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In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms (which themselves are generally referred to in non-technical language as "constellations"), which are patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky. There are 88 standard constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) since 1922. The majority of these go back to the 48 constellations defined by Ptolemy in his Almagest (2nd century). The remaining ones were defined in the 17th and 18th century; the most recent ones are found on the southern sky, defined in Coelum australe …show more content…
Indian astronomy is also based on tradition, via transmission by the Indo-Greek kingdoms.
Classical Chinese constellations
Main article: Chinese constellation Further information: Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era
In classical Chinese astronomy, the northern sky is divided geometrically, into five "enclosures" and twenty-eight mansions along the ecliptic, grouped into Four Symbols of seven asterisms ea lunar mansions are one of the most important and also the most ancient structures in the Chinese sky, attested from the 5th century BC. Parallels to the earliest Babylonian (Sumerian) star cat suggest that the ancient Chinese system did not arise independently from that of the Ancient Near East.[10] Classical Chinese astronomy is recorded in the Han period and appears in the form schools, which are attributed to astronomers of the Zhanguo period. The constellations of the three schools were conflated into a single system by Chen Zhuo, an astronomer of the 3rd centu Kingdoms period). Chen Zhuo's work has been lost, but information on his system of constellations survives in Tang period records, notably by Qutan Xida. The oldest extant Chinese star c the Tang period and was preserved as part of the Dunhuang Manuscripts. Native Chinese astronomy flourished during the Song Dynasty, and during the Yuan Dynasty became increasingly in medieval Islamic astronomy.[11]
Early Modern era
The constellations around the South Pole