Constellations

Modified: July 1, 2023 Author: International Star Registry

A “constellation” is a group of stars apparently close together in the sky. Many of the constellations were recognized from the earliest times and are associated with great tales about the interactions between humans and the gods. Modern astronomy recognizes 88 constellations. While the stars of these groups appear to be close together, the individual stars of a constellation may be great distances apart and moving in different directions from one another.

CONSTELLATION	SYMBOL	DESCRIPTION	WHERE	BEST VISIBLE
Andromeda	AND	Princess	Northern	October
Antlia	ANT	Pump	Southern	March
Apus	APU	Bird of Paradise	South Polar	May
Aquarius	AQR	Water Bearer	Equatorial	September
Aquila	AQL	Eagle	Equatorial	July
Ara	ARA	Altar	Southern	June
Aries	ARI	Ram	Equatorial	November
Auriga	AUR	Charioteer	Northern	January
Bootes	BOO	Herdsman	Northern	May
Caelum	CAE	Chisel	Southern	December
Camelopardalis	CAM	Giraffe	North Polar	February
Cancer	CNC	Crab	Equatorial	February
Canes Venatici	CNV	Hunting Dogs	Northern	April
Canis Major	CMA	Large Dog	Equatorial	January
Canis Minor	CMI	Small Dog	Equatorial	January
Capricornus	CAP	Sea Goat	Equatorial	August
Carina	CAR	Keel	South Polar	February
Cassiopeia	CAS	Queen	North Polar	October
Centaurus	CEN	Centaur	Southern	April
Cepheus	CEP	King	North Polar	October
Cetus	CET	Whale	Equatorial	October
Chamaeleon	CHA	Chameleon	South Polar	March
Circinus	CIR	Compasses	South Polar	May
Columba	COL	Dove	Southern	December
Coma Berenices	COM	Berenice’s Hair	Equatorial	April
Corona Australis	CRA	Southern Crown	Southern	July
Corona Borealis	CRB	Northern Crown	Northern	May
Corvus	CRV	Crow	Equatorial	April
Crater	CRT	Cup	Equatorial	March
Crux	CRU	Southern Cross	South Polar	April
Cygnus	CYG	Swan	Northern	August
Delphinus	DEL	Dolphin	Equatorial	August
Dorado	DOR	Goldfish	Southern	December
Draco	DRA	Dragon	North Polar	May
Equuleus	EQU	Colt	Equatorial	August
Eridanus	ERI	River	Southern	November
Fornax	FOR	Furnace	Southern	November
Gemini	GEM	Twins	Equatorial	January
Grus	GRU	Crane	Southern	September
Hercules	HER	Champion	Northern	June
Horologium	HOR	Pendulum	Southern	November
Hydra	HYA	Sea Serpent	Equatorial	March
Hydrus	HYS	Serpent	South Polar	November
Indus	IND	Indian	Southern	August
Lacerta	LAC	Lizard	Northern	September
Leo	LEO	Lion	Equatorial	March
Leo Minor	LMI	Little Lion	Northern	March
Lepus	LEP	Rabbit	Equatorial	December
Libra	LIB	Scales	Equatorial	May
Lupus	LUP	Wolf	Southern	May
Lynx	LYN	Cat	Northern	January
Lyra	LYR	Harp	Northern	July
Mensa	MEN	Table mountain	South Polar	December
Microscopium	MIC	Microscope	Southern	August
Monoceros	MON	Unicorn	Equatorial	January
Musca	MUS	Fly	South Polar	April
Norma	NOR	Carpenter’s Square	Southern	May
Octans	OCT	Octant	South Polar	March
Ophiuchus	OPH	Serpent Bearer	Equatorial	June
Orion	ORI	Hunter	Equatorial	December
Pavo	PAV	Peacock	South Polar	July
Pegasus	PEG	Winged Horse	Equatorial	October
Perseus	PER	Hero	Northern	November
Phoenix	PHO	Fire Bird	Southern	October
Pictor	PIC	Painter’s Easel	Southern	December
Pisces	PSC	Fishes	Equatorial	October
Piscis Austrinus	PSA	Southern Fish	Southern	September
Puppis	PUP	Stern of Ship	Southern	January
Pyxis	PYX	Ship’s Compass	Southern	February
Reticulum	RET	Net	Southern	November
Sagitta	SGE	Arrow	Equatorial	July
Sagittarius	SGR	Archer	Southern	July
Scorpius	SCO	Scorpion	Southern	June
Sculptor	SCL	Sculptor’s Tool	Southern	October
Scutum	SCT	Shield	Equatorial	July
Serpens	SER	Serpent	Equatorial	May
Sextans	SEX	Sextant	Equatorial	March
Taurus	TAU	Bull	Equatorial	December
Telescopium	TEL	Telescope	Southern	July
Triangulum	TRI	Triangle	Northern	November
Triangulum Australe	TRA	Southern Triangle	South Polar	June
Tucana	TUC	Toucan	South Polar	October
Ursa Major	UMA	Big Bear	Northern	March
Ursa Minor	UMI	Little Bear	North Polar	March
Vela	VEL	Sails	Southern	February
Virgo	VIR	Virgin	Equatorial	April
Volans	VOL	Flying Fish	South Polar	January
Vulpecula	VUL	Little Fox	Equatorial	August
Serpens Cauda	SRP	Serpent	Equatorial	July