We use constellations with signs of the zodiac or animals, because these are convenient easy ways of helping to remember where particular stars are. We name the constellations for the shapes their stars make when joined up. Cygnus is in the shape of a swan with wings outstretched, and Scorpius is shaped like a scorpion. Sometimes a shape will be part of a constellation, such as the seven bright stars in Ursa Major that form the saucepan and handle of the Big Dipper.