1590s, "a constellation, a group of stars," from Greek asterismos "a marking with stars," from aster "star" (see astro-). Any grouping of stars, whether a constellation o [..]

Effect exhibited on some polished cabochons that cause them to reflect a billowy, star-like formation of concentrated light which moves around when rotated. Asterism is caused by dense inclusions of t [..]

A rather obscure punctuation mark to most modern users, an asterism consists of a triangle of three tiny asterisks, two on the bottom of a line, and one centered above those two. Textual editors used [..]

(revision in progress) Atavism:

Any prominent star pattern that isn’t a whole constellation, such as the Northern Cross or the Big Dipper.

Character looking like three asterisks, often arranged in a triangle like this: ⁂ (your browser may not show this character properly). Usually used to indicate the presence of a text break. More gener [..]

(n) (mineralogy) a star-shaped figure with six rays that is seen in some crystal structures under reflected or transmitted light(n) (astronomy) a cluster of stars (or a small constellation)

The luminous property that some gemstones like Star Sapphires have, whereby their inclusions are aligned in such a way that they reflect light in the pattern of a 4, 6 or 12 rayed star

Effect exhibited on some minerals (usually only in polished cabochons) causing it to reflect a billowy, star-like formation of concentrated light which moves around when the mineral is rotated. Asteri [..]

In gemological terms, asterism is a special optical property that manifests as a star-like pattern on the surface of a gemstone. Depending on the crystal structure, the star may have four, six, or even twelve rays. Parallel needle-like inclusions are responsible for the effect. Examples include star diopside (4 rays) and star ruby (6 rays). Double [..]

The ability of certain translucent crystals to display 4-, 6-, or 12-rayed “stars” due to the reflection of light from inclusions of aligned, microscopic rutile crystals. Examples: Star sapphire and s [..]

Formation of a "star" by reflection or scattering of light from sets of parallel fibrous inclusions which are aligned with specific crystal directions. Epiasterism refers to stars ob [..]

is a group of starts. Also a pattern of stars seen from earth which is not part of an established constellation.

  Also known as the star effect needle-like inclusions align within the stone to produce a star-like reflection on the surface of a cabachon cut gem. Appraisal

(constellation) A constellation. * '''1825''', Geo G. Carey, ''Astronomy, as it is known at the present day'', London, p. 66 f.: *: Of the constellations, or asterisms. [...] It therefore became n [..]