The ancient Egyptians contributed the idea that patterns of stars made up constellations, through which the sun appears to “move” at a specific times during the year. It’s thought that all of these ideas came together when Alexander the Great conquered Egypt around 330 BC.
The first use for Constellations was probably religious. People thought that the Gods lived in the heavens and that they created them. Many cultures believed that the positions of the stars were their God’s way of telling stories.
But the constellations that we use today, the names and the patterns, date from only about 150 AD. This is when they were reorganised. The person mainly responsible was Ptolemy, who wrote a work which is now lost to us, but we know of it through its Arab translation and the name given to it, Almagest.
This begs the query “Where did constellations come from?”
Historians have reached the conclusion that the Greek constellations originated in the Mesopotamian civilizations of the ancient Babylonians and Sumerians because of the constellation-free zone found in Greek celestial charts.
Where did the Greek constellations come from?
Historical studies indicate that it’s likely that the origin of the Greek constellations had a direct influence from other ancient civilizations. More precisely, the ancient Babylonians and Sumerians. This makes sense, as these civilizations lived in similar latitudes as the Greeks.
Forty-eight of the constellations are known as ancient or original, meaning they were talked about by the Greeks and probably by the Babylonians and still earlier peoples. After the 15th century, with the age of the great discoveries and worldwide navigation, the southernmost parts of the sky became known to man and had to be charted.
One source proposed because of the precession, the location of those regions changes over long periods of time. If you look at a a picture of the ancient constellations in the northern and southern sky, before they become populated in Renaissance times by other grand figures, what you would notice, for the south, is that there is a big empty region in the sky map.
Astronomers today still use constellations to name stars and meteor showers. A constellation is a group of stars that looks like a particular shape in the sky and has been given a name. These stars are far away from Earth. They are not connected to each other at all. Some stars in a constellation might be close while others are very far away.
Why did god create constellations?
People saw that the motions of the stars were regular and predictable. The first use for Constellations was probably religious. People thought that the Gods lived in the heavens and that they created them. Many cultures believed that the positions of the stars were their God’s way of telling stories.
People connected the stars to form pictures of their gods. They also created some wonderful, mythical stories to go along with these heavenly pictures. The myths of the constellations are tales about gods and monsters as well as villains and heroes.
When I was researching we ran into the query “Are the Stars and constellations corrupting the truth of God’s creation?”.
From ancient times until the present, people in cultures throughout the world have tried to corrupt the truth of God’s creation. They have used the stars and constellations to seek knowledge of the future or the unknown. And these practices have led multitudes astray with false predictions, myths and lies. But this should not be.
What are constellations and why do we see them?
Constellations are groups of stars. The constellations you can see at night depend on your location on Earth and the time of year. Constellations were named after objects, animals, and people long ago. Astronomers today still use constellations to name stars and meteor showers.
In the secular world, the mention of stars, constellations and the zodiac often evokes thoughts of astrology and horoscopes. From ancient times until the present, people in cultures throughout the world have tried to corrupt the truth of God’s creation. They have used the stars and constellations to seek knowledge of the future or the unknown.
Are the constellations real?
The first thing you need to know is that constellations are not real! The constellations are totally imaginary things that poets, farmers and astronomers have made up over the past 6,000 years (and probably even more!). The real purpose for the constellations is to help us tell which stars are which, nothing more.
You should be wondering “How do the constellations help us understand the stars?”
One way to think about this is the stars allowed farmers to plan ahead and form agriculture, and constellations made it easier to recognize and interpret the patterns in the sky. The constellations also helped with navigation. It is fairly easy to spot Polaris (The North Star) once you’ve found Ursa Minor (Little Dipper constellation).