Constellation activities

  1. Choose a coloring page or a constellation card that seems interesting to you.
  2. Color your constellation.
  3. Does your constellation card or coloring page indicate any star names?
  4. Punch holes in the brightest stars.  Then hold the card up to the light to see the star pattern. 
    • Compare the star pattern with the constellation figure. 
    • How much imagination is necessary to see the figure in the star pattern?
  5. Archaeology of the night sky:
    1. How has the interpretation of this constellation changed over time?
    2. Compare your constellation with a list of the 48 constellations recognized by Ptolemy in the 2nd century. Is your constellation included? If not, when and by whom was it invented?
    3. Compare your constellation with a list of the 88 constellations officially recognized today.  Is your constellation currently recognized?
  6. Geography of the night sky:
    1. How has the interpretation of this star pattern varied around the world?
    2. Does this constellation or star pattern hold any meaning in your culture and heritage, or to those who have lived in places you have been?
    3. Do you know any stories, mythology, paintings, poetry or music that refer to this star pattern?
    4. Have you ever seen your constellation represented in jewelry, works of art, the movies, or other forms of media?
  7. Punch holes in a piece of cardstock set underneath the constellation card to make the star pattern without a traditional constellation figure.
    1. Look at the star pattern and imagine a figure from a favorite story that it might represent.
    2. Sketch your own brand-new constellation figure.
  8. Find your constellation on a planisphere, a star chart, and a celestial globe.
    1. Location: Does your constellation contain the celestial equator? If so, and if it is not shown on your card, draw it in. Determine whether your constellation is equatorial, or whether it falls north or south of the celestial equator.
    2. Zodiac: Does your constellation contain the ecliptic? (The ecliptic is the annual path of the Sun.) If so, it is a zodiac constellation. If the ecliptic is not shown on your card, draw it in.
    3. Season: According to a planisphere, during which season is your constellation most prominent in the evening sky?
    4. Does your constellation include any stars, nebulae, galaxies or other deep-sky objects visible in a telescope that are of interest to you? If so, draw them in.
  9. Have you ever seen your constellation in the night sky? Look for a skywatch opportunity.