Constellations

I learned the constellation when I was 15 and 16. Latitude and longitude on Earth became declination and right ascension in the night sky. Parallax is measured from opposite points of Earth's orbit. Cepheid variables and supernovas are used to measure distance. Three Egyptian pyramids may or may not mimic Orion's belt. Michio Kaku talks about precession. There are really 13 Zodiac constellations when we count Ophiuchus. Astrology is superstition. Mesopotamians, Greeks and Romans named the constellations. Ptolemy listed 48. Crux is the smallest. In 1922, the International Astronomical association divided the sky into 88 constellations. The night sky was a calendar to the ancients. NASA's Amy Mainzer is another example of how women have become important in astronomy. Written by Brittany Graham.