Constellations of the Night Sky
Sixteen star patterns, joined dot to dot the way stargazers and navigators have traced them for thousands of years. No names, no labels, nothing but the stars themselves. How many can you recognize by shape alone?
About this quiz
People have joined the stars into pictures for thousands of years, using them to tell stories, mark the seasons and find their way at sea. The International Astronomical Union now recognizes 88 official constellations covering the whole sky, many of them inherited from the 48 listed by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century.
In this quiz you see sixteen constellations drawn as simple stick figures over the surrounding stars, with no labels and no names. Each chart shows the pattern as it appears in the sky, with north at the top and east to the left, so the shapes should match what you would spot on a clear night away from city lights. The star positions come from the Yale Bright Star Catalogue, and the stick figures follow the patterns most commonly used today.
Every picture has its own answer box, and a box only accepts the answer for its own chart. Type the Latin name or the familiar English one, since English names are accepted as alternatives, and well-known star groupings that sit inside a constellation also count. Correct answers lock in green and move you to the next box. You have five minutes. Look for the brightest stars first and the overall outline second, because a single distinctive line of stars is often enough to give a pattern away.
Science · 16 answers · hard · 5 minutes to play · Played 1 time
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