Asterisms are sub- or supersets of constellations which build a constellation itself, or a group of stars, physically related or not. Best kown ist the Big Dipper as a part of the Great Bear. But there are more than just this one. Below you find the:
Beehive | Located in the constellation Cancer.
It is an open star cluster, which is also called Praesepe
or M44 and faintly visible to the naked eye. With the stars gamma Can and delta Can it forms another asterisms called the Asses and the Manger. |
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Belt of Orion | is being formed by the stars delta Ori,
epsilon Ori and zeta Ori; in Latin
Amerika it is called the "Three Marys".
|
Bier | is being build by the four stars alpha
UMa, beta UMa, gamma UMa and delta UMa.
|
Big Dipper | most famous asterism. Formed by the following
Stars of the Great Bear alpha UMa, beta UMa,
gamma UMa, delta UMa, epsilon UMa, zeta UMa
and eta UMa it is often called
"Wain" (Wagon) or "Charles's
Wain" because it resemblance with it when
the Dipper handle is thought to be the wagon
tongue. |
Bull of Poniatowski | A T-shaped asterism just east of gamma Oph;
it is formed by the stars 66 Oph, 67 Oph, 68
Oph and 70 Oph |
Circlet | the western fish; the circlet is formed by gamma
Psc, b Psc, theta Psc, iota Psc, 19 Psc, lambda
Psc and kappa Psc. |
Coalsack | Actually this is not a true asterism, but a
dark patch on the Milky Way, in the constellation
Crux. By the African Bushmen it was called
"Old Bag". |
Frederick's Glory | is formed by iota And, kappa And,
lambda And and psi And |
Guardians of the Pole | just beta UMi and gamma UMi |
Head of Cetus | presented by alpha Cet, gamma Cet,
xi_2 Cet, mu Cet and lambda Cet |
Heavenly G | nine bright stars forming a G-shaped group.
Seven of these stars are of 1st magnitude. In
order they are: Aldebaran (alpha Tau),
Capella (alpha Aur), Castor (alpha Gem),
Pollux (beta Gem), Procyon (alpha CMi),
Sirius (alpha CMa), Rigel (beta Ori),
Bellatrix (gamma Ori) and Betelgeuse (alpha
Ori) |
Hyades | open cluster; V-shaped group superposed on alpha
Tau, gamma Tau, delta Tau and epsilon
Tau |
Hydra Head | build by delta Hya, epsilon Hya,
zeta Hya, eta Hya, rho Hya
and sigma Hya |
Job's Coffin | formed by the four stars alpha Del, beta
Del, gamma Del and delta Del |
Keystone | is formed by the epsilon Her, zeta
Her, eta Her and pi Her |
Kids | are called epsilon Aur, zeta Aur
and eta Aur |
Lozenge | build by the four stars beta Dra, gamma
Dra, xi Dra and nu Dra |
Milk Dipper | The following five members of the
constallation Sagittarius can be interpreted as
an inverted dipper in the Milky Way: zeta Sgr,
tau Sgr, sigma Sgr, phi Sgr
and lambda Sgr. This asterism is also
known as The Teapot. |
Northern Cross | is formed by the leading stars of the
constellation Cygnus: alpha Cyg, beta
Cyg, gamma Cyg, delta Cyg and epsilon
Cyg |
Northern Fly | This is a small triangle over the rear of Aries
|
Pleiades | Located in the constellation Taurus.
This open star cluster is one of the Messier
objects, M45. It also known as Seven
Sisters or, in Latin America the Seven
Little Goats |
Segment of Perseus | the stars eta Per, gamma Per, alpha Per, delta Per, epsilon Per and zeta Per forming an arc. |
Sickle | formed by alpha Leo, eta Leo, gamma
Leo, zeta Leo, mu Leo and epsilon
Leo |
Square of Pegasus | At the edges of that square you find alpa
Peg, beta Peg, gamma Peg and alpha
And |
Sword of Orion | theta Ori and iota Ori; between
them the famous is located. |
Venus Mirror | also on Orion; the belt stars (delta Ori,
epsilon Ori and zeta Ori), the
sword and eta Ori build up this asterism.
The sword forms the handle of the diamond-shaped
mirror. |
Y of Aquarius | also called Water Jar; the Y
is build by gamma Aqr, eta Aqr, pi
Aqr and zeta Aqr |