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How to Memorize Constellations

Looking up into the sky, the stars can appear to be a massive jumble of points of light. Ancient astronomers mentally connected the dots between stars to form constellations. They named these sky pictures after Greek myths to help remember them. By memorizing constellations, campers, sailors and adventurers always know where they are in relation to the sky and in which direction they are pointing. Although memorizing constellations may initially be intimidating, with some patience anyone can do it.

Things You'll Need

Star map
White crayon
Black construction paper

Instructions

- 1
  Familiarize yourself with constellations. Use a star map to acquaint yourself with the star groupings and their names.
- 2
  Read the Greek mythology stories for which each constellation is named. By understanding the story behind the stars, you will be able to better remember the name and the shape of the constellations.
- 3
  Draw out the constellations you want to memorize. Use a white crayon on a black paper for each constellation to create the image of the night sky.
- 4
  Study the constellations at a slow pace. Shorter, more frequent study sessions are more effective for storing information than longer sessions.
- 5
  Memorize one constellation at a time. If you try to memorize them all at once, the details of each star grouping will be confusing.

Astronomy