In addition to the 88 standard constellations, the night sky contains a number of other easily recognizable patterns of bright stars. A pattern such as this—called an asterism—may be part of a single constellation or consist of stars from different constellations. The Big Dipper, for example, is part of the constellation of Ursa Major. The Summer Triangle includes stars from several different constellations.

The following is a tour of the most popular asterisms.