CONSTELLATION
Learning Objectives
• Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the
visible constellations in the sky and Earth’s position along its orbit
•Discuss whether or not popular beliefs and practices with regard to
constellations and astrology have scientific basis.
• Infer the characteristics of stars based on the characteristics of the
Sun;
• Infer that the arrangement of stars in a group (constellation) does
not change;
What are stars?
Star is a massive ball of
plasma held together by its
own gravity and emits light
throughout the universe.
In what ways can constellation be useful to
people?
 Constellations are useful because they
help stargazers and astronomers
recognise specific stars in the night sky.
 Constellations were used as proper
calendars when it came to agricultural
purposes. People had no proper way to
determine when to sow or harvest
except by looking at stars.
 Constellations were also used for
navigation and to help sailors travel
across oceans.
What are some beliefs and practices about
constellation and astrology?
 Constellations also caught the interests of
Chinese and Japanese. Some patterns of stars
after animals such as Fish, Scorpio, Lion and
among others.
 Ancient people used constellations for
religious purposes. Best example is
Mesopotamian astral worship which has spread
as far as the Central and Andean America
 The Babylonians and Sumerians thought that
God’s will in respect of man and His possible
undertakings can be revealed by the motion of
heavenly bodies.
 We inherited the names of our constellations
from the Greeks and they named the
constellations after their mythological heroes
and legends.
 Astrology is the belief that the alignment of
stars and planets affects every individual's
mood, personality, and environment, depending
on when he was born. Astrologers print
horoscopes in newspapers that are personalized
by birth date.
 The geocentric theory states that Earth was the
center of the universe and it was made four
elements (earth, fire, air and water) while
heavens made of a fifth element, the aether.
•What is the color of the filament as you
dim the bulb?
A filament radiates black-body
radiation, with a range of
wavelengths and colours. The
intensity peaks at a wavelength
that depends on the temperature.
As the bulb is dimmed the peak
radiation occurs at longer
wavelengths and the colour goes
from white to brown.
What is the color of the filament as you turn the
switch at full power?
When you turn the switch
full power the color of the
filament is "Blue" due to
increasing heat.
What happens to the temperature of the filaments as the
bulb becomes brighter and brighter?
The brightness is proportional to
the temperature of the filament.
So as the filament heats up the
brightness increases. The increase
in resistance is also happening
and they all reach equilibrium
when the heat radiated equals the
heat dissipated.
Group Activity ( Measuring Parallax)
Materials Needed(for every group)
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3 masking tape
5 pencil
3 meter stick
3 metric ruler
Analysis
 What happened to the pencil when the
right eye was closed and the left eye was
opened?
 •At what distance from the eye did the
pencil shift the greatest distance?
 •What happened to the shift of the pencil
as the distance of the pencil from the eye
increased?
 •How does the distance of an object from
an observer affect parallax?
 •How might astronauts use parallax?
How do the stars and constellation affect
conditions of life on our planet?