Word Finder - asterism

definition

(constellation) An unofficial constellation (small group of stars that forms a visible pattern).

example

The Big Dipper, Summer Triangle, and Orion's Belt are asterisms.

definition

A rarely used typographical symbol (⁂, three asterisks arranged in a triangle), used to call attention to a passage or to separate subchapters in a book.

definition

A star-shaped figure exhibited by some crystals by reflected light (as in a star sapphire) or by transmitted light (as in some mica).

The superfluous asterism, named Abhijit, included the bright star a Lyrae, under whose influence the gods had vanquished the Asuras.

Propitiatory abstinences were recommended when the natal asterism was menaced by unfavourable planetary conjunctions.

The asterism seems due to the presence of microscopic tubular cavities, or to enclosure of crystalline minerals, arranged in a definite system.

On the other hand, Aratus kept the Pleiades distinct from Taurus, but Hipparchus reduced these stars to an asterism.

And the Pleiades continued, within historical memory, to be the first asterism of the lunar zodiac. 2 Lenormant, Origines de l'Histoire, i.

Ptolemy, who himself chiefly used the " Claws " (XnXai), speaks of it as a distinctively Chaldaean sign; 2 and it occurs as an extrazodiacal asterism in the Chinese sphere.