| Beehive |
Located in the constellation Cancer. The Beehive is an open star cluster, and
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". |
| Belt of Orion |
Formed by the stars delta Ori, epsilon Ori and zeta Ori; in Latin
America it is called the "Three Marys". |
| Bier |
Built by the four stars alpha UMa, beta UMa, gamma UMa and delta UMa. |
| Big Dipper |
The 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 of its 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 |
Aka. 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 |
Formed by iota And, kappa And, lambda And and psi And |
| Guardians of the Pole |
Simply 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 |
An open cluster; V-shaped group superposed on alpha Tau, gamma Tau, delta
Tau and epsilon Tau |
| Hydra Head |
Built 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 |
The Keystone is formed by the epsilon Her, zeta Her, eta
Her and pi Her |
| Kids |
The Kids are: 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 |
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 Orion Nebula (M42) 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 |