ALL 88 constellations officially sanctioned by the International Astronomical Union are listed in the table below, plus the Milky Way and the aurora. Each entry describes the mythology and history of the constellation along with an illustration of it from a classic star atlas, usually Johann Bode’s Uranographia of 1801 or John Flamsteed’s Atlas Coelestis of 1729. For the more prominent constellations I have included some brief information about the brightest stars and other objects of interest they contain, including the origin and meaning of certain star names. Where relevant, I have added a discussion of Chinese constellations that lay in the same area of sky as the western constellation. Click on a link in the table below to go to the entry.

• For obsolete constellations, see Chapter Four.

• For a table of the sizes and visibility of all 88 constellations, see here.