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(astronomy) An unofficial constellation (small group of stars that forms a visible pattern).
The Big Dipper, Summer Triangle, and Orion's Belt are asterisms.
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 necessary to adopt a more general method of distinguishing them. This was accomplished by portioning out the heavens into imaginary figures, of men, birds, fishes, &c. called Constellations or Asterisms.
2007, Matilde Battistini, Rosanna M. Giammanco Frongia (translation from Italian into English), Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy in Art, page 60:
Like Pisces and Capricorn, Aquarius is located in that part of the sky known as "Astral Sea," a region inhabited by water asterisms such as Eridanus, Cetus (the Whale), and the Dolphin.
A rarely used typographical symbol of three asterisks arranged in a triangle, ⁂, used to call attention to a passage or to separate subchapters in a book. Distinct from a dinkus which also uses asterisks to separate.
(mineralogy) A star-shaped figure exhibited by some crystals by reflected light (as in a star sapphire) or by transmitted light (as in some mica).
