There are altogether 88 official constellations. We can see most of them either fully or partially from South Africa. But 6 of these constellations are true northern hemispheric constellations. They cannot be seen in their entirety by South African observers (except maybe some in the Limpopo!). Be sure to observe them when you visit the countries of the northern hemisphere.

Their names are:
Camelopardalis (The Giraffe) - Named the ‘camel-leopard’ by the Greeks.
Cassiopeia (The Queen) – In mythology, queen of ancient Æthiopia, wife of Cepheus and mother of Andromeda.
Cepheus (The King) – The king of Æthiopia, husband of Cassiopeia, father of Andromeda.
Draco (The Dragon) – Guardian of the entrance to the golden apples, slain by the hero Hercules.
Ursa Major (The Larger Bear) – One of the oldest constellations, numerous legends associated with it.
Ursa Minor (The Little Bear) – Named Arcas in legends, following its mother through the sky.

- You might have heard about a star pattern called “the Big Dipper”. Where is this pattern exactly? It consists of a group of 7 stars situated in the constellation of Ursa Major. It is also known as the “Plough”. One Native American legend sees the Big Dipper as seven hunters pursuing a bear. The early Britons imagined the Big Dipper as the chariot of King Arthur. Many other legends from many cultures are told about this specific star pattern.

- Another well-known object in the northern hemisphere is the star called “Polaris”, (alpha Ursa Minoris). This star is also known as the northern pole star. Polaris is situated only 1 degree from the real northern celestial pole. If you draw an imaginary line from the middle of the North Pole (by thus extending the axis line) straight into space, it will point to the north celestial pole. All the other stars in the northern hemisphere seem to revolve around the north celestial pole, as the Earth turns on its axis. In the south, we do not have such a relatively bright star to show us where the exact south celestial pole lies. But the nearest star to that position was named “Sigma Octantis”, a faint star of magnitude 5.4, visible through binoculars.