A bright star in the southern part of the sky. The brightest star in the sky. What is the brightest star in the sky

In the middle of summer, nights in temperate latitudes are still short and bright. There are not many stars visible, and those that are visible are often perceived differently than in a completely dark sky. This is understandable, because they are deprived of the unique surroundings that the weaker stars surrounding them create. In the twilight sky, the patterns of the constellations disappear - in whole or in part - and the brightest stars shine alone, like beacons in the sea.

In the evening in the middle of summer, 6 stars of the first and zero magnitude are visible in the sky. What are these stars?

In the west, to the left of the dawn, quite high in the sky is a star Arcturus. It is the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere and the fourth brightest star in the entire night sky. Arcturus can be recognized by its characteristic reddish color; if the atmosphere is turbulent, the star twinkles quite strongly.

Three other stars can be found in the southern side of the sky. First of all, this Vega, the main star of the small constellation Lyra, which is almost at its zenith in July evenings. Vega is quite a bit inferior in brilliance to Arcturus - to the eye their brilliance seems to be the same. But Vega differs in color: unlike the orange Arcturus, it is a white star.

To the left of Vega, just as high, you can find a star Deneb. It is not as bright as Vega or Arcturus, but is quite visible in the twilight sky. Deneb heads the beautiful constellation Cygnus, whose figure resembles a cross.

The Big Summer Triangle is the main star pattern of summer. On July evenings, it is high in the sky in the south. Pattern: Stellarium

Beneath these two stars, about halfway between the zenith and the horizon, is another star, Altair. Altair is brighter than Deneb, but not as bright as Vega. Together, these stars form a large almost isosceles triangle in the sky, the base of which is Vega and Deneb, and the top facing the horizon is the star Altair.

The Great Summer Triangle - this is the name of this figure - is the main landmark in the summer sky. It is perfectly visible in the sky and throughout the first half of autumn, due to which it is often called the summer-autumn triangle. Starting from Vega, Deneb and Altair, you can study all the summer constellations in detail and in detail. I must say that in this area of ​​​​the sky there are a lot of interesting celestial objects that are available for observation with binoculars or small amateur telescopes.

The stars Arcturus, Vega, Deneb and Altair are very clearly visible throughout Russia in summer (except for the far north, where it is still too light in July). The other two stars are not visible everywhere.

Star Capella in July evenings is far to the north. Pattern: Stellarium

If you are located north of the latitude of Rostov-on-Don, say in Samara, Moscow or St. Petersburg, then in the north you can see another bright star. This is Chapel, the main star of the constellation Auriga. Its brilliance is comparable to the brilliance of Arcturus and Vega, and its color is yellow. However, being very low above the horizon, the Chapel flickers strongly and shimmers in different colors. At the latitude of St. Petersburg in the first half of July, the star is poorly visible, as it floats above the dawn.

Another star is visible in July in the evenings in the southwest, between Arcturus and the Summer Triangle. But, like Capella, this star is low on the horizon. We are talking about Antares, alpha Scorpio. Antares can be observed south of St. Petersburg. At the latitude of Moscow, the star is very low above the horizon, flickers strongly, and its brightness is weakened. Well Antares is visible only in the south of Russia. There, the rich red color of this star is striking.

But the list of bright celestial objects that can be seen in the July 2017 sky does not end there! In the evening twilight, low in the west (under the star Arcturus), a very bright yellowish star is visible, which practically does not flicker. This is the planet Jupiter. Jupiter is much brighter than Vega and Arcturus, and indeed any star in the night sky.

Another "star" is located in the southwest near Antares. Its brilliance is approximately equal to the brilliance of Altair, and its color is dull yellow. This is the planet Saturn.

The Great Summer Triangle, the stars Antares and Arcturus, as well as the planets Saturn and Jupiter - all these celestial bodies are visible in July in the evenings in the southern and western sectors of the sky. The picture is shown for the latitude of Moscow. Pattern: Stellarium

The third bright object is visible in the morning in the east. This is the planet Venus. The brilliance of Venus is phenomenal - it is several times brighter than Jupiter and is visible even in the daytime sky! Like Jupiter, Venus is distinguished by its exceptionally even radiance - it does not flicker and almost never shimmers in different colors. Its color is white.

I hope this little digression will help you navigate the summer starry sky and start exploring it! Start by observing these bright stars in the sky. Note their position in the sky, brilliance and color. Are planets different from stars? If yes, then what?

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For the first time, the stars began to be distinguished by brightness in the II century BC by the ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus. He singled out 6 degrees in the glow and introduced the concept of magnitude. The German astronomer Johann Bayer at the beginning of the 17th century introduced the brightness of the stars in the constellations with the letters of the alphabet. The brightest luminaries for the human eye were called α of such and such a constellation, β - the next in brightness, etc.

The hotter the star, the more light it emits.

Blue stars are the most luminous. Less bright whites. Yellow stars have an average luminosity, and red giants are considered the dimmest. The luminosity of a celestial body is a variable value. For example, in, dated July 4, 1054, it tells about a star in the constellation Taurus so bright that it was visible even during the day. Over time, it began to fade, and after a year it could no longer be seen with the naked eye.

Now in the constellation of Taurus, you can observe the Crab Nebula - a trace after the explosion of a supernova. In the center of the nebula, astronomers have discovered a source of powerful radio emission - a pulsar. This is all that remains of the supernova explosion observed in 1054.

The brightest stars in the sky

The brightest stars in the Northern Hemisphere are Deneb in the constellation Cygnus and Rigel in the constellation Orion. They exceed the luminosity of the Sun by 72,500 and 55,000 times, respectively. They are at a distance of 1600 and 820 light years from Earth. Another bright star in the Northern Hemisphere - Betelgeuse - is also located in the constellation of Orion. It emits 22,000 times more light than the sun.

Most of the brightest stars in the Northern Hemisphere can be observed in the constellation of Orion.

Sirius, in the constellation Canis Major, is the brightest star visible from Earth. It can be observed in the Southern Hemisphere. Sirius is only 22.5 times brighter than the Sun, but the distance to this star is small by cosmic standards - 8.6 light years. The polar star in the constellation Ursa Minor shines like 6000 Suns, but it is 780 light-years away from us, so it looks dimmer than nearby Sirius.

In the constellation Taurus is a star with the astronomical name UW CMa. You can only see it with a telescope. This blue star is distinguished by its gigantic density and small spherical magnitude. It shines 860,000 times brighter than the Sun. This unique celestial body is considered the brightest object in the observable part of the Universe.

The night sky is striking in its beauty and countless celestial fireflies. What is especially fascinating is that their arrangement is structured, as if they were deliberately placed in the right order, forming star systems. From ancient times, learned astrologers tried to calculate all these myriad heavenly bodies and give them names. Today, a huge number of stars have been discovered in the sky, but this is just a small part of all the existing vast Universe. Consider what constellations and luminaries are.

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Stars and their classification

A star is a celestial body that radiates a huge amount of light and heat.

It consists mainly of helium (lat. Helium), as well as (lat. Hydrogenium).

The celestial body is in a state of equilibrium due to the pressure inside the body itself and its own.

Heat and light radiates as a result of thermonuclear reactions, occurring inside the body.

What are the types depending on life cycle and structure:

• main sequence. This is the main life cycle of the luminary. This is exactly what it is, as well as the vast majority of others.
• Brown dwarf. A relatively small, dim object with a low temperature. The first one was opened in 1995.
• White dwarf. At the end of its life cycle, the ball begins to shrink until its density balances gravity. Then it turns off and cools down.
• Red giant. A huge body that emits a large amount of light, but not very hot (up to 5000 K).
• New. New stars do not light up, just old ones flare up with renewed vigor.
• Supernova. This is the same new one with the release of a large amount of light.
• Hypernova. This is a supernova, but much larger.
• Bright Blue Variables (LBV). The biggest and also the hottest.
• Ultra X-ray sources (ULX). They give off a lot of radiation.
• Neutron. It is characterized by fast rotation, as well as a strong magnetic field.
• Unique. Double, with different sizes.

Types dependently from the spectrum:

• Blue.
• White-blue.
• White.
• Yellow white.
• Yellow.
• Orange.
• Red.

Important! Most of the stars in the sky are entire systems. What we see as one can actually be two, three, five, and even hundreds of bodies of one system.

Names of stars and constellations

At all times the stars fascinated. They became the object of study, both from the mystical side (astrology, alchemy), and from the scientific side (astronomy). People searched for them, calculated, counted, put them into constellations, and also give them names. Constellations are clusters of celestial bodies arranged in a certain sequence.

In the sky under certain conditions from different points you can see up to 6 thousand stars. They have their scientific names, but about three hundred of them also have personal names that they have received since ancient times. The stars mostly have Arabic names.

The fact is that when astronomy was actively developing everywhere, the Western world was going through "dark ages", so its development lagged far behind. Mesopotamia was the most successful here, and China was the least successful.

The Arabs not only discovered new ones, but they also renamed the heavenly bodies, who already had a Latin or Greek name. They entered history with Arabic names. The constellations, for the most part, had Latin names.

The brightness depends on the emitted light, size and distance from us. The brightest star is the Sun. It is not the largest, not the brightest, but closest to us.

The most beautiful luminaries with the highest brightness. The first among them:

1. Sirius (Alpha Canis Major);
2. Canopus (Alpha Carina);
3. Toliman (Alpha Centauri);
4. Arcturus (Alpha Bootes);
5. Vega (Alpha Lyra).

Naming periods

It is conditionally possible to distinguish several periods in which people gave names to heavenly bodies.

pre-antique period

Since ancient times, people have tried to "understand" the sky, and gave names to the night luminaries. No more than 20 names from those times have come down to us. The scientists of Babylon, Egypt, Israel, Assyria and Mesopotamia actively worked here.

Greek period

The Greeks did not particularly delve into astronomy. They gave names only to a small number of luminaries. Mostly, they took names from the names of the constellations or simply attributed existing names. All the astronomical knowledge of ancient Greece, as well as Babylon, was collected Greek scientist Ptolemy Claudius(I-II c.) in the works "Almagest" and "Tetrabiblos".

Almagest (Great Building) - the work of Ptolemy in thirteen books, where he, on the basis of the work of Hipparchus of Nicaea (c. 140 BC), tries to explain the structure of the universe. He also lists the names of some of the brightest constellations.

Table of celestial bodies described in the Almagest

The Tetrabiblos is another work by Ptolemy Claudius in four books. The list of celestial bodies is supplemented here.

Roman period

The Roman Empire was engaged in the study of astronomy, but when this science began to develop actively, Rome fell. And behind the state, his science fell into decay. However, about a hundred stars have Latin names, although this does not guarantee that they were given names their scholars from Rome.

Arabic period

Fundamental in the study of astronomy among the Arabs was the work of Ptolemy Almagest. Most of them have been translated into Arabic. Based on the religious beliefs of the Arabs, they replaced the names of parts of the luminaries. Names were often given based on the location of the body in the constellation. So, many of them have names or parts of names meaning neck, leg or tail.

Table of Arabic names

Renaissance

Since the 16th century in Europe, antiquity has been reborn, and with it science. Arabic names did not change, but Arabic-Latin hybrids often appeared.

New clusters of celestial bodies were practically not discovered, but the old ones were supplemented by new objects. A significant event of that time was the release of the atlas of the starry sky "Uranometriya".

Its compiler was the amateur astronomer Johann Bayer (1603). On the atlas, he applied an artistic image of the constellations.

Most importantly, he suggested luminary naming principle with the addition of letters of the Greek alphabet. The brightest body of the constellation will be called Alpha, the less bright Beta, and so on until Omega. For example, the brightest star in Scorpio is Alpha Scorpii, the less bright Beta Scorpii, then Gamma Scorpii, and so on.

Nowadays

With the advent of powerful ones, a huge number of luminaries began to be discovered. Now they are not given beautiful names, but simply assigned an index with a numeric and alphabetic code. But it happens that celestial bodies are given nominal names. They are called by their names scientific discoverers, and now you can even buy the opportunity to name the luminary at will.

Important! The sun is not part of any constellation.

What are the constellations

Initially, the figures were figures formed by bright luminaries. Now scientists use them as landmarks of the celestial sphere.

The most famous constellations alphabetically:

1. Andromeda. It is located in the northern hemisphere of the celestial sphere.
2. Twins. The luminaries with the greatest brightness are Pollux and Castor. Zodiac sign.
3. Big Dipper. Seven stars forming the image of a ladle.
4. Big Dog. It has the brightest star in the sky - Sirius.
5. Scales. Zodiac, consisting of 83 objects.
6. Aquarius. Zodiacal, with an asterism forming a jug.
7. Auriga. Its most outstanding object is the Chapel.
8. Wolf. Located in the southern hemisphere.
9. Bootes. The brightest luminary is Arcturus.
10. Veronica's hair. Consists of 64 visible objects.
11. Crow. It is best seen in mid-latitudes.
12. Hercules. Has 235 visible objects.
13. Hydra. The most important luminary is Alphard.
14. Pigeon. 71 bodies of the southern hemisphere.
15. Hounds Dogs. 57 visible objects.
16. Virgo. Zodiac, with the brightest body - Spica.
17. Dolphin. It can be seen everywhere except Antarctica.
18. The Dragon. Northern hemisphere, practically a pole.
19. Unicorn. Located on the Milky Way.
20. Altar. 60 visible stars.
21. Painter. It has 49 objects.
22. Giraffe. Faintly visible in the northern hemisphere.
23. Crane. The brightest is Alnair.
24. Hare. 72 celestial bodies.
25. Ophiuchus. 13th sign of the zodiac, but not included in this list.
26. Snake. 106 luminaries.
27. Golden Fish. 32 objects visible to the naked eye.
28. Indian. Faintly visible constellation.
29. Cassiopeia. The shape is similar to the letter "W".
30. Keel. 206 objects.
31. Whale. Located in the "water" zone of the sky.
32. Capricorn. Zodiacal, southern hemisphere.
33. Compass. 43 visible luminaries.
34. Stern. Located on the Milky Way.
35. Swan. Located in the northern part.
36. A lion. Zodiac, northern part.
37. Flying fish. 31 objects.
38. Lyra. The brightest light is Vega.
39. Chanterelle. Dim.
40. Ursa Minor. Located above the North Pole. She has the North Star.
41. Small Horse. 14 luminaries.
42. Small Dog. Bright constellation.
43. Microscope. Southern part.
44. Fly. At the equator.
45. Pump. Southern sky.
46. Square. Passes through the Milky Way.
47. Aries. Zodiacal, having the bodies of Mezarthim, Hamal and Sheratan.
48. Octant. At the south pole.
49. Eagle. At the equator.
50. Orion. It has a bright object - Rigel.
51. Peacock. Southern Hemisphere.
52. Sail. 195 luminaries of the southern hemisphere.
53. Pegasus. south of Andromeda. Its brightest stars are Markab and Enif.
54. Perseus. Discovered by Ptolemy. The first object is Mirfak.
55. Bake. Virtually invisible.
56. Paradise Bird. Located near the south pole.
57. Cancer. Zodiacal, hardly visible.
58. Cutter. Southern part.
59. Fish. A large constellation divided into two parts.
60. Lynx. 92 visible luminaries.
61. Northern Crown. Crown shape.
62. Sextant. At the equator.
63. Net. Consists of 22 objects.
64. Scorpion. The first luminary is Antares.
65. Sculptor. 55 celestial bodies.
66. Sagittarius. Zodiacal.
67. Taurus. Zodiacal. Aldebaran is the brightest object.
68. Triangle. 25 stars.
69. Toucan. This is where the Small Magellanic Cloud is located.
70. Phoenix. 63 luminaries.
71. Chameleon. Small and dim.
72. Centaurus. Its brightest star for us, Proxima Centauri, is the closest to the Sun.
73. Cepheus. Has the shape of a triangle.
74. Compass. Near Alpha Centauri.
75. Clock. It has an elongated shape.
76. Shield. Near the equator.
77. Eridanus. Big constellation.
78. Southern Hydra. 32 celestial bodies.
79. South Crown. Weakly visible.
80. Southern Fish. 43 objects.
81. South Cross. In the form of a cross.
82. Southern Triangle. Has the shape of a triangle.
83. Lizard. No bright objects.

What are the constellations of the zodiac

The signs of the zodiac are the constellations through which Earth travels throughout the year, forming a conditional ring around the system. Interestingly, 12 signs of the zodiac are accepted, although Ophiuchus, which is not considered a zodiac, is also located on this ring.

Attention! Constellations don't exist.

By and large, there are no figures at all made up of celestial bodies.

After all, we, looking at the sky, perceive it as plane in two dimensions, but the luminaries are located not on a plane, but in space, at a great distance from each other.

They do not form any pattern.

Let's say the light from Proxima Centauri closest to the Sun reaches us in almost 4.3 years.

And from another object of the same star system, Omega Centauri reaches the earth in 16 thousand years. All divisions are rather conditional.

Constellations and stars - sky map, interesting facts

Names of stars and constellations

Conclusion

It is impossible to calculate the reliable number of heavenly bodies in the Universe. You can't even get close to the exact number. Stars coalesce into galaxies. Only our Milky Way galaxy has about 100,000,000,000. From the Earth with the help of the most powerful telescopes about 55,000,000,000 galaxies can be detected. With the advent of the Hubble telescope, which is in Earth orbit, scientists have discovered about 125,000,000,000 galaxies, and each has billions, hundreds of billions of objects. It is only clear that there are at least a trillion trillion luminaries in the Universe, but this is only a small part of what is real.

It is pleasant to look at the sky not only for complete romantics and meticulous scientists. Every person from time to time likes to watch one of the most beautiful phenomena of our universe - bright stars. And therefore, it will be interesting for everyone to find out which luminaries are distinguished by the greatest radiance.

Sirius

Without a doubt, the brightest star in the night sky is Sirius. She ranks first in her brilliance. It is located in the constellation Canis Major and is well observed in the Northern Hemisphere in winter. Residents of the Southern Hemisphere can see it during the summer months, north of the Arctic Circle. Sirius is located approximately 8.6 light years from the Sun and is one of the brightest stars closest to us.

The brilliance of Sirius is a consequence of the proximity of the star to the solar system. It is one of the favorite objects for observation by amateur astronomers. Sirius is equal to 1.46 m.

Sirius is the brightest northern star. As early as the 19th century, astronomers noticed that its trajectory, although it is straight, is still subject to periodic fluctuations. Astronomers began to guess that some hidden luminary revolving around Sirius with a period of about 50 years is responsible for these deviations in the trajectory. 18 years after this bold assumption, a small star of 8.4 m was found near Sirius, belonging to the category of white dwarfs.

canopus

For the first time, the ancient Greek scientist Hipparchus began to think about what is the brightest star in the sky. Its classification was proposed 22 centuries ago. Hipparchus was the first to divide the luminaries according to their brightness into 6 magnitudes. The two brightest - Sirius and Canopus - minus the first magnitude. Canopus is second in brightness after Sirius, but is much less known. Apparently, for the reason that it is best observed from the southern hemisphere. From the northern territories, Canopus is observed only in subtropical latitudes.

For example, in Europe it is noticeable only from the south of Greece, and in the countries of the former USSR, only residents of Turkmenistan can admire it. The astronomers of Australia and New Zealand were the most fortunate in this respect. Here Canopus can be observed throughout the year.

According to scientists, the luminosity of Canopus is 15,000 times higher than the sun, which is a huge indicator. This star played a big role in navigation.

Currently, Canopus is a white supergiant located at a considerable distance from Earth - about 310 light years, or 2.96 quadrillion kilometers.

Vega

Looking at the sky on warm summer evenings, you can see a bright bluish-white dot. This is Vega - one of the most visible only in the Northern Hemisphere.

Vega is not only the main one in the constellation Lyra. She is the main luminary throughout the summer months. It is very convenient to observe from the Northern Hemisphere due to its location. From the end of spring to mid-autumn, she is the most prominent luminary.

As with many other stars, many ancient legends are associated with Vega. For example, in the Far East there is a legend that Vega is a princess who fell in love with a simple person (who is represented in the sky by the star Altair). The girl's father, having learned about this, was angry, forbidding her to see an ordinary mortal. And in fact, Vega is separated from Altair by the hazy Milky Way. Only once a year, according to legend, forty thousand form a heavenly bridge with their wings, and lovers have the opportunity to reunite. Later, the tears of the princess are shed on the ground - this is how the legend explains the meteor shower from the Perseid shower.

Vega is 2 times heavier than the Sun. The luminosity of the star is 37 times that of the sun. Vega has such a huge mass that it will exist in its current state as a white star for another 1 billion years.

Arcturus

It is one of the brightest stars that can be observed from almost anywhere on Earth. In intensity it is second only to Sirius, Canopus, and also to the double luminary Alpha Centauri. A star is 110 times brighter than the Sun. located in

Unusual legend

Arcturus owes its name to the constellation Ursa Major. Translated from ancient Greek, the word "arcturus" means "guardian of the bear." According to the myth, Zeus settled him in place so that he would guard the nymph Callisto, who was turned into a bear by the goddess Hera. In Arabic, Arcturus is called differently - "Haris-as-sama", which means "guardian of heaven."

In northern latitudes, the star can be observed all year round.

Alpha Centauri

Another of the brightest stars known to astronomers since ancient times is Alpha Centauri. It is part of However, in reality it is not one star - it includes three components: the stars of Centaurus A (also known as Toliman), Centauri B and the red dwarf Proxima Centauri.

In terms of age, Alpha Centauri is 2 billion years older than our solar system - this group of stars is about 6 billion years old, while the Sun is only 4.5 billion years old. The characteristics of these luminaries are as close as possible.

If you look at Alpha Centauri without special equipment, then it is impossible to distinguish the star A from B - it is thanks to this union that the impressive radiance of the star is achieved. However, it is worth arming yourself with an ordinary telescope, as a small distance between two celestial bodies becomes noticeable. The light emitted by the luminaries reaches our planet in 4.3 years. On a modern spacecraft, you can get to Alpha Centauri in 1.1 million years, so this is hardly possible in the near future. In summer, the luminary can be seen in Florida, Texas, and Mexico.

Betelgeuse

This luminary belongs to the category of red supergiants. The mass of Betelgeuse, or Alpha Orion, is about 13-17 solar masses, and its radius is 1200 times greater than the solar one.

Betelgeuse is one of the brightest stars in the night sky. It is 530 light years away from Earth. Its luminosity is 140,000 times higher than that of the Sun.

This red supergiant is one of the largest and brightest stars today. If Betelgeuse were in the central part of the solar system, then its surface would absorb several planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. It is assumed that the age of Betelgeuse is only about 10 million years. Now the star is at a late stage of its evolution, and scientists suggest that in the next few million years it will explode and turn into a supernova.

Procyon

The star Procyon is one of the brightest stars. It is the alpha of Canis Minor. In fact, Procyon consists of two luminaries - the second is called Gomeiza. Both of them can be observed without additional optics. The origin of the name "Procyon" is also very interesting. It was based on long-term observation of the starry sky. This word is literally translated as “before the Dog”, and a more literary translation sounds like “the harbinger of the dog”. The Arab peoples called Procyon "Sirius shedding tears." All these names have a direct connection with Sirius, who was worshiped by many ancient peoples. It is not surprising that over time, astrologers and priests discovered the harbinger of Sirius appearing in the sky - Procyon. It appears in the sky 40 minutes earlier, as if running ahead. If you depict the constellation Canis Minor in the figure, it turns out that Procyon is in his hind legs.

The star is located very close to the Earth - of course, this distance can only be called small by cosmic standards. It is separated from us by 11.41 light years. It moves towards the solar system at a tremendous speed - 4500 m per second. Procyon shines like 8 of our Suns, and its radius is no less than 1.9 of the radius of our star.

Astronomers classify it as a subgiant star. According to the brightness of the glow, scientists concluded that a nuclear reaction between hydrogen and helium in its depths is no longer taking place. Scientists are convinced that the expansion process of the star has already begun. After a very long time, Procyon will turn into a red giant.

Polaris - the brightest star of Ursa

This light is very unusual. First of all, the fact that it is closer than others to the north pole of the planet is worth attention. And due to the daily rotation of the Earth, the stars move, as it were, around the Polar Star. For this reason, it is often called Northern. As for the South Pole, there are no such luminaries near it. In ancient times, the axis of the planet was directed to another sphere of the sky, and Vega occupied the place of the North Star.

Those who are interested in what is the brightest star in the sky, observed from the Northern Hemisphere, should know: Polaris cannot be called such. However, it is easy to find it if you extend the line connecting the two luminaries of the Ursa Major bucket. Polaris is the very last star in the bucket handle of this constellation's neighbor, Ursa Minor. The brightest star in this cluster is also this luminary.

Ursa Major is also of interest to astronomers. It is easy to see due to the shape of the bucket, which is clearly visible in the sky. The brightest star in the constellation is Alioth. In reference books, it is denoted by the letter epsilon, and it ranks 31st in brightness among all visible luminaries.

At present, as in the days of ancient astronomers, the average person can observe the stars from the surface of the earth. However, it is quite possible that our great-grandchildren will be able to go to the brightest luminaries and learn much more interesting and entertaining information about them.

Details Oleg Nekhaev

Zvezdnoe The sky that you see on this map (below) represents the real position of the planets, bright stars and constellations at the moment. It is enough to make adjustments to the program settings and you will see everything on the screen, based on your location. How to set up the "starry sky"? How to see the most interesting in space?

At the top left of the map there are two lines: date and time, below - coordinates. The first line automatically displays the time you opened this page. Want to see what the sky will look like later? Enter the year, month, day, and time to see how the stars in the sky are positioned at the right time. Depending on the geographical point, there will be a different position of the luminaries and planets. To set the desired coordinates, click on the second line. Enter the latitude and longitude if you know them, or find them in the column below using the navigator. Write the name of the city (preferably in Latin), click search (Search). If he is successful. Close the panel. If the "select" box appears, click on this column and select the one you are looking for from the options. Close the window and check the new values.

To find out the coordinates, you can contact through the Yandex-map search. Enter the name of the area (settlement) and click "search". The coordinates of the place will appear on the right. Write them down. For most locations, Wikipedia can help as well. Enter the name of the city in the search and in the right column you will see the necessary numbers. Attention! Enter data without degrees and minutes symbols. After an integer, put a dot and add the rest of the numbers without separation. Write down the latitude first. By default, the coordinates of the center of Moscow are set.

A star chart is very convenient not only for preparing views through a telescope, but also for ordinary observations of space objects, without the use of technical means. You will always know: which planets shine in the sky or how they call the conspicuous star that you saw today, and what is the name of the constellation that appeared in the sky. You will be able to observe the passage of low-orbit satellites of the Iridium system. And they are very important to look at a certain point. Surprisingly bright flashes periodically emanate from these devices. Reminiscent of the fall of noticeable meteorites. The brightness of this phenomenon is such that it is second only to the Sun and the Moon. Or you can predict the flight path of the International Space Station in advance. And you will wait for its appearance in a certain place in the starry sky. Live broadcast from the station is conducted on Sibirik. And you can calculate the exact time of the apparent passage of the ISS in your place on our page using this LINK .

Small explanations. The starry sky in the diagram appears to us as if it is above our head. For its real perception, you need to make a mental turn of the image. The cardinal points indicated in the diagram will help the correct representation. On the map you see them along the edges of the circle. You need to bring them to reality. Find out where North is at your location using a compass or other means, such as GPS-Glonass navigation in apps on your smartphone or tablet. And then mentally place a map of the starry sky according to them, based on the revealed data, or rotate the configured map using the cursor.

Notation. Lilac color The names of the constellations are marked on the map. White are the names of the brightest stars. Turquoise the contour shows the boundaries of the Milky Way. Arc Red reflects the ecliptic - the trajectory (projection) of the Sun's movement. The same path is followed by the planets of our star system. They are displayed orange color. light green radiant points of meteor showers are shown. During periods of their activity, on some of the days, you can see "star rain" coming from this area. May you be lucky.

Do not forget that in the northern hemisphere, where the vast majority of visitors to our site are located, the most significant, coordinate star is Polaris. It is easy to find in the sky if you take the famous constellation to help. Ursa Major(Ursa Major), or rather her Big Bucket. On the map, her second star in the pen is highlighted - Mizar (Mizar). So, if you draw a line up through the last two stars of the bucket, then after five the same distances as between these stars, you will find Polaris. She is the only one that is in one place, and all the others, as it were, revolve around her. She points to the North. Therefore, it has always been called the guiding one.
Other visible bright stars are not difficult to deal with. Some of the most notable...

Deneb is one of the largest and is the most powerful star of all the 25 brightest stars in the sky known to science. In one day, Deneb emits more light than our Sun in 140 years. A very distant star.

Sirius- according to perception - the brightest star for us. Because it is located much closer to us than other luminaries, with the exception, of course, of the Sun. Actually it is double. And it has a lot of mobility. In about 11,000 years, Sirius will no longer be visible to those who live in Europe.

Arcturus. Orange giant. One of the brightest stars. All year round it can be seen from the territory of Russia. Arcturus was the first star to be seen through a telescope during the day. It happened over three hundred years ago.

Vega. A young, rapidly rotating star. The best studied (if you do not take into account the Sun). The first one that I managed to photograph well. Apart from Antarctica, it can be seen from almost anywhere in the world. Vega is one of the favorite "heroines" of science fiction writers.

Altair- a star close enough to us. It is located just 159 trillion kilometers away. Compare: the mentioned Deneb is almost a hundred times farther from us.

Rigel- a blue-white supergiant. More than seventy times the size of the Sun. So far away from us that the light we now see was emitted by a star 860 light years ago. Compare: the light from the moon reaches us in one second at a distance of about 400 thousand kilometers. Rigel is a star of incredible power in its luminosity and monstrously distant. And, if somewhere there is an observer, then he perceives it as his own sun. By the way, from that corner of the Universe, it is impossible to see our Sun even with the most powerful telescope, not to mention the Earth on which we live...

Pay attention! 1. Carefully read the instructions for displaying the sky map. Many ask questions about the location of stars and planets, which they themselves can get answers by entering the appropriate data into the map settings. 2. There are visible "parades of planets" and invisible ones (without the use of binoculars and telescopes). The latter occur quite often. The nearest visible parade of five planets from the territory of Russia will occur only in 2022. Don't believe the frequent reports about the "end of the world" and how the position of the planets can affect the rotation of the Earth.

Clear skies and good luck with your observations!