Question

Although stars may appear to be close together in constellations, they are usually not close together out in space. Can you think of any groups of astronomical objects that are relatively close together in space?

Answer 1

Although the stars that make up a constellation appear close together as we see them in our night sky, they are usually at very different distances from us, and therefore they are not at all close together out in space.

Constellations were important to people, like the Ancient Greeks. People who spent a lot of time outdoors at night, like shepherds, named them and told stories about them. One of the most easily recognized constellations is constellation Orion. The ancient Greeks thought this group of stars looked like a hunter. They named it Orion, after a great hunter in Greek mythology.

As we observe the constellation Orion, the stars visible to the naked eye are at distances ranging from just 26 light-years (which is relatively close to Earth) to several thousand light-years away.