If you look up on a clear, cloudless night, then you will see a magnificent picture of the starry sky. Thousands of flickering multi-colored lights add up to bizarre figures, captivating the eye. In ancient times, people believed that it was lanterns burning, fixed on a crystal vault of heaven. Today we all know that these are not flashlights, but stars. What are stars? Why do they shine and how far are they from us? How are stars born and how long do they live? About this and much more - our story.
To understand what a star is, just look at our Sun. Yes, our Sun is a star! But how is it? - you ask. - After all, the Sun is big and hot, and the stars are so small and do not warm at all. The whole secret is in the distance. The sun is practically "nearby" - only some 150 million kilometers, and the stars are so far away that scientists do not even use the concept of "kilometers" to measure the distance to stars. They came up with a special unit of measurement called the "light year". We will talk about the light year a little later, but for now ...
Why are the stars colored? Hot and cold stars
The stars that we observe vary both in color and brightness. The brightness of a star depends on both its mass and its distance. And the color of the glow depends on the temperature on its surface. The coldest stars are red. And the hottest ones are a bluish tint. White and blue stars are the hottest, their temperature is higher than the temperature of the Sun. Our star the Sun belongs to the class of yellow stars.
How many stars are in the sky?
It is practically impossible to calculate even at least approximately the number of stars in the part of the Universe known to us. Scientists can only say that in our Galaxy, which is called the "Milky Way", there may be about 150 billion stars. But there are other galaxies too! But much more precisely, people know the number of stars that can be seen from the surface of the Earth with the naked eye. There are about 4.5 thousand such stars.
How are stars born?
If the stars are lit, does anyone need it? In the boundless outer space there are always molecules of the simplest substance in the Universe - hydrogen. Somewhere there is less hydrogen, somewhere more. Under the action of forces of mutual attraction, hydrogen molecules are attracted to each other. These processes of attraction can last for a very long time - millions and even billions of years. But sooner or later, hydrogen molecules are attracted so close to each other that a gas cloud is formed. With further attraction, the temperature in the center of such a cloud begins to rise. Millions more years will pass, and the temperature in the gas cloud can rise so much that the reaction of thermonuclear fusion will begin - hydrogen will begin to turn into helium and a new star will appear in the sky. Any star is a hot ball of gas.
The lifespan of stars varies greatly. Scientists have found that the greater the mass of a newborn star, the shorter its lifespan. The lifetime of a star can range from hundreds of millions of years to billions of years.
Light year
A light year is the distance that a ray of light travels in a year at a speed of 300,000 kilometers per second. And there are 31536000 seconds in a year! So, from the star closest to us called Proxima Centauri, a beam of light flies for more than four years (4.22 light years)! This star is 270 thousand times farther from us than the Sun. And the rest of the stars are much further away - tens, hundreds, thousands and even millions of light years from us. This is why stars appear so small to us. And even in the most powerful telescope, unlike the planets, they are always visible as points.
What is a "constellation"?
Since ancient times, people have looked at the stars and seen in the bizarre figures that form groups of bright stars, images of animals and mythical heroes. Such figures in the sky began to be called constellations. And, although in the sky the stars included by people in a particular constellation are visually next to each other, in outer space these stars can be at a considerable distance from each other. The most famous constellations are Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. The fact is that the North Star, which is indicated by the north pole of our planet Earth, enters the constellation Ursa Minor. And knowing how to find the North Star in the sky, any traveler and navigator will be able to determine where the north is and navigate the terrain.
supernovae
Some stars at the end of their lives suddenly begin to glow thousands and millions of times brighter than usual, and throw huge masses of matter into the surrounding space. It is customary to say that a supernova explosion occurs. The glow of a supernova gradually fades, and in the end, only a luminous cloud remains in the place of such a star. A similar supernova explosion was observed by ancient astronomers of the Near and Far East on July 4, 1054. The decay of this supernova lasted 21 months. Now in the place of this star is the Crab Nebula, known to many astronomy lovers.
The birth, life and decay of stars is studied by the science of astronomy. Love astronomy, study it - and your life will be filled with new meaning!
You can write a description of the starry sky using the provided option. This is an artistic description of the starry sky.
Description of the night sky
Night is the most mysterious period of time. The world of people falls asleep and darkness comes to replace it - it's time for dreams, dreams, hopes. And it is at this time that millions of stars flash in the sky.
Have you ever noticed such a sky? How majestic, unshakable it is. This is the whole Universe that exists next to us. And for a moment it seems that our world is so tiny, petty. And man is a small part of it all.
Often you sit on the veranda in the evening, look at the sky, and there ... Thousands, no, even millions of heavenly bodies. With the advent of the moon, the white glow only flares up, forming beautiful patterns. Someone will see the image of a man, someone will see a funny little animal, and someone will see scattered golden beads. As if some wizard had lost his magic bag.
The starry sky has always given peace, balance. It was the herald of a new day. By the constellations they were guided along the way, and learned to guess the future. The view of the starry sky changes depending on the season: some constellations appear, others disappear. Therefore, this miracle has attracted the eyes of people since ancient times.
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 heavenly abyss. 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 heavenly abyss. 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 an 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.
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 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 us to see 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 roam and imagine how the mighty hunter Orion, together with his faithful dogs, runs after prey, while Taurus and Ursa Major are carefully watching him.
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.
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 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 us to see 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.
Constellation Canis Major
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 roam and imagine how the mighty hunter Orion, together with his faithful dogs, runs after prey, while Taurus and Ursa Major are carefully watching him.
