Pattern Asterisms: A New Way to Chart the Stars

Since the very beginning of astronomy, people have looked up sky and constructed patterns – the constellations – out of the almost random scattering of stars in the night sky. The fact that the constellations are still used to day reflects not their historical origins, but their usefulness in identifying bright stars in the rotating dome of the sky. Most people (and all astronomers) are familiar with, for example, the constellation of Orion and can thus easily point to Betelguese and Bellat...