Its distinctive cross asterism is marked simply by four bright stars. Photograph by BABAK TAFRESHI, Nat Geo Image Collection One of the most famous of all southern constellations, Crux is the ...

Spica is the 15th brightest star in the sky and ... estimated to be approximately 7.8 and 4 times the size of the sun's diameter. Spica is located in the constellation Virgo and is easy to find ...

Astronomers call these collections constellations ... Not bad for what’s essentially a big square of four stars with a few stellar lines arrayed off the corners. Other patterns inspire more ...

In each constellation, four stars mark the bear’s body, fainter stars (not shown on my star chart) depict their heads and legs, and a curve of three stars trace their long fluffy tails.