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1Astronomy A prominent pattern or group of stars that is smaller than a constellation.
‘Pisces is a curious star group; the stars are dim, scattered, and don't form a distinctive asterism.’
‘The chart is written on paper - a Chinese invention - and is a representation of the complete sky with some 1,585 stars grouped into 257 clusters or ‘asterisms’.’
‘Cygnus - the Swan - is a cluster of stars, or asterism, easily visible in the summer skies.’
‘Orion and the Great Bear are two of the most prominent asterisms visible from the northern hemisphere.’
‘Orion contains an asterism or well-known star pattern called the ‘saucepan’ or ‘iron pot’.’
‘They're located about 15° west-northwest of the bright red star Aldebaran, which in turn is at the end of one of the arms of a V-shaped asterism, the Hyades open cluster, which points southwest.’
‘If the favourable asterism is in its ascendancy and if it alone exerts an influence over the new-born, then its good influence will increase.’
2A group of three asterisks (⁂) drawing attention to a piece of text.
Origin
Late 16th century: from Greek asterismos, from astēr ‘star’.