What you'll learn:
How stories of love and loss have been written in our constellations.
Key takeaways:
A myth can be written by anyone, and anyone can create their own constellation.
Valentine's day is here, and we have a great night sky activity for you to enjoy as you delight in chocolates with your kids.
Download our free February star chart for the northern hemispere to design your own constellation that you can look to for years to come.
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What is a constellation?
A constellation is a group of stars in the night sky that create a recognizable pattern. Constellations that you likely know already are the big and little dipper, maybe Orion. There are 88 constellations in all that are accepted by modern astronomers – but you don’t need any fancy paperwork if you want to create your own constellation for fun.
If you are looking to learn your constellations you should check out our constellation cookies activity!
How is love written in the stars?
Many of our constellations tell stories of love and loss. Take Orion for example, the son of Neptune and Queen of the Amazons. Orion was known as the greatest hunter in the world, which is why Orion is immortalized in the stars as a hunter with a bow, easily recognizable by his star-laden belt.
Mythology (aka rumor) has it that Orion fell in love with the seven sisters, daughters of Atlas who were grief-stricken when Zeus banished Atlas to hold up the heavens. Zeus put the seven sisters in the heavens to be closer to their father.
Orion was love struck with the seven sisters. He chased them for ages, even being blinded by their mother at one point. After the sisters had been put into the heavens by Zeus it was only fitting that when Orion was killed he was placed near the sisters in the heavens. Of course, this didn’t help Orion as he was doomed to always be following the sisters in the sky, immortalizing the chase.