By: Allie Snyder

There are 88 known constellations Some of the known constellations are: The OrionThe Big BearThe Little BearThe CentaurAnd many more…..

Many people think that the Big Dipper and The Little Dipper are constellations…actually

they are not. People might think they are because they are part of the Ursa Major and Ursa Minor constellations., they are not their own constellation. …….Some people may not

know however the big dipper and the little dipper are part of the big bear and little bear.

The Orion Constellation

One of the stories/myth for the Orion Constellation was that when the constellation was known as the Orion and the bow there was a myth/story about Orion’s death. The story was that the Goddess Anat and Aqhat fell in love. However one day she wanted to use his bow and he didn’t let her use it, she sent another person to steal it from him. After the mission was accomplished (stealing the bow) they dropped it into the sea. Once it hit the water Aqhat died….That was just one of many of the stories of the Orion Constellation

One story/myth that is behind the centaur constellation was that the centaur constellation represents Chiron. During this story Chiron accidently got wounded by Hercules. Soon after the death honored him by placing his constellation into the night sky. If you look into the sky you will now see the centaur and remember this story/ myth!

One of the stories/myths of the little bear and big bear constellation was that the big bear was named Callisto. He was turned into a bear by Zeus to protect his wife. One afternoon Callisto ran into Zeus’s son as he was hunting in the woods. The son pointed his bow right toward the bear. Zeus was watching near by and reacted fast to protect the bear. As he saved the bear Callisto he turned his son into a bear and put them into the sky as they are seen every night!

The myth of my constellation is that the Orion didn’t only have a dog, he also had a fish named Angel. Angle had a great time swimming through the stars. One day a terrible thing happened there wasn’t enough stars for food for anyone to eat anymore so to live the Orion had to do something bad. They had to kill the fish to survive. Sooner than later the Orion felt bad so he had to put a fish constellation into the sky to always remember that the fish saved their life!

Lodriguss, Jerry. "The Big Dipper and Little Dipper." Catching the Light: Astrophotography by Jerry Lodriguss. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://www.astropix.com/HTML/WIDE/CONST16.HTM>.

Love, Dr Jamie. "Free Astronomy Lesson 5 - Star Names and Brightness." Biotechnology (Life Science) consulting for USA and Scotland - business planning, corporate development and intellectual property management. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://www.synapses.co.uk/astro/brightna.html>.

"Orion." The Constellations Web Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://www.dibonsmith.com/ori_con.htm>.

"Orion (constellation) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_%28constellation%29>.

"Orion Constellation - Belt of Venus." perezmedia.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus/archives/000336.html>.

"Ursa Major (The Big Bear) and Ursa Minor (The Little Bear) - National Research Council Canada." National Research Council Canada: From Discovery to Innovation / Conseil national de recherches Canada : de la découverte à l'innovation. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/education/astronomy/constellations/ursa.html>.