Stars and Constellations Word Search

About this puzzle

This list looks up at the night sky: star patterns you can find without a telescope (Orion, the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, the Pleiades), individual bright stars (Polaris, Sirius, Betelgeuse), distant objects (Andromeda, nebulas, galaxies), stages in the life of a star (red giant, supernova) and words astronomers use to measure and map the sky (light year, zodiac). It opens on Hard, with several long and unfamiliar names.

The default layout is Hard on a 15×15 grid. Easy, Medium and Hard each use their own checked layout of the same words, and every one can be printed in standard or large print on US Letter or A4.

Word notes

Orion

A winter constellation in the Northern Hemisphere, easy to spot by the three bright stars of Orion's Belt.

Cassiopeia

A W-shaped constellation that sits on the opposite side of Polaris from the Big Dipper.

Polaris

The North Star, nearly above Earth’s North Pole.

Sirius

The brightest star in the night sky.

Betelgeuse

A red supergiant at Orion's shoulder, so large that, placed where the Sun is, it would reach beyond the orbit of Mars.

Andromeda

The Andromeda Galaxy, about 2.5 million light years away, is the most distant object most people can see with the naked eye.

Pleiades

A star cluster also called the Seven Sisters.

Light Year

A distance, not a time: how far light travels in one year.

Try this after the puzzle

On a clear evening, try to find three of these with the naked eye: the Big Dipper; Polaris, by following the two "pointer" stars at the end of the Dipper's bowl; and Orion in winter. Indoors, look at a star chart, then draw the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia from memory.

All 14 words

Orion · Big Dipper · Cassiopeia · Polaris · Sirius · Betelgeuse · Andromeda · Pleiades · Supernova · Nebula · Galaxy · Light Year · Red Giant · Zodiac