A group of stars united by one name. Constellations and the most noteworthy facts about them

Constellations are guides that have accompanied a person since ancient times. On them, people could navigate the way. Once the constellations were 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. Out of this number, 47 was discovered and described before our era. But the names that they were given then are used up to the present day.

Number of stars in visible areas of the sky

A group of stars, united by one name, is called a constellation. Thanks to observations of astronomers, it was possible to find out that their location in the sky is gradually changing. The night sky creates the illusion of stars randomly located next to each other. On the visible part of it there are about 3 thousand stars, and in the whole sky - about 6 thousand stars,

How to get the names of a group of stars

For ancient astronomers, a group of stars, united by one name, served for the simplicity of finding less bright luminaries. Bright stars united in certain groups. Usually they received the names of certain animals. For example, Scorpio, Big and Little Dipper, the constellations of the Great and Small Dog. Also, a group of stars united by a common name could receive a name in honor of one of the heroes of ancient myths - for example, the constellations Perseus, Andromeda and so on were named. From the beginning of the XVIII century the brightest stars of some constellations began to be called the letters of the Greek alphabet. In addition, about 130 separate bright stars got their names. And for luminaries of lesser brightness and to this day researchers use alphabetic designations.

Observation of constellations

The surrounding world, stars and constellations will be especially interesting to the attentive observer. If you observe the night sky for several hours, you can see how the entire celestial sphere, including the luminaries, moves smoothly, as if it makes a rotation around an invisible axis. This type of movement was called the daily. The lights on the firmament move from left to right. The stars, like the moon and the sun, go up in the east. Their maximum height they reach in the southern part. Sunset occurs from the west.

The largest constellation in the sky

The largest group of stars, united by one name, is the constellation 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 scholar Ptolemy in the II century BC. E. There is a well-known myth according to which the constellation of the Hydra is identified with the snake brought to God by Apollo by a crow: next to the Hydra is also the constellation Raven. According to the myth, Apollo sent the Crow for water. The water snake crow was brought as an apology for being too late to return. Ancient Greek god was very angry and threw a bird, a bowl and a snake into the sky, where they turned into constellations - Raven, Crater and Hydra.

Another majestic group of stars, united 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 find it on the so-called "Orion belt" - three blue-white stars, slightly inclined in one row. If you draw through the "belt of Orion" an imaginary line, then its lower end will point to the brightest star of the night sky - the star Sirius. Around these three stars are located and more bright stars, as well as the cosmic nebula of Orion. It can be easily seen even through binoculars. The brightest star of Orion is Betelgeuse, whose name in Arabic means "armpit".

Constellations of the Zodiac

The universality of the names of the stars and constellations around which the Sun makes its visible annual path is called 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. E. Many associate the Zodiac primarily with astrology. But in fact the signs of the Zodiac belong to the sphere of astronomy. These constellations lie on the line of the ecliptic, along which the Sun makes a visible journey of 365 days a year. It lingers around each constellation for about the time that we call the month.

Constellation of the Pleiades

For everyone, the answer to the question "What is the name of a group of stars united by one name?" Is obvious. Astronomers unite the heavenly bodies into groups called constellations. But scientists sometimes make serious mistakes in estimating the size of these star clusters. An example of this can serve as a representation of the constellation of the Pleiades. Once it was believed that in this group there are only 7 stars. They were called in different ways by the ancient Slavs: "Seven Sisters", "Stozhary" and so on.

But at the present time both foreign and domestic astronomers know - the Pleiades on the horizon are not at all seven. This cluster has thousands of stars, of which only fourteen are accessible 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 age of the Pleiades cluster is about 115 million years old. This constellation can be easily observed in the latitudes of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Pleiades are located near the solar system. To fly to this constellation is 410 light-years.

A bright constellation of Centauri

And the closest to the solar system is the constellation of the Centaurus. It is in him that mankind hopes to find fellow men in reason. This cluster consists of only three stars: Centaurus A, Centaurus B and Proxima Centauri. By his age, Alpha Centauri is older than the Solar System for 2 billion years. The light that these stars emit, gets to the terrestrial observer for 4.3 years. It is here that the closest star to the Sun is Proxima Centauri. However, after 9 thousand years, this place will take Barnard, belonging to the constellation Ophiuchus. The constellation of the Centaurus was also discovered by Ptolemy. It was named after a centaur - half-horse-half-man. The constellation of the Centaurus is very bright and is one of the largest in the sky.