Constellation

Four views of the constellation Orion: the old Baroque mythological figure, a Persian drawing, a modern stick figure, and a photo of the stars themselves.

Top: Baroque drawing of the constellation Orion from Johannes Hevelius' star atlas Firmamentum Sobiescianum, showing the stars as they would appear to an observer looking down upon the imaginary celestial sphere from the outside and illustration from the medieval Persian astronomical text Book of Fixed StarsBottom: Contemporary map of Orion from the IAU and photograph of the night sky with drawn linesA constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.