Posted on 01/15/2024 10:47:58 AM PST by SunkenCiv
An asterism is a pattern of stars that is not a constellation. For instance the Big Dipper is an asterism, part of the constellation Ursa Major. The summer triangle is three bright stars from three constellation prominent in the summer sky.
Thank you for the astigmatism.....................
I would think that ‘constellations’ would be changing over time, as the Universe ‘expands’, etc.
How long has it been ‘constant’ in terms of recognizable constellations, for example.
And do those prehistoric carvings show today’s, or the older constellation versions?
Good call. The star with the greatest known proper motion is red dwarf Barnard’s Star, but all stars are moving in this or that direction from our viewpoint (as we move around the Sun and the Sun moves with the Milky Way rotation, etc). The variations in what we call constellations have been very slight in the past 4000 years. During recorded history there have been three different pole stars, but none of them “stay put”, as it were.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polaris#Role_as_pole_star
My pleasure. The marks were made deliberately, and while I generally take a dim view of archaeoastronomical claims, this looks like a somewhat plausible explanation. :^) As you said, they were thorough.
I learned something today. Thank you.
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