From BC 4000, constellation patterns were drawn up. All these were different; the Chinese and Egyptian constellations, for example, are quite unlike ours (for example, our Draco seems to correspond with the Egyptian hippopotamus). Our system is derived from that of Ptolemy (Table 28.1); it may originally have been Cretan, though opinions differ. In all, 88 separate constellations are now in use. A list of these is given in Table 28.2.

Ptolemy gave a list of 48 constellations: 21 northern, 12 zodiacal and 15 southern (Table 28.1). All these are to be found on modern maps, although in many cases their boundaries have been altered – and the huge Argo Navis, the Ship Argo, has been chopped up into a Keel (Carina), sails (Vela) and a poop (Puppis).

Surviving post-Ptolemaic constellations are given in Table 28.3. Many of the original names have been shortened: thus Pisces Volant, the Flying Fish, has become simply Volant, while Mons Mensæ, the Table Mountain, has become Mensa. Pisces Australis may also be called Pisces Austrians, while Scorpius is often incorrectly called Scorpio. There was some confusion over two of Bayer's constellations, Apis (the Bee) and Avis Indica (the Bird of Paradise); modern maps give it as Apus. There were also two Musca, one formed by Lacaille to replace Bayer's Apis, and the other (rejected) formed by Bode out of stars near Aries.