Taurus, The Bull - Taurus is a large and prominent constellation. The bright stars form an easily recognizeable V-shape marking the horns of The Bull. The brightest star in the constellation, alpha tauri or Aldebaran is usually seen as the Eye of the Bull.
Virgo, The Maiden or The Virgin - Virgo is a large constellation, the second largest in the sky by area. The Sun is in Virgo at the time of the Autumnal Equinox, marking the beginning of autumn in the northern hemisphere. The ancient Greeks and Romans associated Virgo with the harvest. Virgo is also the home of one of the largest clusters of galaxies. The Virgo Cluster contains many thousands of galaxies and several hundred are bright enough to be seen in medium to large amateur telescopes.
Leo, The Lion - Leo is an impressive and easily recognized constellation that dominates the spring sky in the northern hemisphere. Leo is characterized by the asterism of the backward question mark which defines the head and mane of the lion. The brightest star in Leo is Regulus, at the base of the backward question mark. There are many beautiful galaxies found in Leo with a modest size telescope. Look for M65, M66, M95, M96, among others.
Libra, The Balance or The Scales - Libra is a faint constellation, especially when compared to its neighbor Scorpius, to the east. In ancient times, the Sun was in Libra at the time of the Autumnal Equinox, marking equal hours of daylight and darkness. The Greeks saw this grouping of stars as part of Scorpius, but the Romans added it to their mythological sky around the time of the death of Julius Caesar. Other ancient cultures saw this as a balance beam. It has the distinction of being the only zodiacal constellation that is named for an inanimate object.
Pisces, The Fish - Pisces is a large fall constellation of mostly faint stars. It is usually seen as one or two fish. One Greek story says the fish are Venus and her son Cupid. They jumped into the river to escape the fire breathing monster Typhon. They turned themselves into fish and swam away.
Sagittarius, The Archer - Sagittarius is depicted as a centaur, half man and half horse. The centaur is seen pointing a bow and arrow at the heart of the scorpion.The most recognizable stars in Sagittarius form an asterism often called "The Teapot" because it resembles tipped teapot ready to pour. Sagittarius is rich with nebulae and star clusters and contains more Messier objects than any other constellation.
Scorpius, The Scorpion - Scorpius is one of the most easily recognized constellations. It has bright stars and a clearly marked outline that looks like a scorpion in the northern hemisphere. Scorpius is near the center of the Milky Way, so it is surrounded by star clouds, dark lanes, and many star clusters. There are many beautiful objects for a small telescope or binoculars.In mythology, Scorpius is associated with death and darkness. It is the creature that killed Orion, the great hunter.
Aquarius, The Water Bearer - Aquarius is one of the oldest of the constellations. Aquarius is identified with water as are its neighbors, Capricornus and Pisces. Perhaps this is because the Sun is in these constellations during the winter months (for the northern hemisphere) which is usually the rainy season.
Aries, The Ram - Aries is a small and relatively faint constellation. The stars in it are faint and the figure is also not obvious to most observers. However, Aries is well known as the first of the zodiacal constellations. It has this distinction because in ancient times, the Sun crossed the celestial equator in Aries, heading north(above the equator), which marked the beginning of Spring in the northern hemisphere.
Cancer, The Crab - Cancer lies between Gemini and Leo along the ecliptic. It is a rather inconspicuous constellation of faint 4th magnitude stars. However, there is one very interesting naked eye object, M44. Messier 44, also known as The Beehive Cluster, can be seen with the unaided eye under dark skies. It is a great object for binoculars or a small telescope. About 50 stars are visible in a small telescope, but there are about 350 stars in the entire cluster. M44 is the fuzzy patch near the center of the crab.
Capricornus, The Sea Goat - Capricornus is one of the most mysterious and ancient of all constellations. While it is mostly identified as half goat and half fish, it's origins are confused.The story goes that the excitable Pan jumped into the river Nile to escape the monster Typhon. Pan tried to transform himself into an animal to hide and the part above water became a goat and the part below water became a fish.
Gemini, The Twins - Gemini is another large and prominent winter constellation. Crowned by the two bright, first magnitude stars, Castor and Pollux, Gemini is located along the star-rich Milky Way and is the most northerly of the zodiacal constellations. It is best seen from December through May in the northern hemisphere. The bright star Castor is unusual because it is actually three sets of stars, each set is also a double star. Castor A and B can be seen as separate in modest telescopes, since they are only about 3 arc sec apart. Castor C is about 9th magnitude and 73 arc sec away to the south. It takes a spectograph or a Space Telescope to separate the components of the double stars.