A constellation is a group of stars that are considered to form imaginary outlines or meaningful

patterns on the celestial sphere, typically representing animals, mythological people or gods,
mythological creatures, or manufactured devices.[1] The 88 modern constellations are formally
defined regions of the sky together covering the entire celestial sphere.[2]

Origins for the earliest constellations likely goes back to prehistory, whose now unknown creators
collectively used them to related important stories of either their beliefs, experiences, creation or
mythology. As such, different cultures and countries often adopted their own set of constellations
outlines, some that persisted into the early 20th Century. Adoption of numerous constellations
have significantly changed throughout the centuries. Many have varied in size or shape, while
some became popular then dropped into obscurity. Others were traditionally used only by various
cultures or single nations.

The Western-traditional constellations are the forty-eight Greek classical patterns, as stated in both
Aratus' work Phenomena or Ptolemy's Almagest — though their existence probably predates these
constellation names by several centuries. Newer constellations in the far southern sky were added
much later during the 15th to mid-18th century, when European explorers began travelling to the
southern hemisphere. Twelve important constellations are assigned to the zodiac, where the Sun,
Moon, and planets all follow the ecliptic. The origins of the zodiac probably date back into
prehistory, whose astrological divisions became prominent around 400BCE within Babylonian or
Chaldean astronomy.[3]

In 1928, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) ratified and recognized 88 modern
constellations, with contiguous boundaries defined by right ascension and declination. Therefore,
any given point in a celestial coordinate system lies in one of the modern constellations. Some
astronomical naming systems give the constellation where a given celestial object is found along
with a designation in order to convey an approximate idea of its location in the sky. e.g. The
Flamsteed designation for bright stars consists of a number and the genitive form of the
constellation name.

Another type of smaller popular patterns or groupings of stars are called asterisms, and differ from
the modern or former constellations by being areas with identifiable shapes or features that can be
used by novice observers learning to navigate the night sky. Such asterisms often refer to several
stars within a constellation or may share boundaries with several constellations. Examples of
asterisms include: The Pleiades and The Hyades within the constellation of Taurus, the False Cross
crossing the southern constellations of both Carina and Vela, or Venus' Mirror in the constellation
of Orion.