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.

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!

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 part 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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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 name of the stars	constellation name	Description, location
Sirius	big dog	Located at the mouth of the constellation. It is also called Dog. The brightest night sky.
Procyon	small dog	On the hind legs.
Arcturus	Bootes	Did not enter the form of Bootes. Located below it.
Regulus	a lion	Located in the heart of Leo. It is also referred to as the Royal.
spica	Virgo	On the left hand. It has another name - Kolos.
Antares	Scorpion	Located in the middle.
Vega	Lyra	Located on the sink. Another name for Alpha Lyra.
Chapel	Auriga	Left shoulder. Also called Goat.
Canopus	Ship Argo	On the keel of the ship.

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

Arabic name	Meaning	Stars with an Arabic name	Constellation
Ras	Head	Alpha Hercules	Hercules
Algenib	Side	Alpha Persei, Gamma Persei	Perseus
Menkib	Shoulder	Alpha Orion, Alpha Pegasus, Beta Pegasus, Beta Aurigae, Zeta Persei, Phyta Centauri	Pegasus, Perseus, Orion, Centaurus, Charioteer
Rigel	Leg	Alpha Centauri, Beta Orioni, Mu Virgo	Centaurus, Orion, Virgo
Rukba	Knee	Alpha Sagittarius, Delta Cassiopeia, Upsilon Cassiopeia, Omega Cygnus	Sagittarius, Cassiopeia, Cygnus
Sheat	Shin	Beta Pegasi, Delta Aquarius	Pegasus, Aquarius
Mirfak	Elbow	Alpha Perseus, Capa Hercules, Lambda Ophiuchi, Phyta and Mu Cassiopeia	Perseus, Ophiuchus, Cassiopeia, Hercules
menkar	Nose	Alpha Ceti, Lambda Ceti, Upsilon Crow	Whale, Raven
Markab	That which moves	Alpha Pegasus, Tau Pegasus, Capa Sails	Ship Argo, Pegasus

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.

The science

The night sky is full objects of incredible beauty which can be seen even with the naked eye. If you do not have special equipment to look at the sky - it does not matter, some amazing things can be seen without it.

Spectacular comets, bright planets, distant nebulae, twinkling stars and constellations can all be found in the night sky.

The only important thing to remember about light pollution in big cities. In the city, the light from the lanterns and windows of buildings is so strong that all the most interesting things in the night sky turns out to be hidden, therefore, to see these amazing things, you should go out of town.

light pollution

brightest planet

Very hot neighbor of the Earth - Venus can rightfully be proud of the title the brightest planet in the sky. The brightness of the planet is due to highly reflective clouds, as well as the fact that it is close to the Earth. Venus approximately 6 times brighter than other neighbors of the Earth - Mars and Jupiter.

Venus is brighter than any other object in the night sky, with the exception of the Moon, of course. Its maximum visible value is around 5. For comparison: the apparent magnitude of the full moon is -13 , that is, it is approximately 1600 times brighter than Venus.

In February 2012, a unique conjunction of three of the brightest objects in the night sky was observed: Venus, Jupiter and Moon which could be seen just after sunset.

The largest star

The largest star known to science - VY Canis Major, a type M red hypergiant, which is located at a distance of approximately 3800 light years from Earth in the constellation Canis Major.

Scientists have estimated that VY Canis Majoris could be more than 2100 times the size of the Sun. If it is placed in the solar system, then the edges of this monster will be located approximately in the orbit of Saturn.

The surface of a hypergiant can hardly be called noticeably outlined, since this star is approximately 1000 times less dense than our planet's atmosphere at sea level.

VY Canis Major is the source a lot of controversy in the scientific world, since the assessment of its size goes beyond the boundaries of the current stellar theory. Astronomers believe that the star VY Canis Majoris during the next 100 thousand years explode and die, turning into a "hypernova" and releasing an enormous amount of energy, and this energy will be more than any other supernova.

brightest star

In 1997, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope found that the brightest known star is a star located at a distance 25 thousand light years from us. This star highlights 10 million times more energy than the sun. In size, this star is also much larger than our star. If you place it in the center of the solar system, it will take the orbit of the Earth.

Scientists have suggested that this large star, located in the region of the constellation Sagittarius, creates a cloud of gas around it, which is called Nebula "Pistol". Thanks to this nebula, the star also received the name Pistol Star.

Unfortunately, this amazing star is not visible from Earth due to the fact that it is hidden by the dust clouds of the Milky Way. The brightest star in the night sky can you name a star? Sirius located in the constellation Canis Major. The magnitude of Sirius is -1,44.

You can observe Sirius from anywhere on Earth, except for the northern regions. The brightness of a star is explained not only by its high luminosity, but at a relatively close distance. Sirius is located approximately at 8.6 light years from the solar system.

The most beautiful star in the sky

Many stars are known for their brilliance of different colors, for example, a system consisting of blue and orange stars. Albireo, or bright red giant star Antares. However, the most beautiful of all the stars visible to the naked eye can be called a red-orange star. Mu Cephei, which is also called "Herschel's garnet star" after its first explorer, the British astronomer William Herschel.

The red giant Mu Cephei is located in the constellation Cepheus. This is pulsating variable star and its maximum brightness changes 3.7 to 5.0. The color of the star also changes. Most of the time, Mu Cephei is a rich orange-red, but sometimes it takes on a strange purple hue.

Although Mu Cephei is a little dim, its reddish tint can be seen even with the naked eye, and if you take a simple binoculars, the spectacle will be more impressive.

The most distant space object

The farthest object visible to the naked eye is andromeda galaxy, which includes about 400 billion stars and which was noticed back in the 10th century by the ancient Persian astronomer Al Sufi. He described this object as "a small cloud".

Even if armed with binoculars or an amateur telescope, Andromeda will still look like slightly elongated blurry spot. But still, it is very impressive, especially if you know that the light from it gets to us. for 2.5 million years!

By the way, the Andromeda galaxy is approaching our Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers have estimated that these two galaxies will collide at about in 4 billion years, and Andromeda will be visible as a bright disk in the night sky. However, it is not yet known whether those who wish to look at the sky will remain on Earth after so many years.