The Zodiac + Constellations
Constellations are...
Constellations are groups of stars that form a shape or picture. There are 88 constellations that the stars in our sky are divided into. The constellations mostly got their names from Latin roots dating back to the Roman Empire. For example the constellation Scorpius got it's name from the Latin word for scorpion. The Crux, which is also known as The Southern Cross, is the brightest constellation however the one with the greatest number of visible stars is Centaurus which contains 101 stars. The largest constellation is called Hydra (The Water Snake), which takes up over 3.158% of the sky. Constellations that are close to each other in our view of the sky or have some kind of relationship to one another are known as families of constellations. An example of a constellation family is the Zodiac which is made up of twelve constellations that appear along the ecliptic line.
The Crux (Southern Cross):
To find the crux on Stellarium you use the 'Search Window' tool.
1. Go to the left tool bar and move your mouse up until you find the search window.
2. Select the search window.
3. Once open type in 'Crux' and click 'search'.
4. Stellarium should then automatically take you to the location of the crux.
5. It it is day time and the crux is not visible you can either turn off the atmosphere or speed time until it is dark.
1. Go to the left tool bar and move your mouse up until you find the search window.
2. Select the search window.
3. Once open type in 'Crux' and click 'search'.
4. Stellarium should then automatically take you to the location of the crux.
5. It it is day time and the crux is not visible you can either turn off the atmosphere or speed time until it is dark.
Finding South:
There are two ways to find south using the crux (southern cross). These two different methods are shown below using stellarium:
Method #1 -
1. Locate the crux using the 'search window'.
2. Once found make sure it is dark and the crux is clearly visible.
3. Screenshot an image of this and paste into a word document.
4. Draw a line from the acrux to the cacrux.
5. Extend this line out from the cacrux exactly four times it's length.
6. Once this is done draw a line up vertically to the line and this is the direction of South.
View the diagram below:
Method #1 -
1. Locate the crux using the 'search window'.
2. Once found make sure it is dark and the crux is clearly visible.
3. Screenshot an image of this and paste into a word document.
4. Draw a line from the acrux to the cacrux.
5. Extend this line out from the cacrux exactly four times it's length.
6. Once this is done draw a line up vertically to the line and this is the direction of South.
View the diagram below:
Method #2 -
1. Locate the crux using the 'search window'.
2. Once found make sure it is dark and the crux is clearly visible.
3. Screenshot an image of this and paste into a word document.
4. Draw a line from the acrux to the cacrux and extend out.
5. Draw a line connecting the two pointers, Rigel Kent and Hadar.
6. Connect the pointer line to the original line.
7. On a right angle to this line draw another line. This is the direction of south.
1. Locate the crux using the 'search window'.
2. Once found make sure it is dark and the crux is clearly visible.
3. Screenshot an image of this and paste into a word document.
4. Draw a line from the acrux to the cacrux and extend out.
5. Draw a line connecting the two pointers, Rigel Kent and Hadar.
6. Connect the pointer line to the original line.
7. On a right angle to this line draw another line. This is the direction of south.
My Birth Sign - Aquarius:
My birth sign is Aquarius. This is because that was the first constellation in the sky to pass the horizon on the night of my birth. Anyone whose birthdays are from the 20th of January to the 18th of February has the birth sign Aquarius. The stars in this constellation form the picture of a water bearer.
To find your star sign using stellarium you...
1. Once you have stellarium open change the date to your birthday. Make sure it is the exact date and year that you were born.
2. If you are born in the summer months change the time to 6pm for the winter months make it 5pm.
4. Make sure you are facing to the west.
3. Adjust the time slowly until the sun is just crossing the horizon.
4. Make sure the first three tools on the bottom tool bar are selected (constellation line, constellation labels and constellation art).
5. Also check that you have the ecliptic line turned on.
You should now be able to see the image of your birthsign as the first one upon the ecliptic line on your birthday. Like in the picture of mine below.
1. Once you have stellarium open change the date to your birthday. Make sure it is the exact date and year that you were born.
2. If you are born in the summer months change the time to 6pm for the winter months make it 5pm.
4. Make sure you are facing to the west.
3. Adjust the time slowly until the sun is just crossing the horizon.
4. Make sure the first three tools on the bottom tool bar are selected (constellation line, constellation labels and constellation art).
5. Also check that you have the ecliptic line turned on.
You should now be able to see the image of your birthsign as the first one upon the ecliptic line on your birthday. Like in the picture of mine below.