More About Constellations - Celestron NexStar 90 MAK Instruction Manual

Astronomers distinguish between apparent
magnitude and absolute magnitude. Apparent
magnitude is how bright a star looks in the sky.
Absolute magnitude refers to how bright a star
would appear if it were located exactly 10 parsecs
(32.6 light years) away. The apparent magnitude of
Rigel is about 0.2, but its absolute magnitude is
nearly -7.0.
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More About Constellations...

The desire to find order in nature, even where none
exists, seems to be built into the human brain.
When you look up at the sky on a dark, clear night,
the sheer number of stars can be overwhelming.
Our distant ancestors must have been in awe of
those countless lights randomly scattered across the
sky like diamonds.
Because of our instinctive need to find order,
cultures all across the globe have organized stars
into distinctive patterns called constellations. These
patterns are purely a product of the human
imagination. Nature had nothing to do with
creating them.
The constellations we recognize today have mostly
come down to us from the ancient Greeks. Many of
them represent mythological figures. Orion, for
example, one of the most prominent constellations
visible in northern wintertime, represents a heroic
hunter who first appeared in one of the great epics
of classical Greek literature, The Odyssey. Orion is
accompanied by two hunting dogs that are also
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