Constellations are guides thataccompanied the man since ancient times. According to him, people could navigate along the way. Once constellations were called those figures that formed stars among themselves. Now so called certain areas of the celestial sphere. In 1930, the official number of constellations was fixed - 88. Of this number, 47 were opened and described before our era. But the names that were given to them then are used up to the present day.
Number of stars on visible sky
A group of stars united by one namecalled constellation. Thanks to the observations of astronomers, we managed to find out that their location in the sky was gradually changing. The night sky creates the illusion of stars randomly beside each other. About 3 thousand stars are located on its visible part, and about 6 thousand all over the sky.
How to get the names of a group of stars
For ancient astronomers, a group of stars unitedone name, served for simplicity of finding less bright luminaries. Bright stars united in certain groups. Usually they received the names of certain animals. For example, Scorpio, Ursa Major and Ursa Major, constellations of the Big and Small Dog. Also, a group of stars, united by a common name, could get a name in honor of one of the heroes of ancient myths - for example, the constellations Perseus, Andromeda and others were so named. From the beginning of the XVIII century, the brightest of the stars of some constellations were called the letters of the Greek alphabet. In addition, about 130 individual bright stars got their names. And for the luminaries of lower brightness, to this day, researchers use letter symbols.
Constellation observation
The world around us, stars and constellations will be especiallyinteresting attentive observer. If you observe the night sky for several hours, then you can see how the entire celestial sphere, including the stars, moves smoothly, as if it is rotating around an invisible axis. This type of movement is called daily. The stars in the sky are moving from left to right. The stars, like the moon and the sun do, rise in the east. They reach their maximum height in the southern part. Sunset comes from the west.
The largest constellation in the sky
The largest group of stars united by oneThe name is the constellation of Hydra. It is located in the southern hemisphere. The name of this constellation in translation from Latin means “water snake”. Hydra was discovered by the ancient Greek scientist Ptolemy in the II century BC. er There is a well-known myth according to which the Hydra constellation is identified with the serpent brought to the god Apollo by the raven: the constellation Raven is also located near Hydra. According to the myth, Apollo sent the Crow for water. The raven brought the water snake as an apology for returning too late. The ancient Greek god was very angry and in fury threw the bird, chalice and snake into the firmament, where they turned into constellations - Raven, Crater and Hydra.
Another majestic group of starsunited by one name is the constellation of Orion. It is believed that it is no less beautiful than the constellation Ursa Major. In the night sky, it is very easy to detect it from the so-called “Orion belt” - three white-blue stars, located slightly tilted in one row. If we draw an imaginary line through the "Orion belt", then its lower end will point to the brightest star of the night sky - the star Sirius. Above these three stars are brighter stars, as well as the cosmic Orion Nebula. It can be easily seen even with binoculars. The brightest star of Orion is Betelgeuse, whose name in Arabic means “armpit”.
Zodiac constellation
The universality of the names of stars and constellations, aroundwhich makes its apparent year-long path of the Sun, received the name of the Zodiac. There are thirteen such constellations, but researchers use twelve of them by the number of months in a year. The division of the sky into 12 spheres appeared in ancient Babylon in the V century BC. er Many people associate the zodiac in the first place with astrology. But in fact, the signs of the zodiac belong to the field of astronomy. These constellations lie on the line of the ecliptic, along which the Sun makes a visible journey 365 days a year. It lingers around each constellation for about the time that we call the month.
Pleiades constellation
Для каждого уже очевиден ответ на вопрос «Как is called a group of stars, united by one name? ". Astronomers group celestial bodies into constellations. But scientists are sometimes seriously mistaken in assessing the size of these star clusters. An example of this can serve as a representation of the constellation Pleiades. Once it was believed that this group is only 7 stars. The ancient Slavs called them differently: "Seven Sisters", "Stozhary" and so on.
But now both foreign andRussian astronomers know that the Pleiades in the sky is not at all seven. This cluster has thousands of stars, of which only fourteen are available to the human eye. They came from a single molecular cloud. These stars are close to each other in their composition and age. Scientists believe that the Pleiades cluster is about 115 million years old. This constellation can be easily observed in the latitudes of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The Pleiades are not far from the solar system. Fly to this constellation - 410 light years.
Bright Centauri constellation
А самое близкое к Солнечной системе – это constellation Centaurus. It is in it that humanity hopes to find fellow minds. This cluster consists of only three stars: Centaurus A, Centaurus B and Proxima Centauri. According to its age, Alpha Centauri is 2 billion years older than the Solar System. The light that these stars emit reaches the earthly observer in 4.3 years. This is where the star closest to the Sun is located - Proxima Centauri. However, after 9 thousand years this place will be taken by Barnard, belonging to the constellation Ophiuchus. The constellation Centaurus was also discovered by Ptolemy. It was named after the centaur - half-horse-half-man. Centauri constellation is very bright and is one of the largest in the sky.
