In the famous story about the Argonauts crossing the ocean filled with Sirens who sang songs (which enticed the sailors to come to them, thus crashing their ships) it was Orpheus who played his lyre and drowned out even the Sirens with his beautiful music, making the sailors safely get to shore. He was known to be able to charm everyone with his music. When he was young, Apollo gave Orpheus a golden lyre and taught him to play. This constellation represents a lyre, a popular musical instrument and goes with the myth of the Greek musician and poet Orpheus. Leo is a Zodiac constellation and one of the largest and oldest in the sky. Orion’s belt is a string of very bright stars that is very easy to find and well known. His constellation can be found facing a bull or chasing the Pleiades sisters in the sky. In mythology, Orion was known as one of the most handsome men. The Big Dipper is used often to find the North Star, making it useful for directions. Once you can find it, you can find the Little Dipper which is also part of a larger constellation, Ursa Minor (the Little Bear). It is actually part of a larger constellation, Ursa Major (the Great Bear). This is one of the most well known and easiest things in the sky to spot. If you go outside and look up into the night sky, you might be able to see these constellations below. Read on to find out what the 7 major constellations that you will see in the night sky are, and even a few fun constellation facts for kids. These patterns are named after what they form or sometimes they are given the name of a mythological figure.

Learn a bit about the constellations in the night sky! Our constellation printable cards are a great way to incorporate hands-on learning and simple astronomy for kids.īut first, what is a constellation? Constellations simply are a group of stars that form a recognizable pattern.

Printable star charts free