ACTIVITY C: THROUGH THE YEAR!
CONSTELLATIONS
WHAT IS A CONSTELLATION?
OBJECTIVE: Explain why some constellations are not seen at certain months
When you look at the sky, what do you see? Do you see images of
PROCEDURE: Look at the diagram below of the most common constellations- animals or objects? Observers in ancient times also imagined group of stars
the zodiac signs then answer the questions that follow. that form pictures of animals, objects and people. These imaginary groups of
stars are called constellations.
Many of these constellations have names that can be traced back to
early Babylonians and Greek civilizations, but nearly all cultures have different
names for the constellations. For example, the Greeks called the large
constellation Orion, which means hunter and is prominent in the night sky all
over the world during winter. Early Filipinos visualized the same group of
stars as Balatik, a trap used in hunting wild pigs. Christian Filipinos named the
three stars (Orion’s belt) Tatlong Maria or Tres Marias.
WHY DO MOST STARS AND CONSTELLATIONS MOVE?
Due to the earth’s rotation, stars appear to move. As the Earth rotates
from west to east, the stars appear to rise in the East, moving across south to
set in the west. The Sun will appear to move through the stars, making one
complete circuit of the sky in 365 days. Stars close to the celestial poles, the
imaginary points where Earth’s north and south axes point in space, have a
very small circle of spin. So if you find Polaris, Earth’s north “pole star,” you
will observe it move very, very, very little in the night sky. The farther from
QUESTIONS: Polaris, the wider the circle the stars trace. Stars that make a full circle around
a celestial pole, like those in the Big and Little Dippers in the northern
Based on the diagram, give 1 constellation that is prominent during the hemisphere, are called “circumpolar stars.” They stay in the night sky and do
following months: not set. At the equator, there are no circumpolar stars because the celestial
poles are located at the horizon. All stars observed at the equator rise in the
1. June- ______________________________________ east and set in the west.
2. December- ________________________________
3. March- ____________________________________ WHY DO WE SEE DIFFERENT CONSTELLATIONS DURING THE YEAR?
4. September- ________________________________ If observed through the year, the constellations shift gradually to the
west. This is caused by Earth’s orbit around our Sun. In the summer, viewers
5. Through the year, the constellations shift gradually to the _______________ are looking in a different direction in space at night than they are during the
(east, west). winter. The earth is tilted 23.5 degrees off the vertical. This not only gives us
the seasons but also changes which constellations we see. Those
6. Most of the constellations can be seen only during certain months due to
constellations that we can see year-round are called circumpolar. These
earth’s ______________________________(rotation, revolution) around the sun.
constellations all circle the North Star and because we live in the Northern
Hemisphere, we see them all year round. These constellations are: Ursa Major,
Cassiopeia, Ursa Minor, and Cygnus the Swan.
ACTIVITY A: PATTERNS IN THE SKY! ACTIVITY B: MOVEMENT OF STARS THROUGH THE
NIGHT
OBJECTIVE: Infer that the arrangement of stars in a group (constellation)
does not change OBJECTIVE: Describe the apparent motion of stars at night
PROCEDURE: Below is an image of the constellation Big Dipper. Analyze the PROCEDURE: Below is a time-lapsed photograph of the movement of
diagram to answer the given questions. stars through the night. Observe it closely to answer the questions.
QUESTIONS: QUESTIONS:
1. What causes the stars to appear moving during nighttime? (earth’s
1. At what star do the two outermost stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper rotation, earth’s revolution) ___________________________________________
point? ______________________________________________________________________ 2. The stars appear to move in_____________________ (clockwise,
2. How many stars are included in the Big Dipper constellation? counterclockwise) direction.
_______________________________________________________________________________ 3-4. Are the stars visible at 7 pm still visible at 11 pm in their “original
3. What happened to the number of stars in the constellation as it position”? Why is this so? ___________________________________________________
changes position? __________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________
4-5. Will the arrangement of stars in the Big Dipper change as it changes in 5. How is the motion of stars similar to the motion of the
position? Why? ___________________________________________________________ Sun?___________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________
