Read FYI on Constellations - BrainPOP

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1 1/8/2018 Read FYI on Constellations - BrainPOP FYI Constellations According to astrologers, the positions of various stars and planetsespecially the Zodiac constellations-influence people's lives. Astrology is incredibly popular, and millions of people around the world consult their horoscopes every day. However, astrology is in no way scientific, and scientists have criticized it for centuries. Over the past several decades, a number of peer-reviewed studies of astrology have shown that astrological predictions have no relation to reality. For example, in 2003, Professor Ivan Kelly of the University of Saskatchewan studied the personalities of people born less than five minutes apart. According to astrologers, these individuals would have very similar personalities and interests-and yet Kelly found that "the strong similarities... were simply not there." So why do so many people continue to believe in something that has repeatedly been proven false? The answer lies in human psychology. People want to believe there's a simple way to understand their own lives and the world around them. They gain comfort by feeling they're intimately connected to the entire universe. And since people want to believe, they do believe. Moreover, predictions made by astrologers tend to be vague and unspecific, so they can be easily applied to pretty much anyone. James Randi, an American stage magician and skeptic, demonstrated this in He distributed "personal horoscopes" to a class of high school students, telling them that they were based on detailed information about when and where each student was born. 1/2

2 1/8/2018 Read FY I on Constellations - BrainPOP The students were amazed at how accurately the horoscopes described their lives and personalities-until Randi revealed that he'd given all of them the same exact horoscope! BrainPOP. All rights reserved. 2/2

3 1/8/2018 Read FYI on Constellations - BrainPOP FYI Constellations According to an Ancient Greek myth, Cepheus and Cassiopeia were the King and Queen of Ethiopia, and Andromeda was their daughter. Cassiopeia bragged that she and Andromeda were more beautiful than the immortal sea nymphs. That didn't sit too well with Poseidon, god of the sea; he destroyed her country. To save Ethiopia, Cassiopeia and Cepheus tried to sacrifice Andromeda by chaining her to a rock on the seacoast. But the hero Perseus rescued her, and Cassiopeia was punished by being tied to a chair and forced to circle the heavens with her husband beside her. Perseus and Andromeda (pictured) later joined them up there, but as immortals, not prisoners. Two immortal friends, Cygnus and Phaeton, once competed in a race across the sky. But they went too close to the sun and fell to earth. Phaeton died, and fell to the bottom of a river. Cygnus lived, but couldn't retrieve his friend's body and give him a proper burial. So he asked Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, to turn him into a swan. That way, he could dive deep enough to get the body-but he'd have to give up his immortality in the process. To honor his selflessness, Zeus put his image into the sky. According to one myth, Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, and her son Eros had to escape from a horrible monster. So they turned themselves into fish-but tied their tails together so they wouldn't lose track of each other. Their images became Pisces, the two fish. Jealous of the attention her husband, Zeus, was paying to a young woman named Callisto, the goddess Hera turned her rival into a bear. While in bear form, Callisto was almost shot by her own son-but the instant before it happened, Zeus grabbed her and threw 1/2

4 1/8/2018 Read FY I on Constellations - BrainPOP her into the heavens, forming Ursa Major, or the Great Bear BrainPOP. All rights reserved. 2/2

5 1/8/2018 Read FYI on Constellations - BrainPOP FYI Constellations The earliest known list of constellations was compiled more than 2,000 years ago in Ancient Babylon, located in the modern country of Iraq. Many modern Zodiac constellations-including Pisces, Capricorn, Gemini, Taurus, Pisces, and Leo-were originally mapped by Babylonian astronomers. And just like in Greece and Rome, the Babylonians associated many of their constellations with myths about gods and goddesses. In Ancient China, astronomers divided the sky into four regions. Each region was represented by an animal, and each animal was made up of seven separate constellations, for a grand total of 28. The ancient people of Mesoamerica, such as the Olmec and the Maya, were devoted astronomers, and closely tracked the movements of the stars and planets. The constellations were related to a complex mythological system, and some were viewed as living beings that could influence life on earth. Many were related to agriculture, specifically corn production, since corn was a key staple of the Mesoamerican diet. Mayan priests would often perform rituals involving these constellations to bring rain in times of drought. One of the most important celestial objects recognized by the Aboriginal people of Australia is the "Emu in the Sky" (pictured). An emu is a large, flightless bird, related to the ostrich. The Emu in the Sky isn't formed by stars-instead, it's made up of dark nebulas, or clouds of gas and dust, that stand out against the bright background of the Milky Way. 1/2

6 1/8/2018 Read FYI on Constellations - BrainPOP FYI Constellations It's no stretch to say that Polaris, or the North Star, has helped humans more than any other star in the night sky. Since it's located almost directly above the North Pole, people have used it to find their way at night for thousands of years. Mariners have steered their ships by it, and travelers have used it to determine their locations. Due to its location, Polaris does not move east to west across the sky every night, nor does it disappear at certain times of year. Instead, it stays fixed in the same place every night. If you're ever lost at night, you too can use Polaris to help get your bearings. First, of course, you have to find it. There are several ways to do this. It's part of the constellation Ursa Minor, also known as the Little Dipper-in fact, it's the outermost star on the dipper's "handle." If you can't find the Little Dipper, locate the Big Dipper. The two stars on the far edge of the "cup" point directly toward Polaris. Once you find Polaris, you'll know which way is north. And you can use that information to determine how to travel east, west, south-basically, anywhere you need to go! African-American slaves who escaped from the South to the North during the 19th century used Polaris to guide them on their journey, since they often traveled at night to avoid capture. There's even a folk song called "Follow the Drinking Gourd"-the term refers to the Big Dipper -that slaves may have sung to help them find their way to freedom BrainPOP. All rights reserved. 1/1

7 1/8/2018 Read FYI on Constellations - BrainPOP ENTER CODE wrentham ) ) CONSTELLATIONS (/SCIENCE/SPACE/CONSTELLATIONS) MYTHS According to astrologers, the positions of various stars and planets-especially the Zodiac constellationsinfluence people's lives. Astrology is incredibly popular, and millions of people around the world consult their... DID YOU KNOW o According to an Ancient Greek myth, Cepheus and Cassiopeia were the King and Queen of Ethiopia, and Andromeda was their daughter. Cassiopeia bragged that she and Andromeda AROUND THE WORLD o The earliest known list of constellations was compiled more than 2,000 years ago in Ancient Babylon, located in the modern country of Iraq. Many modern Zodiac constellations-including... IN PRACTICE It's no stretch to say that Polaris, or the North Star, has helped humans more than any other star in the night sky. Since it's located almost directly above the North Pole, people have used it to find their way at night for /3

8 1/8/2018 Read FYI on Constellations - BrainPOP FYI Constellations The Pleiades, one of the most widely recognized star formations in the night sky, is sometimes mistaken for a constellation. But this grouping of stars, best seen in winter in the Northern Hemisphere and in summer in the Southern Hemisphere, is actually an open star cluster. An open cluster is a grouping of a few thousand stars loosely bound together by gravity. Astronomers have confirmed that there are more than 1,000 stars in the Pleiades cluster, which is known officially as Messier object 45, or M45 for short. In the night sky, you can find the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus, just to the right of Orion. Some 440 light years away from Earth, M45 is one of the closest open clusters to us, which helps explain why you can see some of its brightest stars without a telescope or even binoculars. Many cultures have taken note of the Pleiades cluster throughout history. The Babylonians named it "Mui.Mui" or "star of stars." The Aztecs called it "Tianquiztli," or "marketplace." The Japanese word for "Pleiades" is "Subaru," which you might guess if you've ever seen that car manufacturer's logo. The term "Pleiades," though, comes from the Ancient Greek myth about seven sisters: Electra, Maia, Taygete, Alcyone, Celaeno, Sterope, and Merope. In the most popular version of their story, the Pleiades were pursued relentlessly by Orion the hunter after their father, Atlas, was forced to carry the heavens on his shoulders. To soothe Atlas from worrying about his daughters, the Greek god Zeus placed the sisters in the sky as stars, forever out of Orion's reach. 1/2

9 1/8/2018 Read FYI on Constellations - BrainPOP Today, the brightest nine stars in the cluster are named after these sisters and their parents, Atlas and the sea nymph Pleione. They are all about 100 million years old, and are expected to stick together for another 250 million years or so. After that, gravity from the surrounding area will begin to pull the stars in the cluster away from one other BrainPOP. All rights reserved. 2/2

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