| A | B |
| Andromeda | represents a princess |
| Andromeda | contains M31, a huge spiral galaxy |
| Aquarius | represents a waterbearer |
| Aquarius | portrays a man or boy spilling water from an urn |
| Aquila | represents an eagle |
| Aquila | contains the bright star Altair |
| Cancer | represents a crab |
| Cancer | contains the famous Beehive star cluster, M44 |
| Canis major | represents a big dog |
| Canis major | contains the bright star Sirius |
| Capricornus | represents a goat |
| Capricornus | second least visible constellation of the zodiac |
| Cassiopeia | represents a queen |
| Cassiopeia | takes the appearance of the letter W |
| Cepheus | represents a king |
| Cepheus | appears like a child's drawing of a house with a steep roof |
| Cygnus | represents a swan |
| Cygnus | the Northern Cross is part of this constellation |
| Draco | represents a dragon |
| Draco | contains the star Thuban, which was the "pole star" several thousand years ago |
| Gemini | represents the "twins" |
| Gemini | contains the bright stars Castor and Pollux |
| Hercules | represents a strongman-hero |
| Hercules | contains M13, a very bright globular cluster of stars |
| Leo | represents a lion |
| Leo | appears as a backwards question mark in the sky |
| Libra | represents a balance or scales |
| Libra | a constellation of the zodiac, adjacent to the constellation Scorpius |
| Lyra | represents a lyre (or harp) |
| Lyra | contains the very bright blue star called Vega |
| Orion | represents a mighty hunter |
| Orion | contains more bright stars than any other consellation |
| Pegasus | represents a "winged" horse |
| Pegasus | contains a group of stars known as the Great Square |
| Perseus | in Greek mythology, represents the son of Zeus |
| Pisces | represents a pair of fish on a line |
| Pisces | a large constellation of mostly faint stars lying on the edge of a region of the sky known as the "Sea" |
| Sagittarius | represents an archer (bowman) |
| Sagittarius | looks something like a "teapot" in the sky |
| Scorpius | represents a scorpion |
| Scorpius | contains the red, supergiant star, Antares |
| Scorpius | contains more than two dozen star clusters |
| Taurus | represents a bull |
| Taurus | contains the star cluster known as the Hyades |
| Ursa major | represents a big bear |
| Ursa major | commonly known as the "big dipper" |
| Ursa major | contains the "pointer stars" which point to the north star (Polaris) |
| Ursa minor | represents a little bear |
| Ursa minor | commonly known as the "little dipper" |
| Ursa minor | Polaris (the north star) is the end star in handle of the dipper |
| Virgo | represents a young "maiden" |
| Virgo | in mythology, this female figure has been identified with goddesses of fertility |