Earth's sky contains well more than 70 constellations, many with confirmed shapes and names. Here's a handy guide to connecting the dots through your next constellation conversation:

• Though constellations primarily contain stars, the occasional Soviet satellite or ruptured gas main can create a cool animation effect, making Orion appear to shoot an arrow or Ursa Major demonstrate its powerful fire roar.

• Due to the Earth's rotation, no two countries share the same constellations. Natural curiosity about other skies has served as the catalyst for some of mankind's greatest inventions, including the Internet, commercial air travel, and military conquest.

• At 282 stars, the most complex constellation is the Fall of Perseus, a multiple-chapter cosmological pictogram of the Greek mythological hero's battle with chronic joint pain (and also lions). Containing just one star, the least complex constellation in the night sky is the moon.

• The light from "shining stars" is actually light that left those stars eons ago—by now the stars are smoldering husks of ash and ether. Would you want to grab a coffee off campus sometime and discuss our own insignificance?