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Sharon Blackwood wrote-

>The names you mentioned are the commonly accepted "Rey's" method.
>(H. A. Rey "The Stars: A New Way To See Them")  The book, for children
>and adults, tries to depict more identifiable names for the constellations.
>
>The Starry Night software also allows users to choose the "Rey" constellations
>as well as Astronomical and Zodiac.
>
>I find the "Rey" method confusing, but many people swear by it -
>especially for teaching children.

==========

Thank you, Sharon, for a really useful comment.

When you say "commonly accepted", and "many people swear by it", it would
be interesting to know what point-of-view your are referring to. Is it from
a US background, or where? From your mailing, I can only guess, from its
timezone.

It would also be of interest to learn, in rough terms, how recently this
method was introduced and how widespread it has become. I have a niece who
is a teacher and will ask her if that method is used in the UK.

I've spoken about this matter with my brother-in-law Peter, who teaches
juniors in New Zealand. He tells me that the constellation names he uses
there haven't changed since he was a child. Many of them are invisible and
unfamiliar to us Northerners, of course.

We expect to see, and to recognise, our circumpolar stars any way up, but
for those constellations nearer the equator, such as Orion, their
orientation doesn't alter much. Being on the Equator, Orion is just as
visible from New Zealand, and Peter explains an additional problem for them
there. Seen from the South, Orion is always upside-down, and Peter points
out that it's hard to respect, as a great warrior, someone who is always
standing on his head. As a private arrangement between him and his class,
then, they have renamed Orion "the Shopping-Trolley".

George


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01865 820222 (from outside UK, +44 1865 820222), or by mail at 1 Sandy
Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.
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