article_snippet.sent: The stars are the most recognisable shapes in the night sky, tracing distinctive patterns that have enabled astronomers to navigate the starscape above The stars for thousands of years.
article_snippet.sent: Mr Vargic said: 'On a short timescale, stars appear to maintain nearly fixed positions in relation to each other, long term observations show that stars indeed move and all constellations gradually change over time.'
article_snippet.sent: Astronomers have been recording the position of stars since the Ancient Greeks, who believed the Earth was at the centre of the universe due to the apparent unchanging nature of stars.
article_snippet.sent: Now, using sophisticated observations from space telescopes like Hubble and the European Space Agency's Hipparcos satellite, scientists have been able to watch the movement of stars.
article_snippet.sent: This has allowed astronomers to predict the position of stars thousands of years into the future.
article_snippet.sent: While there are some celestial objects that move across the sky quite regularly - such as the planets and the Moon - most of stars vary little in relation to each other.
article_snippet.sent: Obviously their position in the sky changes as the Earth itself spins on the Earth itself axis and moves around the Sun, all constellations have remained appeared constant through out human history.
article_snippet.sent: In fact many stars, including our own sun, are moving through space at thousands of miles per hour.
article_snippet.sent: However the vast distances between the Earth and stars makes stars appear static and those that are closer appear to move more.
article_snippet.sent: Dr Marek Kukula, public astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, said: 'In art and poetry the idea of stars being fixed and eternal is a strong theme. '
article_snippet.sent: However, Dr Marek Kukula, public astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich now know Dr Marek Kukula, public astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich solar system is moving through the Milky Way and other stars have other stars own particular paths. '
highlights_snippet.sent: The stars will shift position as our solar system moves through the galaxy .