Question

what is a constellation ?Describe orion and ursa major constellations with their diagrams​

Answer 1

Answer:

constellation is a group of stars that makes a proper shape.

Explanation:

orion constellation resembles with hunter

ursa major constellation resembles with Great bear

Note Hunter and Great bear are the shapes of these constellations.

Answer 2

$\huge \text{Constellations:}$

• The group of stars which appears to form some recognizable shape or pattern is known as a constellation.

• About 88 constellations are known at present. Each constellation has been given a name signifying an animal, a human being or some other object which it appears to resemble.

• All the constellations appear to move in the sky from east to west. This is because the Earth rotates on its axis from west to east.

• Some of the important constellations are Ursa Major, Orion, Cassiopeia and Leo Major.

$\large \text{Orion constellation:}$

➢ Orion is also termed as the ‘Hunter’.

➢ This constellation consists of 7 or 8 bright stars (and several faint stars).

➢ The arrangement of stars in Orion constellation is supposed to resemble a hunter in the kneeling position.

➢ The star marked 1 represents the head of the hunter. The stars marked 2 and 3 are supposed to form the shoulders of the hunter whereas the stars marked 7 and 8 are imagined to form feet of the hunter. The three prominent stars in the middle marked 4, 5 and 6 mark the belt of the hunter. The arms and weapons or the shield of the hunter are formed from some other faint stars.

➢ The brightest star in the night sky is 'Sirius' which can be located close to the Orion constellation by imagining a straight line along the belt of the hunter i.e. in the line of the stars 4, 5 and 6.

➢ The Orion constellation can be easily seen during the winter season in the late evenings. That's why it is also termed as 'master of the winter sky'.

Note - The first attachment represent the diagram of Orion constellation .

$\large \text{Ursa Major constellation :}$

➢ Ursa Major constellation is also known as Great bear, Big bear or Big dipper. The Indian name of Ursa Major constellation is 'Saptarishi'.

➢ Though Ursa Major constellation is a group of many stars, but seven of its stars are quite bright and can be seen easily. The Ursa Major constellation consists of seven bright stars which are arranged in a pattern resembling somewhat a big bear.

➢ A lot of fertile imagination is required to make out some recognizable shape from a group of stars. The Ursa Major is called 'Great bear' because its stars are arranged in such a way that they seem to form the outline of the body of a great bear (or big bear).

➢ The Ursa Major constellation is also called 'Big dipper' because it resembles a dipper (a bowl with a handle), which was used to drink water in olden days. The Ursa Major constellation also resembles a big ladle (a big spoon with the cup-shaped bowl).

➢ The Ursa Major constellation is visible during the summer season in the early part of the night. It can be seen clearly in the month of April in the northern part of sky at night. In Ursa Major constellation there are two pointer stars because the line joining them points to the direction of Pole star.

➢ If we observe the Ursa Major constellation at different times in the night, we will find that it appears to move from east to west. Since the Pole star remains fixed in the night sky, therefore, the Ursa Major constellation appears to revolve around the Pole star in the night sky.

Note - The second attachment represent the diagram of Ursa Major constellation .