Have you ever had one of those days where you’d take a nice walk in the night time and just gaze into the night sky, and when you look up you see a bunch of beautiful stars. Well, if you have taken a closer look you may have noticed that the stars have patterns that create images called constellations. Constellations are a group of stars that are connected together to represent mythological images of animals and objects from the past that is located in the celestial sphere 1, 3. They were mainly discovered by the early people, primarily used as references to coordinate directions, measure time, predict farming seasons, and for religious studies3. According to the International Astronomical Union, there are 88 constellations in the sky, but only a few could be seen in the Northern or Southern hemisphere2. This essay will take a closer perspective of the origins, movements, and type of constellations that exist in the universe. The history of how constellations were discovered goes back to many centuries. One of the theories of how constellations were discovered was when the first human beings set foot on earth assigned names and characters to group of stars in the sky1, 3. This allowed them to measure time, direction, and to assist them in their religious studies. Aside from this theory, it is also believed that an Ancient Greek author, Homer made references to the constellations Bootes, Orion, and Ursa Major, in his poem titled, Illiad and the Odyssey3. Though, the Ancient Greeks did have quite the knowledge in constellations, they received most their knowledge from Ancient Egyptians, who inherited their knowledge from the Ancient Babylonians. It was the Ancient Babylonians who first discovered approximately 30 constellations around the Late Bronze Age when the oldest Babylonian star catalogs were found1, 3. As time progressed, the Greeks, Romans, and Hebrew scholars went on to creating their own astronomical systems. The Ancient Babylonians were also one of the first ones to realize that astronomical phenomena are calculated periodically with mathematics2. As time progressed, Ancient China first discovered their astronomical system in the13th century BCE, followed by India 3300-1300 BCE3. As time progressed, the Greeks learned more from the Babylonians and added several more constellations. By the 2nd century CE, Claudius Ptolemaus combined all the 48 constellations into a single arrangement called the Almagest, which was used by European and Islamic Scholars1. As time went by more and more constellations were discovered. Henry Norris Russell, an American astronomer was the one who divided the celestial sphere into 88 sectors, which was where the International Astronomical Union recognized the 88 constellations that are in existence1. The way constellations were discovered goes back many centuries, but the story was amazing. To get a good glimpse of the various constellations in the sky, it depends on the time of the year. Various constellations become more noticeable as the earth orbits around the sun3. Depending on where we’re located, the constellations we see at night were the ones that were found behind the earth on our side of the sun3. Similarly, we cannot see the constellations in the opposite direction because they will be behind the sun. For example, if we took a look at the northern hemisphere, Orion is a winter constellation, Scorpius is a summer constellation, Leo is a spring constellation, and Pegasus is a fall constellation3. A cool fact about constellations is that they tend to move from East to West just like the sun2. During the night, more of the stars become more visible in the eastern section of the sky before fading away over the western horizon by dawn3. This is the reason why the constellations we were able to see near the western horizon will begin to fade away after the sunset, only to be replaced by the constellations that were there earlier in the sky3. As constellations move about one degree per day, they complete a 360 degrees circular motion in a year, making them return back to the same position as they were the year before3. As mentioned earlier the rotation of constellations depends on where you look and your location. For instance, a person who looks up North would tend to realize that the constellations are rotating in the counterclockwise direction around the north celestial pole, which is beside Polaris3. The explanation to why it seems like the constellations are rotating counterclockwise is because the earth spins from west to east, meaning that it is rotating to the right, while the stars and constellations above, moves from east to west3. In contrast, those who face the south, will see the stars rotate clockwise3. For a person who is facing the east will see the stars rise in the front of them and set behind, while a person who faces the west will see the stars rise behind and set in front of them3. Though constellations travel from East to West like the planets, people from different parts of the world will have a different standpoint on the movements of the constellations. Now that we have an understanding of constellations, lets take a look at a few notable ones, starting with the most biggest one of them all. The hydra constellation is largest of all constellations4. It depicts a water snake, and the easiest way to locate the hydra is by picking out the six stars that make out its head4. Although, in Ancient Greek myths, the Hydra was confronted by Hercules with nine heads, in the sky it just has one4. The head of the Hydra is located in the northern celestial hemisphere, south of Cancer, while the rest of it is located in the southern celestial hemisphere4. Two major objects that astronomers and humans should watch out for in the Hydra are the spiral galaxy M83 and the planetary nebula NGC 32424. Another notable constellation is the Crux. Crux may be one of the smallest constellations of them all, but it’s very distinctive because of its four bright stars, and holds one of the night’s gems, the Jewel Box Cluster4. It hold The Crux is located between the legs of one of the brightest constellations, Centaurus4. The Crux was initially called the Crux Australis, which meant the Southern Cross4. The Crux has a shape of a cross, and the southern part of its shape is marked by one of the constellation’s brightest star, Acrux4. Aside from the Acrux, the other three bright stars that the Crux holds are the Mimosa, Gacrux, and Delta4. One of the unique deep-sky objects that the Crux holds is the Coalsack, this nebula of gas and dust is very noticeable to the naked eye since it stops out light form the Milky Way star fields behind it. One last notable star that cannot be forgotten is the Orion constellation. The Orion constellation is one of the most detectable constellations due to its location, and it can be found throughout the world5. Orion is primarily known and recognized as the hunter or warrior in the Greek mythology4. Orion was the son of the god of the sea known as Poseidon4. To locate the Orion constellation, it can easily found by looking at the red supergiant Betelgeuse marks on the shoulder of hunter, while the blue supergiant Rigel is located on one of the feet of the hunter4. You can also look for the line of bright stars located on the hunter’s belt, which are the Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka stars4. There are many more constellations that are unique and have their own distinctive patterns and shapes, but the three mentioned above, some of the most remarkable ones. As you saw, constellations were found with some unique stories dating back all the way into the Babylonian and Ancient Greek times. Each one of these constellations carry their own distinct deep-sky objects, stars, and most importantly shape. Right now there are currently 88 constellations recognized by the IAU, and maybe as time goes by we may discover some more.