Asterisms (astronomy)
Asterism may refer to: * Asterism (astronomy), a pattern of stars * Asterism (gemology), an optical phenomenon in gemstones * Asterism (typography), (⁂) a moderately rare typographical symbol denoting a break in passages See also * * * Aster (other) Aster or ASTER may refer to: Biology * Aster (genus), ''Aster'' (genus), a genus of flowering plants ** List of Aster synonyms, List of ''Aster'' synonyms, other genera formerly included in ''Aster'' and still called asters in English * Aster (cel ...

Asterism (astronomy)
An asterism is an observed pattern or group of stars in the sky. Asterisms can be any identified pattern or group of stars, and therefore are a more general concept than the formally defined 88 constellations. Constellations are based on asterisms, but unlike asterisms, constellations outline and today completely divide the sky and all its celestial objects into regions around their central asterisms. For example, the asterism known as the Big Dipper comprises the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major. Another is the asterism of the Southern Cross, within the constellation of Crux. Asterisms range from simple shapes of just a few stars to more complex collections of many stars covering large portions of the sky. The stars themselves may be bright naked-eye objects or fainter, even telescopic, but they are generally all of a similar brightness to each other. The larger brighter asterisms are useful for people who are familiarizing themselves with the night sky. ...
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Asterism (gemology)
An asterism () is a star-shaped concentration of reflected or refracted light from a gemstone. Asterisms can appear when a suitable stone is cut ''en cabochon'' i.e. shaped and polished (not faceted). A gemstone that exhibits this effect is referred to as a star stone or asteria. The best known is star sapphire, but many other minerals can also be asteria, usually due to impurities in the crystal structure. Archetype The archetypal asteria is the star sapphire, generally corundum with near uniform impurities which is bluish-grey and milky or opalescent, which when lit has a star of six rays. In the red instance stellate reflection is rarer; the star-ruby occasionally found with the star-sapphire in Sri Lanka is among the most valued of "fancy stones". Other examples are star-topaz and certain prized chatoyant (, ) chrysoberyl stones, particularly of the cymophane (yellow) variety. Description Asterism is generated by reflections of light from twin-lamellae or from extremely ...
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Asterism (typography)
In typography, an asterism, ⁂, is a typographic symbol consisting of three asterisks placed in a triangle, which is used for a variety of purposes. The name originates from the astronomical term for a group of stars.From the Greek ''astēr'' (star) Alexander Humez, Nicholas D. Humez (2008). ''On the Dot: The Speck That Changed the World'', p. 72 & 186n. . The asterism was originally used as a type of dinkus in typography, though increasingly rarely. It can also be used to mean "untitled" or author or title withheld as seen, for example, in some editions of ''Album for the Young'' by composer Robert Schumann ( № 21, 26, and 30). In meteorology, an asterism in a station model indicates moderate snowfall. Dinkus A dinkus is a typographical device to divide text, such as at section breaks. Its purpose is to "indicate minor breaks in text", to call attention to a passage, or to separate sub-chapters in a book. An asterism used this way is thus a type of dinkus: nowadays th ...
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