, plan
an arrangement scheme

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