How do stars manage to create the same constellations multiple times?

Question

I don’t see a flair option for Astronomy…

But I just recently wondered how stars could line up perfectly to create an Orions belt or many other shapes. Not only that but how do constellations end up being formed more than once? Are we looking at the same stars?

In: Physics

Answer 1

To add to the other comments, most stars that make up constellations aren’t in a straight line in 3D space. They’re all at varying distances from the Earth, and only appear 1) to be similarly bright because the farther stars are brighter, and 2) to be in a straight line because of the specific point of view that we have from Earth. From a different vantage point surrounding a different star, the three stars in Orion’s belt may not all appear in the same region of sky at all.