zodiac and constellations??

lostexpectation

what are they? and why are they important, trying to figure this out

er so people talk of constellations we think of the zodiac and big drawings inthe sky of scopians etc but there are other constellations in all the sky aren't there?

there are constellations above and below the plane of the zodiac as we look into the sky? but they don't have as fancy names or drawings applied to them?

so whats special about the zodiac? the zodiac is the groupings of stars with the planets in the same view, in our fairly flat solar system so they are nearly all in the same plane? and they move in a more regular fashion to us then other stars? so we can navigate off them? and you can pretend to base some mythology and pseudoscience around them if you want to too?

and they were grouped together cos they were, in the same plane and brighter then other stars?

and er....

Flukey

As the Earth orbits the Sun, The positions of the constellations change as we see them. During the night we can clearly see stars etc., but obviously during the day the only one we can see is the Sun. However there are other stars there. At any one time the Sun is front of a constellation. It passes in front of 12 constellations clearly and even one or two others like Ophiuchus, though only just about. These 12 constellations are the so-called "signs of the zodiac." So the constellations that are most prominent now are the ones that are behind the Sun as we see them in 6 months time. So for example Leo is very prominent at night currently and it would be behind the Sun in August. If you were born in August you would be known as a Leo, it being your Sun sign. Leo is quite easy to identify. Look high towards the south and you will see it, it looking like a crouching lion.

As well as the Sun, all the planets and the Moon, pass through these constellations too. The Moon only takes a month to do so, while some of the planets take years. All the planets, Moon and Sun can be found along or close to an imaginary line known as the Ecliptic, which goes through those constellations. So this is how the astrological maps are done up, by seeing where all of them are at the moment of your birth. Studying the skies is far more interesting than studying your horoscopes.

lostexpectation

so the sun is the key, was i right about them being used to navigate etc? that's sortof what I was trying to figure out, if the zodiac constellations had more then just mythical significance...

aren't there famous constellation beyond the eliptical?

Flukey

Of course. There are 88 constellations altogether. The one that most people know as the Plough, the Great Bear, or to give it its proper name:Ursa Major, is not one of the Zodiac signs. Orion, the grandest constellation of them all isn't one. Pegasus is another. There are loads. The zodiac constellations are only significant because of the fact the Sun passes them. Some of them are not particularly significant in themselves.

albertw

lostexpectation wrote:

so the sun is the key, was i right about them being used to navigate etc? that's sortof what I was trying to figure out, if the zodiac constellations had more then just mythical significance...

aren't there famous constellation beyond the eliptical?

I think they just have mythical significance. Sure they are the constallations in the eclyptic, but constellations are just grouping of stars that someone once decided looked a particular shape. Later on people lost old constellations, changed the boundaries, changed the names and made some new constallations. There were even some oddball ideas from a protestant astronomers to rename the sky with Christian constellations and replace the heathen gods in the sky.The zodiac constellations just appen to be a set that never changed much, their names and shapes stuck. But they, nor any other constallations, have any meaning other than being a handy way to remember your way around the night sky.

For navigation, the north star is the only important star. The constellations can help you find it more easily. Things are a little more complicated in the south as there is no bright star near the southern point.