View of the starry sky should attract the attention of anyone who bothers to turn their eyes to him, and will bring, I am sure, high pleasure, great peace and at least a moment of oblivion.

Painting night starry sky , indeed, can be called poetic, and therefore the first reflections on the stars, of course, must be of a mystical, sentimental, romantic nature. Do not these bright points proclaim to us the will of a higher being, and should we not make every effort to read these fiery letters inscribed on the dark background of the sky? Perhaps these golden letters predetermine the fate of a casual observer of the sky?

But while the observer, sitting in one place, indulges in such dreams, time flies as usual, and it turned out that, thanks to the warm night, he was looking at these wonderful lights not for 10 minutes, but maybe for an hour or even 2 or more. And so, diverting somewhat from his poetic dreams, the observer tries with complete impartiality to capture the picture of the starry sky as best as possible, and to his surprise he notices that these stars, without changing their relative position, all together, however, moved in the sky, and, for example, in a characteristic group known to many, consisting of 7 bright stars and bearing the name Ursa Major, the so-called "tail", represented by 3 stars, moved from a horizontal position to a position significantly inclined towards the horizon.

Such a very simple fact will undoubtedly make the observer's mind work hard, and the observer will go home with an annoying thought, perhaps again take advantage of free time and clear weather to again go to the field to admire the night starry sky and try to notice some new interesting facts on it. (note site). Suppose that in two or three weeks such an opportunity presented itself, and what should be the surprise of the observer when, on this second evening, he immediately notices that those two very bright stars, which stood out among all the others in their brilliance, no longer occupy their former places, but moved among the other stars, which invariably retained their relative position, and moved by a fairly noticeable amount.

Thus, the observer's interest in the night starry sky intensifies even more, and a desire is already born in him to recognize the secrets of the sky, the secrets of the starry world, the desire for a more correct and constant observation of the star-studded.

Suppose that you make one of your new observations of the starry sky already a few months after the first accidental contemplation of it, when frosts set in and the earth was covered with snow. Although you have chosen the same place as your observation point and are making your observations at approximately the same hours, it becomes clear to you already at first glance, accustomed, as a result of certain experience acquired, to immediately connect individual bright stars into special rather natural groups, that the view of the starry sky is far away. not the same as it was a few months ago. True, you can quickly find in the sky some former groups of stars, for example, the Big Dipper, but their location relative to the horizon is already completely different than it was before, and the so-called tail of the Big Dipper, which at first observation was directed to the left, now stretches in a straight line. opposite side. Further, some groups of stars completely disappeared, disappeared and there is no way to find them, but on the other hand, new unusually beautiful combinations of bright stars rise before your eyes, in their beauty far surpassing all those groups of stars that you had the opportunity to study during your first observations. In such a beautiful group of stars, your imagination can easily see the image of some mythical hero, just as ancient astronomers usually saw images of animals or characters from one legend or another in various groups of stars.

With constant observations of the sky, this activity can be so addicted that you will pay attention to night starry sky at every opportunity, in every place suitable for this, and you will not be limited to viewing the sky only from your permanent observation post. Under such conditions, of course, you will have to repeatedly admire very special, out of the ordinary in their beauty pictures, while observing more and more new celestial phenomena.

The moon rises, exactly in the shape of a semicircle: the even light of the moon lightly illuminates the entire landscape, which in a certain twilight takes on a special color and so irresistibly attracts you to itself. At the same time, the starry sky is far from being as dark as you are used to seeing it on moonless nights, and the number of stars seems to have significantly decreased because of this.

And here is another picture. You are driving in a field, in front of you is not very far a small village, consisting of several wooden huts, among which one white stone house stands out. The whole village is immersed in the greenery of trees that have already begun to lose their leaves, and above this landscape, an extremely narrow, unusually attractive crescent of the moon, which stands out sharply against the sky, is silvering, spreading some special melancholic light around. At the same time, your soul is filled with joy, and at that moment you forget all the sorrows of your life.

Here dark moonless night . The general view of the sky is already familiar to you, and it is not now that attracts your attention. Something special is happening in the sky. Suddenly, in one place, there was some kind of flash, and a trail of fire in the form of a long dash appeared for several moments immediately after this flash. No sooner have you had time to give yourself a proper account of the phenomenon you have just observed, as your gaze involuntarily turns to another part of the sky, where a line of fire also drew, disappearing as quickly as it appeared. Behind it, another new one appeared, there was another one, and this magical picture completely fascinated you.

Many other pictures, one more beautiful than the other, could be painted, but enough of what has been described above. All such observations must undoubtedly arouse in the observer an irresistible desire to solve the riddles presented by the sky by a closer study of the many and very diverse celestial phenomena, and you quite imperceptibly become a real amateur of astronomy and gradually begin to seriously study this science.

Pleshakov had a good idea - to create an atlas for children, by which it is easy to determine the stars and constellations. Our teachers picked up this idea and created their own key atlas, which is even more informative and visual.

What are constellations?

If you raise your eyes to the sky on a clear night, you can see a lot of sparkling lights of various sizes, which, like a scattering of diamonds, adorn the sky. These lights are called stars. Some of them seem to be collected in clusters and after a long examination they can be divided into certain groups. These groups are called "constellations". Some of them may resemble the shape of a bucket or the intricate outlines of animals, however, in many ways, this is just a figment of the imagination.

For many centuries, astronomers tried to study such clusters of stars and gave them mystical properties. People tried to systematize them and find a common pattern, and so the constellations appeared. For a long time, the constellations were carefully studied, some were broken into smaller ones, and they ceased to exist, and some were simply corrected after clarification. For example, the constellation Argo was divided into smaller constellations: Compass, Carina, Sail, Korma.

The history of the origin of the names of the constellations is also very interesting. To facilitate memorization, they were given names united by one element or a literary work. For example, it was noticed that during heavy rains the Sun rises from the side of certain constellations, which were given the following names: Capricorn, Whale, Aquarius, the constellation of Pisces.

In order to bring all the constellations to a certain classification, in 1930, at a meeting of the International Astronomical Union, a decision was made to officially register 88 constellations. According to the accepted decision, the constellations do not consist of groups of stars, but are sections of the starry sky.

What are the constellations?

Constellations differ in the number and brightness of the stars that make up its composition. Allocate 30 most noticeable groups of stars. The largest constellation in terms of area is Ursa Major. It consists of 7 bright and 118 stars visible to the naked eye.

The smallest constellation located in the southern hemisphere is called the Southern Cross and cannot be seen with the naked eye. It consists of 5 bright and 25 less visible stars.

The Little Horse is the smallest constellation in the northern hemisphere and consists of 10 faint stars that can be seen with the naked eye.

The most beautiful and brightest constellation is Orion. It consists of 120 stars visible to the naked eye and 7 of them are very bright.

All constellations are conventionally divided into those located in the southern or northern hemisphere. Those who live in the southern hemisphere of the Earth cannot see the clusters of stars located in the northern hemisphere and vice versa. Of the 88 constellations, 48 ​​are in the southern hemisphere and 31 are in the northern. The remaining 9 groups of stars are located in both hemispheres. The northern hemisphere is easy to identify by the North Star, which always shines very brightly in the sky. She is the extreme star on the handle of the Ursa Minor bucket.

Due to the fact that the Earth revolves around the Sun, which does not allow seeing some constellations, the seasons change and the position of this luminary in the sky changes. For example, in winter, the position of our planet in the circumsolar orbit is opposite to that in summer. Therefore, only certain constellations can be seen at any time of the year. For example, in the summer, a triangle formed by the stars Altair, Vega and Deneb can be seen in the night sky. In winter, there is an opportunity to admire the infinitely beautiful constellation Orion. Therefore, sometimes they say: autumn constellations, winter, summer or spring constellations.

The constellations are best seen in the summer and it is advisable to observe them in open space, outside the city. Some stars can be seen with the naked eye, while others may require a telescope. The constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, as well as Cassiopeia, are best seen. In autumn and winter, the constellations Taurus and Orion are clearly visible.

Bright constellations that are visible in Russia

The most beautiful constellations of the northern hemisphere visible in Russia include: Orion, Ursa Major, Taurus, Canis Major, Canis Minor.

If you peer into their location and give free rein to your imagination, you can see a hunting scene, which, like an ancient fresco, has been depicted in the sky for more than two thousand years. The brave hunter Orion is always depicted surrounded by animals. Taurus runs to his right, and the hunter swings a club at him. At the feet of Orion is the faithful Great and Lesser Dogs.

Constellation Orion

This is the largest and most colorful constellation. It is clearly visible in autumn and winter. Orion can be seen over the entire territory of Russia. The arrangement of its stars resembles the outlines of a person.

The history of the formation of this constellation originates from ancient Greek myths. According to them, Orion was a brave and strong hunter, the son of Poseidon and the nymph Emvriala. He often hunted with Artemis, but one day, for defeating her during a hunt, he was hit by an arrow of the goddess and died. After his death, he was turned into a constellation.

The brightest star in Orion is Rigel. It is 25 thousand times brighter than the Sun and 33 times its size. This star has a bluish-white glow and is considered supergiant. However, despite such an impressive size, it is much smaller than Betelgeuse.

Betelgeuse adorns Orion's right shoulder. It is 450 times the diameter of the Sun, and if you put it in the place of our luminary, then this star will take the place of four planets before Mars. Betelgeuse shines 14,000 times brighter than the Sun.

The constellation Orion also includes a nebula and asterisms.

Constellation Taurus

Another large and unimaginably beautiful constellation of the northern hemisphere is Taurus. It is located northwest of Orion and lies between the constellations Aries and Gemini. Not far from Taurus are such constellations as: Charioteer, Keith, Perseus, Eridanus.

This constellation in mid-latitudes can be observed throughout almost the entire year, with the exception of the second half of spring and early summer.

The history of the constellation goes back to ancient myths. They talk about Zeus, who turned into a calf in order to kidnap the goddess Europa and bring her to the island of Crete. This constellation was first described by Eudoxus, a mathematician who lived long before our era.

Aldebaran is the brightest star not only in this constellation, but also in other 12 groups of stars. It is located on the head of Taurus and used to be called the "eye". Aldebaran is 38 times the diameter of the Sun and 150 times brighter. This star is located at a distance of 62 light years from us.

The second brightest star in the constellation is Nat or El Nat (bull horns). It is located near the Auriga. It is 700 times brighter than the Sun and 4.5 times larger than it.

Within the constellation are two incredibly beautiful open clusters of stars Hyades and Pleiades.

The age of the Hyades is 650 million years. They can be easily found in the starry sky thanks to Aldebaran, which is perfectly visible among them. They include about 200 stars.

The Pleiades got their name from the nine parts. Seven of them are named after the seven sisters of Ancient Greece (Pleiades), and two more are named after their parents. The Pleiades are very visible in winter. They include about 1000 stellar bodies.

An equally interesting formation in the constellation of Taurus is the Crab Nebula. It was formed after a supernova explosion in 1054 and was discovered in 1731. The distance of the nebula from the Earth is 6500 light years, and its diameter is about 11 light years. years.

This constellation belongs to the Orion family and borders on the constellations Orion, Unicorn, Canis Minor, Hare.

The constellation Canis Major was first discovered by Ptolemy in the second century.

There is a myth that Big Dog used to be Lelap. It was a very fast dog that could catch up with any prey. Once he chased a fox, which was not inferior to him in speed. The outcome of the race was a foregone conclusion, and Zeus turned both animals to stone. He placed the dog in heaven.

The constellation Canis Major is very visible in winter. The brightest star not only in this, but in all other constellations is Sirius. It has a bluish luster and is located quite close to Earth, at a distance of 8.6 light years. In terms of brightness in our solar system, it is surpassed by Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon. The light from Sirius reaches the Earth after 9 years, and it is 24 times stronger than the sun. This star has a satellite called "Puppy".

Sirius is associated with the formation of such a thing as "Vacation". The fact is that this star appeared in the sky during the summer heat. Since Sirius in Greek is called "canis", the Greeks began to call this period holidays.

Constellation Canis Minor

Small Dog borders on such constellations as: Unicorn, Hydra, Cancer, Gemini. This constellation represents the animal that, along with Canis Major, follows the hunter Orion.

The history of the formation of this constellation, if you rely on myths, is very interesting. According to them, the Small Dog is Mera, the dog of Ikaria. This man was taught to make wine by Dionysus and this drink turned out to be very strong. One day his guests decided that Ikaria decided to poison them and killed him. The mayor was very sad for the owner and soon died. Zeus placed it in the form of a constellation in the starry sky.

This constellation is best observed in January and February.

The brightest stars in this constellation are Portion and Gomeisa. Portion is 11.4 light-years from Earth. It is somewhat brighter and hotter than the Sun, but physically differs little from it.

Gomeisa is visible to the naked eye and glows with a blue-white light.

Constellation Ursa Major

Ursa Major, shaped like a bucket, is one of the three largest constellations. It is mentioned in the writings of Homer and in the Bible. This constellation is very well studied and is of great importance in many religions.

It borders on such constellations as: Waterfall, Leo, Hounds Dogs, Dragon, Lynx.

According to ancient Greek myths, Ursa Major is associated with Callisto, a beautiful nymph and beloved of Zeus. His wife Hera turned Callisto into a bear as punishment. One day, this bear stumbled upon Hera and their son, Arkas, with Zeus. To avoid tragedy, Zeus turned his son and nymph into constellations.

The big bucket is formed by seven stars. The most striking of them are three: Dubhe, Alkaid, Aliot.

Dubhe is a red giant and points to the North Star. It is located 120 light years from Earth.

Alkaid, the third brightest star in the constellation, expresses the end of the tail of Ursa Major. It is located at a distance of 100 light years from Earth.

Alioth is the brightest star in the constellation. She represents the tail. Because of its brightness, it is used in navigation. Alioth shines 108 times brighter than the Sun.

These constellations are the brightest and most beautiful in the northern hemisphere. They can be perfectly seen with the naked eye on an autumn or frosty winter night. The legends of their formation allow fantasy to run wild and imagine how the mighty hunter Orion, together with his faithful dogs, runs after prey, while Taurus and Ursa Major are watching him carefully.

Russia is located in the northern hemisphere, and in this part of the sky we manage to see only a few of all the constellations that exist in the sky. Depending on the season, only their position in the sky changes.

However, this is the peculiarity of the starry sky:
everyone who looks at him has a sweet heart ache.
B. Akunin (Jade beads)

The sky is so majestic and always attracts the eyes of people. Boundless, distant, unknown and therefore even more alluring. It can be different - bright, affectionate, cheerful, sinister, cloudy, gloomy. But it never ceases to interest people. They like to admire photos with blue blue, download with clouds, take photos with gray gloomy clouds.

But most of all mysteries for a person are fraught with the night sky. It has been admired and fascinated since ancient times. People can look at the endless starry space for hours, because there is something magical, unknown, some secret is hidden in it.

Unfortunately, in the city, due to high-rise buildings and dense vegetation, it is not always possible to admire the heavenly beauty, and there is simply no time to go somewhere. But this is not a reason to get upset and give up. Ready-made photographs of the sky at night are a great way out.

The photos collected on the site are so bright and realistic that you can easily do without studying the night masterpieces on your own. They will be a worthy replacement for those who do not have the opportunity to experience the mysteries of the fantastic evening sky live. These photos will certainly not leave anyone indifferent.

Each picture or photo is a peculiar, fascinating story, which is very difficult to break away from, and one wants to penetrate into its depths. Therefore, you can sit comfortably near the computer screen, and start viewing, studying, exploring these incredibly beautiful photographs of night celestial phenomena. You will be surprised how exciting this process is, fraught with a lot of positive emotions.

Photos depicting the night sky are associated primarily with stars. These are millions and billions of bright lights glowing in the dark abyss. Small and large, distant and close - they have formed into constellations that people are trying to consider and guess.

One look at these pictures and photographs is breathtaking, it becomes joyful and somehow warm. In front of you, as in the palm of your hand, such greatness and beauty!

The face breaks into a smile when you recognize the familiar outlines of the Big Dipper, find the Milky Way, notice the shooting star. After all, even this can be caught in a photograph if it is made with high quality, with a soul. Such magical pictures of the sky with stars must be in everyone's collection. They can be used as a desktop theme, screen saver, or just a subject for relaxation, raising your spirits.

Try to sit down, switch off for five minutes from everything and just admire the incredible photos. You will feel rested, joyful and ready to create.

What else can impress night photos of the endless sky besides enjoying the stars? Of course, the mysterious appearance of the moon. Pictures and photos with her, a truly breathtaking sight. She simply attracts the eyes and beckons with her magnificence. After all, for millions of years people have been trying to conquer the moon and find out if life exists on it.

Photos with a thin month are associated with the birth of something new, excite emotions, make feelings wake up. And the photos of the full moon are simply beyond description. They are so amazing that it is impossible to find the right words for them. Admiring the unique beauty of the full moon in the photo, you involuntarily relax, recharge with energy from it and understand how wonderful this world is!

Photos of stars, sky spaces, moon photos at night are especially interesting to look at before going to bed. It is best if it is completely dark. Then the photos will reveal their charm and amazing beauty at 100%. This means that they will delight and delight in the soul.

And most importantly, any photo you like can be easily and absolutely free to download and save in your collection of favorite pictures.

Majorova Anastasia

I really like looking at the starry sky.

In the summer, in a village where there are no high-rise buildings, I go outside at night, sit near the house and look at the sky.

The starry sky sometimes looks deep, bottomless, and sometimes it seems that you can reach out and reach the stars.

At first, looking at the starry sky, it becomes a little scary, even dizzy, it seems that if you can’t stand on your feet, you can fall into the abyss of heaven. But then you realize that the sky is like a fluffy, soft blanket, it caresses and warms. And involuntarily, looking at the stars, I want to smile.

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Municipal educational institution

"Secondary school No. 27"

g. o. Saransk

City literary and creative competition

"Russia is a space power",

dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the flight into space

the first cosmonaut Yu.A. Gagarin

The writing

starry sky

Completed by: 4th grade student A

MOU "School No. 27"

Majorova Anastasia

Tested by: primary school teacher

Terletskaya N.V.

2011

starry sky

I really like looking at the starry sky.

In the summer, in a village where there are no high-rise buildings, I go outside at night, sit near the house and look at the sky.

The starry sky sometimes looks deep, bottomless, and sometimes it seems that you can reach out and reach the stars.

At first, looking at the starry sky, it becomes a little scary, even dizzy, it seems that if you can’t stand on your feet, you can fall into the abyss of heaven. But then you realize that the sky is like a fluffy, soft blanket, it caresses and warms. And involuntarily, looking at the stars, I want to smile.

Most of all I like to look at the starry sky in July and August. It is at this time that many stars fall from the sky. It is believed that if you manage to make a wish before the shooting star goes out, it will surely come true.

Is that so, I don't know. I have never been able to make a wish while a star is falling. After all, they fall so quickly, in a matter of fractions of a second. They flash like a spark, rush through the sky, leaving a luminous trail behind them, and disappear.

When I was very young, I was very sorry for the little stars that fell. I sadly told my mother: “One more star in the sky has become less. What if people lived on it too?

And I was also very interested in: “Where do the stars fall? Can they be found on earth?” To which my mother replied: "No, they burn up in the atmosphere and do not have time to reach the surface of the earth."

Now, having become older, I myself can learn everything about the stars from books.

Now I know for sure that a shooting star is not a dead planet, but meteors and meteorites, solid cosmic particles and stones, which, moving towards the Earth, fall into its atmosphere and burn out, causing a glow.

Some very large meteorites, however, are able to reach the surface of the Earth. Entire expeditions are often sent in search of them.

Scientists, studying the composition of meteorites, will find out from what the planets of the solar system were formed, and what the Sun was like billions of years ago.

TV shows often talk about such a phenomenon as “star rain”, when thousands of meteors fall from the sky at the same time. I have never seen the "star rain" myself, only in the TV reports of the "News" program. But I really want to watch this phenomenon myself! It must be very beautiful! A real fireworks of stars!

I really hope that someday, I will be able to see in the night sky how a huge number of meteors fall at the same time ....

And maybe someday I will even be able to find a piece of a meteorite that fell from the sky ...

But I'm not the only one who likes to watch the stars. At all times, the sky has fascinated and beckoned all mankind. Since ancient times, people have dreamed of conquering the cosmos and revealing all its secrets.

But the conquest of airspace was very long and difficult. Only the most courageous and desperate people decided to build aircraft and take them into the air. At first it was balloons, airships, airplanes, and in the twentieth century, airplanes and spaceships appeared. The flights of the first testers were not always successful. There were many cases when the brave died.

Nowadays, we are no longer surprised to see an airplane flying in the sky. And in the night sky you can often see a passing satellite. Man has completely conquered near-Earth outer space.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first human journey into space.

Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin was the first cosmonaut to fly into space. On April 12, 1961, he went into space on the Vostok spacecraft. His flight lasted only one hour and forty-eight minutes. During this time, he flew once around the globe, and then safely catapulted to Earth.

The second space flight was made on August 6, 1961 by German Titov. His flight lasted more than a day. German Titov also returned safely to Earth.

In June 1963, the first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova flew into space.

For the flight into space, the first astronauts received many different awards. They became honorary citizens of many cities of the world, and the streets of these cities are named after them.

However, the successful flights into space of the first astronauts do not mean at all that space travel is safe. Not once did human spaceflight end in tragedy.

And today no one can guarantee the safe return of astronauts to Earth. There, far from the Earth, various unforeseen situations can happen.

Not so long ago, in the year 2003, an American spacecraft crashed due to a malfunction in the system. All eight crew members were killed. Of course, scientists are doing everything possible to avoid such tragedies, but no one is immune from trouble.

It would seem that since space flights are so dangerous, maybe they should be stopped altogether, in order to avoid the death of people?

Not! After all, astronauts fly into space not for the sake of a walk or an exciting journey. They fly there to work. Astronauts observe the state of the Earth's surface, the weather, conduct various scientific experiments and research. In addition, astronauts often have to go out into outer space to work, which is very dangerous, because such a phenomenon that we observe from Earth, like the fall of meteors and meteorites, there, in space, carries a serious danger. Solid cosmic particles in outer space fly at the speed of a bullet and can hit the astronaut and damage the spacesuit and even cause serious injury.

That is why only the most courageous people with good health go into space. But even they have to undergo serious training before flying.

Admiring the starry sky, I often think that somewhere, high, high, people are working ...

What would our life be like without space explorers?

After all, space is fraught with many secrets and mysteries that our brave astronauts have yet to reveal. And I admire their heroism, their courage, resilience and purposefulness.

The starry sky… Enchanting, alluring, flickering with thousands of lights, bottomless and endless, so close and at the same time so far away… Not the one that is illuminated by the night city or street lamps, but the one that is far from civilization, such that space darkness is visible . For this, it is not necessary to go to the mountains or to the steppe. It is enough to go ten kilometers from the settlement and retire, for example, in a river valley or in a clearing surrounded by forest at some distance.

First Most of the photos are clickable, to enlarge it, click on the picture:
1. Summer sky of the Astronomical City; 2. Starry sky in the mountains.

Starry sky for me from early childhood it was the most important mystery and at the same time the most sacred dream. I loved to lie for a long time on a haystack near my village house and admire this endless, shimmering beauty. And to dream… That it would be nice to have the ability of an astronaut and to fly into space with superluminal speed on a ship in order to be close by and touch the magic of the most unusual cosmic worlds. With these thoughts, while inside the visualized, vivid images of the space traveler, I often fell asleep in my bed. As a child, I found a map and learned all the constellations in the sky.

The most beloved and desired for me as a child were science fiction films on a space theme. During their show, I mentally disappeared from my space and was there, in the cosmic worlds, along with the heroes of the films. It is a pity that then (70s) these films were very rare on television (only a couple of times a year). I remember what a strong emotional outburst I received during the first viewing of color space fiction in the city cinema, when I became a university student. The library in the village school was weak, there were no books on the subject of space fantasy. I remember the emotional shock I received when, in the 9th grade, a teacher brought a voluminous collection of fantastic novels and short stories. I read until morning. The next book was "The Bull's Hour" by Ivan Efremov...

Among my classmates, school friends and children's environment, there was no one who was so fond of and admired the starry sky. It seemed strange to me then. Now it is clear why. After all, the cosmos is one of the channels here on Earth, which makes us ask questions - who am I, where am I from, where am I, why am I. And if a person is not ready to seek and receive answers to these questions due to the young age of the soul, or due to the lack of experience and knowledge recorded in his spiritual memory, then he does not have a strong craving and powerful delight from the contemplation of the starry distances. I will say more, after passing the “line” of spiritual transformation, when a person from speaking about love becomes spiritually loving, when answers to the above sacred questions are received, the delight and pleasure from being under the starry sky and contemplating the constellations only intensifies ...

Stars. About one star, the most important for us, - - I have already written in detail earlier. The Sun is a small, calm, single star of the spectral class G (G2V - "yellow dwarf"), one of 200 - 300 billion in our galaxy. An ordinary star, not distinguished by anything special. Most of them. Therefore, with regard to the structure of stars, their luminosity and life, then there is no point in repeating it.It is worth noting here what is characteristic of other stars and star systems, but is not characteristic of the Sun.

The photo is clickable, to enlarge it, click on the picture:
1. Pleiades; 2. Witch in the light of the stars.

With the naked eye, about 3,000 stars are visible in the sky in each hemisphere (northern and southern), about 6,000 in total. Powerful ground-based telescopes can increase this figure millions of times.

1. Star clusters in NGC 1313; 2. Star cluster M34; 3. M39 - open cluster in Cygnus; 4. Kemble Cascade.

There are so many stars in our galaxy that only about 0.01% of their number is listed in catalogs. The rest have not yet been identified and counted. The most famous stars are the North Star, Sirius, Vega, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Rigel, Mizar, Algol and others. According to the established tradition, supported by astronomers, only about 300 bright stars have their own names. There are no officially assigned names for the stars. As a result, star naming certificates issued by some organizations are a private initiative and are not recognized by the International Astronomical Union.

The first photo is clickable, to enlarge it, click on the picture:
1. Constellations Draco and Ursa Minor; 2. Constellation Ursa Major.

Even ancient people mentally connected the brightest stars with lines and the resulting geometric shapes or patterns - constellations- called names. For example, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Orion, Cassiopeia, Sagittarius, Lyra, Swan, Andromeda, Pegasus, etc. As a rule, the names of the constellations were consonant with the characters of myths and legends. Thus, constellations are rather large, conditionally delineated sections of the celestial sphere, each of which contains several bright stars that are clearly visible to the naked eye. Later, star atlases appeared, based on the constellations, accompanied by beautiful drawings of mythical characters. In them, the stars were designated by the letters of the Greek alphabet in descending order of their brightness: α is the brightest star in the constellation, β is the second brightest, and so on. The stars included in the constellation are not necessarily close to each other in space.

1. The constellation of Orion in the sky; 2. The constellation of Orion on a star map.

It seems that in the sky the stars are not far from each other. In fact distances between them, even by cosmic standards are huge. The closest star to Earth (other than the Sun) is Proxima Centauri. It is located 4.2 light years (or 39 trillion km = 3.9 × 10 13 km) from the solar system (1 light year is the distance that light travels in outer space in one year). The brightness of a star in the sky is related not only to its distance from the Earth, but also to the size of the star itself and its luminosity.

Stars differ from each other in many ways. First of all, by bloom. There are stars blue, white-blue, white, yellow-white, yellow, orange and red. The color of a star depends on the temperature of its surface. The hottest stars are blue (up to 60,000 Kelvin on the surface), the coldest are red (2000 - 3500 K). In general, it is very difficult to determine the color of faint stars with the naked eye, while in photographs it is easily distinguishable. The color of stars is much easier to determine when observing through a telescope. It should also be borne in mind that observers perceive color differently: some eyes are more sensitive to blue rays and have difficulty distinguishing red stars, or vice versa.

The second distinguishing feature is brightness star, which is estimated in stellar magnitudes. Thus, a star that is perceived by the eye as a star of the first magnitude is almost twice as bright as a star of the second magnitude, which, in turn, is as much brighter than a star of the third magnitude, and so on. Stars up to 6th magnitude are visible to the naked eye. A first magnitude star is exactly 100 times brighter than a sixth magnitude star. So it is accepted that the brightest stars have negative magnitudes.

1. The star Betelgeuse as seen through the Hubble telescope; 2. Spotted surface of the star Betelgeuse.

The third distinguishing feature is the size stars. Here the ratio between the smallest and largest reaches even greater values. The picture on the left shows the comparative size of the Sun (small dot on the left, bottom) with the blue star LBV 1906-20.

Another picture on the left, if you click on it, will open a large drawing that clearly shows the sizes of the stars in comparison. And below are two videos where this comparison of the Earth and the Sun with other stars is even more impressive.

These videos can be downloaded from YOUTUBE at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEa0RiU5aeU and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdUAus2-RXg

Masses stars change in a much more modest range and in the majority range from 0.07 to 100-150 solar masses. There are also heavier ones, but such massive stars are very rare. Stars vary greatly in density. Among them there are those whose cubic centimeter of substance outweighs a large loaded ocean ship. For example, the density of matter in a white dwarf is a million times higher than that of water. And in a neutron star, which is only a few kilometers in size, the density of matter is 280 trillion times that of water. The matter of other stars is so rarefied that its density in the surface layers is less than the density of the vacuum that is achievable under terrestrial laboratory conditions.

There are the following types of stars: brown dwarfs, white dwarfs, red giants, variables, Wolf-Rayet and T Tauri stars, novae, supernovae and neutron stars. More details about this can be found in the materials, links to which are given at the end of the text.

Photos are clickable, to enlarge them, click on the picture:
1. M13 - a huge globular star cluster; 2. Millions of stars in Omega Centauri.

By number of stars, connected in a group, single and multiple (double, triple and higher multiplicity) star systems are distinguished. If a system contains more than ten stars, it is called a star cluster. Our Sun is a single star. Double (multiple) stars are very common in the galaxy (more than 70% of the stars). For example, the brightest of the visually observed stars in the sky, Sirius, is a double (next to it, another white dwarf rotates around a single gravitational center).

Different types of stars go through different evolution. Its main stages are as follows: the birth, life on the main sequence, the final stage and the death of a star. Stars are born from gas and dust clouds when gravitational compression and heating of matter occurs to temperatures that trigger thermonuclear processes. Star-forming regions are usually revealed by the presence of massive hot and bright (young) stars. I end my life, depending on the class, ordinary stars either turn into white dwarfs, neutron stars or pulsars, or fade and become invisible ("black" dwarfs), or explode as supernovae, or turn into black holes.