• Question: In which historical era were most star constellations named?

    Asked by mattiosmmm to Adam, Geoff, Rob, Sheila, Suzie on 15 Mar 2011 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Adam Tuff

      Adam Tuff answered on 14 Mar 2011:

      There are many constellations created by different civilisations from all over the world – the ancient Babylonians made constellations, as did the Greeks, the Romans, the Chinese and many others.
      We still use the Greaco-Roman constellations (a mix of the Greek and Roman constellations) to this day – stars are always moving though, so the constellations will eventually change over time!

    • Photo: Suzie Sheehy

      Suzie Sheehy answered on 14 Mar 2011:

      Interesting question, I don’t know the answer as I’m not an astronomer! But just to add to this question I’d like to point out that the Aboriginal Australians had their own constellations which often consisted of Australian animals. In particular there was a large and small possum, which I think is a great idea!

    • Photo: Robert Simpson

      Robert Simpson answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      There are 88 constellations – an official list was made in the 1920s – and they have evolved from many cultures over many centuries. But in the 1700s a French astronomer called Lacaille explored and mapped out much of the Southern Hemisphere sky – so I think that he probably named more constellations than any other single person.

    • Photo: Sheila Kanani

      Sheila Kanani answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      I think it was the Greeks who did a lot of constellation naming. I like to make up my own names 🙂

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