One of the first activities we did when we got started with astronomy is the same one we like to show our children as soon as their enthusiasm for it night sky begins to surface. It's the pleasure of finding constellations. But finding constellations and using them to navigate the sky is a discipline that dates back almost to the dawn of man. In fact, we have cave images that show that the most primitive human societies could “see images” in the sky and attribute meaning to them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Constellations have also played an important role in culture and navigation long before we had sophisticated navigation systems. Early explorers, especially by sea, relied exclusively on the night sky to help them find their way to their destination. In fact, when "Columbus sailed the blue ocean in 1492" and "discovered" America, he could not have done so without astronomy and the aid of navigation in the cosmos, much of which part is made possible thanks to the important constellations. When we learn to find the major constellations in the sky, we use the “find one, you’ve found them all” system. Indeed, the simplest constellation to find will guide us to the others. This constellation is the Big Dipper. Look up at the northern sky on a clear night and widen your field of vision by simply focusing on one star and it will jump out at you. It will look like a large pot or kitchen ladle, right side up in the fall, upside down in the spring. When you master the Big Dipper, you can find the North Star quite easily. It is the star that these ancient sailors depended on most to find their way to shore. The North Star can then take you to La Petite Ourse. The key here is that Polaris is the end of the handle of The Little Dipper and the bowl hangs from the handle as if it were hanging in the kitchen. Be patient with this one because the stars that make up The Little Dipper are dimmer than The Big Dipper. But it's pretty cool once you find it. These are the obvious starting points, but from The Little Dipper you can find the constellation known as “The Swan” or Cygnus. Just use the same system you used to find the North Star, but continue tracing the line that started in these indicator stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper. Go about halfway to finding Polaris and there you are. You will see a trapezoid of stars as big as the Big Dipper. This trapezoid forms the tail of the Swan. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a personalized essay. This line that we draw from the indicator stars is our road map to another well-known constellation which is Cassiopeia. If you use this line and imagine that you are directly under the two indicator stars, you will see a large "W" just to the left of the line. This is the constellation of Cassiopeia, the wife of the Egyptian king Cepheus, in Greek mythology. There are so many other wonderful constellations to find and a good star map can continue your quest..