Asterisms are sub- or supersets of constellations which build a constellation itself, or a group of stars, physically related or not. Best kown is the Big Dipper as a part of the Great Bear. But there are more than just this one. Below you find the:
Beehive | Located in the constellation
Cancer. It is an
open star cluster, which is also called Praesepe or
M44 and faintly
visible to the naked eye. With the stars gamma Can and delta Can it forms another asterisms called the Asses and the Manger. |
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Belt of Orion | is being formed by the stars delta Ori, epsilon Ori and
zeta Ori; in Latin Amerika it is called the "Three Marys". |
Bier | is being built by the four stars alpha UMa, beta UMa,
gamma UMa and delta UMa. |
Big Dipper | most famous asterism. Formed by the following Stars of the Great
Bear alpha UMa, beta UMa, gamma UMa, delta UMa, epsilon UMa, zeta
UMa and eta UMa, it is often called "Wain" (Wagon) or
"Charles's Wain" because of its resemblance with it when the Dipper
handle is thought to be the wagon tongue. |
Bull of Poniatowski | A T-shaped asterism just east of gamma Oph; it is formed
by the stars 66 Oph, 67 Oph, 68 Oph and 70 Oph |
Circlet | the western fish; the circlet is formed by gamma Psc, b Psc,
theta Psc, iota Psc, 19 Psc, lambda Psc and kappa Psc. |
Coalsack | Actually this is not a true asterism, but a dark patch on the
Milky Way, in the constellation Crux. By the African Bushmen
it was called "Old Bag". |
Frederick's Glory | is formed by iota And, kappa And, lambda And
and psi And |
Guardians of the Pole | just beta UMi and gamma UMi |
Head of Cetus | presented by alpha Cet, gamma Cet, xi_2 Cet,
mu Cet and lambda Cet |
Heavenly G | nine bright stars forming a G-shaped group. Seven of these stars
are of 1st magnitude. In order they are: Aldebaran (alpha Tau),
Capella (alpha Aur), Castor (alpha Gem), Pollux (beta
Gem), Procyon (alpha CMi), Sirius (alpha CMa), Rigel
(beta Ori), Bellatrix (gamma Ori) and Betelgeuse
(alpha Ori) |
Hyades | open cluster; V-shaped group superposed on alpha Tau,
gamma Tau, delta Tau and epsilon Tau |
Hydra Head | build by delta Hya, epsilon Hya, zeta Hya,
eta Hya, rho Hya and sigma Hya |
Job's Coffin | formed by the four stars alpha Del, beta Del,
gamma Del and delta Del |
Keystone | is formed by the epsilon Her, zeta Her, eta Her
and pi Her |
Kids | are called epsilon Aur, zeta Aur and eta Aur |
Lozenge | build by the four stars beta Dra, gamma Dra,
xi Dra and nu Dra |
Milk Dipper | The following five members of the constallation
Sagittarius can be
interpreted as an inverted dipper in the Milky Way: zeta Sgr,
tau Sgr, sigma Sgr, phi Sgr and lambda Sgr.
This asterism is also known as The Teapot. |
Northern Cross | is formed by the leading stars of the constellation
Cygnus: alpha Cyg,
beta Cyg, gamma Cyg, delta Cyg and epsilon Cyg |
Northern Fly | This is a small triangle over the rear of
Aries |
Pleiades | Located in the constellation Taurus.
This open star cluster is one of the Messier objects, M45. It also
known as Seven Sisters or, in Latin America the
Seven Little Goats |
Segment of Perseus | the stars eta Per, gamma Per, alpha Per, delta Per, epsilon Per and zeta Per forming an arc. |
Sickle | formed by alpha Leo, eta Leo, gamma Leo,
zeta Leo, mu Leo and epsilon Leo |
Square of Pegasus | At the edges of that square you find alpa Peg, beta
Peg, gamma Peg and alpha And |
Sword of Orion | theta Ori and iota Ori; between them the famous
Orion Nebula (M42) is located. |
Venus Mirror | also on Orion; the
belt stars (delta Ori, epsilon Ori and zeta Ori),
the sword and eta Ori build up this asterism. The sword forms the
handle of the diamond-shaped mirror. |
Y of Aquarius | also called Water Jar; the Y is build by
gamma Aqr, eta Aqr, pi Aqr and zeta Aqr |