Stars and Constellations

Stars are giant balls of hot, glowing gas far away in space. Our Sun is a star! It looks bigger than other stars because it is much closer to us. At night, we can see thousands of stars in the sky. Some stars are brighter than others. Long ago, people connected stars into shapes called constellations. The Big Dipper looks like a giant spoon. Orion the Hunter has three stars in a row that make his belt. The North Star, also called Polaris, always points north. Travelers used it to find their way!