The stars in the sky are organized into groups of stars called constellations which appear near each other in the sky but are not necessarily close together in space. How many constellations are currently accepted by the IAU?

Question

Physics

Noah Barajas

18 April, 12:42

The stars in the sky are organized into groups of stars called constellations which appear near each other in the sky but are not necessarily close together in space. How many constellations are currently accepted by the IAU?

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Answers (1)

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Geovanni Roach · Answer 1

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has accepted 88 constellations in the sky.

Explanation:

Constellations has been used since the beginnings of civilizations and each one of them named them as they considered appropiate. It means Greeks' constellations were different than the ones described by Chinese, so it was necessary to gather all these constellations and make a great record with all of them, but there was a problem: Some constellations from different civilizations overlaped because they shared the same stars. There was necessary to put some order on this and that is when in 1922 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) defned a set of 88 moderm constellations that would become the international standard to look at the night sky. Each one of them is unique and does not share stars with the other constellations.