The 88 constellations are humanity's map of the sky — the figures that organise the stars and guide us to everything else up there. Here are the great ones: the brightest star, the deep-sky wonders and the meteor showers of each, and how to find them with your own eyes.
Highest for observers in the northern hemisphere; several never set.
Home to the Big Dipper (or Plough) — the seven-star asterism that is most people's first pattern in the sky. The two stars at the end of its bowl, the Pointers, lead straight to Polaris and so to true north, a navigation trick used for millennia.
Find it: The Big Dipper's bowl and handle are high in the northern sky on spring evenings.
The Little Dipper, anchored by Polaris — the North Star — which sits almost exactly above Earth's north pole and so barely moves all night while the rest of the sky wheels around it. For navigators, finding Polaris meant finding north.
Find it: Follow the Pointer stars of the Big Dipper to Polaris, the tip of the Little Dipper's handle.
The vain queen of Greek myth, frozen into an unmistakable 'W' (or 'M') of five bright stars on the opposite side of Polaris from the Big Dipper. Circumpolar from northern latitudes, it never sets and serves as a reliable signpost to the autumn Milky Way.
Find it: Look for the bright zig-zag 'W' high in the north-east on autumn evenings.
The charging bull of the zodiac, its face a V of stars (the Hyades) tipped by the orange eye of Aldebaran, with the glittering Pleiades cluster riding on its shoulder. Its horn-tip marks the Crab Nebula, the wreck of a star seen to explode in 1054.
Find it: Above and right of Orion; the Pleiades look like a tiny misty dipper.
The celestial twins Castor and Pollux, marked by the two bright stars of the same names at their heads. Each December the constellation hosts the Geminids — the strongest meteor shower of the year — radiating from near Castor.
Find it: Up and to the left of Orion; look for the two bright stars side by side.
The faintest constellation of the zodiac, easy to overlook between Gemini and Leo — but worth finding for the Beehive Cluster at its heart, a swarm of stars visible as a hazy patch to the naked eye and a glorious sight in binoculars.
Find it: Midway between the Twins of Gemini and the Sickle of Leo; scan with binoculars for the Beehive.
A genuine lion-shape: a backwards question mark (the Sickle) forms the mane and head, anchored by blue-white Regulus, while a triangle of stars marks the hindquarters. Each November the Leonids stream out of it — usually gentle, but the source of history's greatest meteor storms.
Find it: The Sickle looks like a backwards question mark; Regulus is the dot at its base.
A small constellation with an outsized claim: brilliant blue-white Vega, the fifth-brightest star in the sky and a vertex of the Summer Triangle. Between its lower stars hangs the Ring Nebula, a perfect smoke-ring blown by a dying star. Source of the April Lyrids.
Find it: Vega is the brilliant star almost overhead on summer evenings.
The swan flying down the summer Milky Way, also known as the Northern Cross. Its tail star Deneb — one of the most luminous stars known — marks a corner of the Summer Triangle, and its star-clouds hide the delicate Veil supernova remnant.
Find it: Trace the long axis of the cross down the Milky Way; Deneb is the tail.
The hero who slew Medusa, holding her severed head — marked by Algol, the 'Demon Star,' which visibly dims every 2.9 days as a companion eclipses it. Between Perseus and Cassiopeia glitters the Double Cluster, and each August the Perseids stream from here.
Find it: Below Cassiopeia's 'W'; watch Algol fade and rebrighten over a few hours.
The chained princess of myth, but famous for one thing above all: the Andromeda Galaxy, the nearest large spiral to our own and the most distant object visible to the naked eye, its light 2.5 million years old when it reaches your eye.
Find it: From the Great Square of Pegasus, star-hop along Andromeda's chain to the faint smudge of M31.
A pentagon of bright stars high in the winter sky, led by golden Capella — the sixth-brightest star, actually a close pair of giant suns. The Milky Way runs through Auriga, scattering it with open star clusters for binoculars.
Find it: High overhead on winter evenings; Capella is the bright star above Orion and Taurus.
A kite-shaped constellation anchored by Arcturus, the fourth-brightest star and the brightest in the northern sky — a swollen orange giant whose ruddy light leads the spring sky. The January Quadrantids radiate from its northern reaches.
Find it: 'Arc to Arcturus' — follow the curve of the Big Dipper's handle to the bright orange star.
A large summer constellation whose core is the 'Keystone,' a lopsided square of four stars. On its edge glows M13, the finest globular cluster in the northern sky — a city of hundreds of thousands of ancient stars, and the target of the 1974 Arecibo Message.
Find it: Find the Keystone between bright Vega and Arcturus; M13 sits on its western edge.
A faint constellation tucked beneath the handle of the Big Dipper, but a treasure-house of galaxies — including the Whirlpool, the first galaxy ever seen to have spiral structure. Its lead star, Cor Caroli, was named 'Charles's Heart' for a Stuart king.
Find it: Below the curve of the Big Dipper's handle; sweep with a telescope for its galaxies.
The only constellation named for a real historical person — Queen Berenice II of Egypt, who cut off her hair as an offering. Its faint scatter of stars marks a rich window onto the Coma galaxy cluster and the edge-on Needle Galaxy.
Find it: A dim, sparkly patch between Leo's tail and bright Arcturus; best under dark skies.
A small, dim constellation inside the Summer Triangle, notable for the Dumbbell Nebula — the first planetary nebula ever discovered, and one of the brightest and easiest to see. The first known pulsar was also found here in 1967.
Find it: Just south of Cygnus inside the Summer Triangle; the Dumbbell is a binocular target.
A long dragon winding between the two Dippers, circumpolar and never setting from northern latitudes. Thuban, one of its stars, was the pole star of the ancient Egyptians. It holds the intricate Cat's Eye Nebula, one of the most complex planetary nebulae known.
Find it: Coils between the Big and Little Dippers; its head is a quadrilateral near Vega.
A simple, neat triangle of stars whose fame rests entirely on the Triangulum Galaxy — the third-largest member of our Local Group after Andromeda and the Milky Way, and, under truly dark skies, just barely visible to the naked eye.
Find it: A small triangle below Andromeda; M33 is a faint glow nearby.
Visible from both hemispheres at some point in the year.
The most recognisable constellation of all — a striding hunter marked by the three-star Belt, with blue-white Rigel at his foot, red Betelgeuse at his shoulder, and the glowing Orion Nebula hanging from his sword. Visible from both hemispheres, it is the gateway to the winter sky.
Find it: Find the three evenly-spaced Belt stars; they point down to Sirius and up to Aldebaran.
The second-largest constellation, holding blue-white Spica and a vast swarm of galaxies — the Virgo Cluster — that includes the edge-on Sombrero. A spring constellation reached by following the curve of the Big Dipper's handle on to Arcturus and down to Spica.
Find it: 'Arc to Arcturus, then speed on to Spica' — continue that curve from the Dipper's handle.
An ancient but faint zodiac constellation, home to the Helix Nebula — the nearest bright planetary nebula, a dying star's glowing shroud often called the 'Eye of God.' Two meteor showers, the Eta and Delta Aquariids, radiate from its borders.
Find it: South of the Great Square of Pegasus on autumn evenings; dark skies needed.
A tiny two-star constellation whose brilliant lead star, Procyon, forms one corner of the Winter Triangle with Sirius and Betelgeuse. Like Sirius, Procyon is a nearby star with a faint white-dwarf companion.
Find it: Procyon sits to the upper-left of Sirius, completing the Winter Triangle with Betelgeuse.
The eagle of Zeus, flying along the Milky Way south of Cygnus. Its lead star Altair — one of the closest naked-eye stars and so fast-spinning it is visibly flattened — is the third vertex of the Summer Triangle with Vega and Deneb.
Find it: Altair, flanked by two fainter stars, completes the Summer Triangle below Vega and Deneb.
The only constellation split into two separate halves — the serpent's head and tail — held apart by Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer. In its tail lies the Eagle Nebula, home of the Hubble's famous 'Pillars of Creation.'
Find it: Straddling Ophiuchus in the summer Milky Way; the Eagle Nebula sits in the tail.
A faint unicorn galloping through the winter Milky Way inside the great Winter Triangle, easy to miss between its brilliant neighbours. But it hides showpieces: the rose-shaped Rosette Nebula and the dark, dramatic Cone.
Find it: Inside the Winter Triangle of Sirius, Procyon and Betelgeuse; needs dark skies.
A tiny constellation set against one of the richest star clouds of the summer Milky Way, the Scutum Star Cloud. It holds the Wild Duck Cluster, one of the densest and most beautiful open clusters in the sky.
Find it: In the dense Milky Way just south of Aquila; sweep with binoculars for the star cloud.
The showpieces of southern-hemisphere nights.
One of the few constellations that genuinely looks like its namesake — a curving line of stars forming the scorpion's body and stinging tail, with the red supergiant Antares ('rival of Mars') blazing at its heart. A jewel of the summer Milky Way, low in the south.
Find it: Low in the south on summer evenings; the curved tail dips into the Milky Way.
The archer, far better known by the 'Teapot' asterism at its core. It points straight at the centre of our galaxy — the steam from the Teapot's spout marks the direction of the Milky Way's heart, and the richest star clouds and nebulae of the summer sky.
Find it: Look for the Teapot low in the south; the Milky Way 'steams' from its spout.
Orion's larger hunting dog, dominated by Sirius — the brightest star in the entire night sky, a brilliant blue-white beacon just 8.6 light-years away. The ancient 'dog days' of summer are named for the season when Sirius rose with the Sun.
Find it: Follow Orion's Belt down and to the left to the dazzling Sirius.
A grand southern constellation holding Alpha Centauri — the closest star system to the Sun, whose faint companion Proxima is our nearest stellar neighbour of all. It also contains Omega Centauri, the largest and brightest globular cluster in the sky.
Find it: The two bright Pointers of Centaurus aim at the nearby Southern Cross.
The smallest constellation of all, but among the most celebrated — the Southern Cross, a compact kite of four bright stars that points the way to the south celestial pole. Emblazoned on the flags of the southern hemisphere, it is the south's answer to the Big Dipper.
Find it: Its long axis points toward the south celestial pole; beside it lurks the dark Coalsack.
The keel of the ancient ship Argo, led by Canopus — the second-brightest star in the sky, long used as a guide star by spacecraft. Carina holds one of the sky's grandest star-forming regions, the Carina Nebula, home to the unstable hypergiant Eta Carinae.
Find it: Canopus blazes well south of Sirius; the Carina Nebula glows in the southern Milky Way.
A small but distinct keystone of four stars south of Virgo, the crow of Greek myth sent to fetch water. On its edge lie the Antennae — two galaxies caught mid-collision, their tidal tails flung out like insect feelers.
Find it: A compact quadrilateral below Virgo's Spica; the Antennae need a telescope.
The sails of the ancient ship Argo, sharing the southern Milky Way with Carina and Puppis. It contains the Vela Pulsar — the collapsed core of a star that exploded ~11,000 years ago, now spinning eleven times a second.
Find it: In the southern Milky Way east of Canopus; rich in clusters and nebulae.
A far-southern constellation that holds most of the Large Magellanic Cloud — our galaxy's brightest satellite — and within it the Tarantula Nebula, the most active star-forming region in the entire Local Group of galaxies.
Find it: Deep in the southern sky; the Large Magellanic Cloud is an unmistakable misty patch.
A southern bird-constellation that hosts two showpieces: the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy, and 47 Tucanae — the second-brightest globular cluster in the sky, a dazzling ball of millions of ancient stars.
Find it: Near the south celestial pole; 47 Tuc glints beside the Small Magellanic Cloud.
A faint southern constellation that contains the south galactic pole — our cleanest window out of the Milky Way onto the wider universe. Its showpiece is the dusty, starburst Sculptor Galaxy, one of the brightest galaxies beyond our Local Group.
Find it: Below Cetus and Aquarius; the Sculptor Galaxy is a fine telescope target.