Constellations
Constellations are groups of stars that forms
a pattern. At the Age of Exploration, explorers used constellations to guide
themselves to new places. Some of the instruments used by them were a the
astrolabe, quadrant, and sextant to measure the constellations, so they would
know where to go. When there weren’t stars in the sky, they used the compass to
know where to go.
The constellation that we chose is the Ursa Major, that means “the great bear”. It’s a constellation in the northern hemisphere sky. It’s the largest northern constellation and third largest constellation in the sky. The Big Dipper constellation is part of the Ursa Major, the brightest stars of the constellation. If you are at the southern hemisphere, you can just see part of the Ursa Major constellation in winter. The North Star is located in the tail of Ursa Minor, but some people think that it is located in the tail of Ursa Major, but it’s not.
