The brightest star: vacancy is free

It would seem that it is not difficult to determine which of the stars is the brightest, just look at the sky. But not everything is so simple. Determine which of the stars is indeed the brightest interfering and huge distances, and interstellar dust, and measurement errors. And the stars themselves change in time with brightness. But still ... Consider the most likely candidates for the glorious title under the title "The brightest star".

At the end of the last century, with the help of the Hubble telescope, it was possible to find a star that was called the "Star in a Pistol". The pistol is a nebula, which was formed as a result of the release of matter from the interior of the star. According to the calculations of astrophysicists, the brightest star shines ten million times brighter than the Sun, but it can not be seen from the Earth with an armed gaze, because, firstly, it is too far from us, and secondly, its luminosity is hidden by the "Pistol". True, a few years later the star was lowered in the rank of brightness, and now it is considered that it is "only" 1.7 million times brighter than the Sun. Although it is possible that new clarifications will follow.

Another contender for this title is the star This constellation of Kiel, located 8000 light years from Earth. The star changes the luminosity over time, it was discovered by studying the works of ancient astronomical observatories. This Keel as well as the star in the "gun" is surrounded by the nebula of its own production, called the Homunculus. It is brighter than the Sun 5 million times.

Another contender is a star from the constellation Sagittarius, known only at number LBV 1806-20. It is brighter than the Sun in 5-40 million times, it was not possible to determine more accurately.

As you can see, it's impossible to understand which of the astronomical objects is worthy of the title "The brightest star" more than others. Each of the three most likely candidates has not been explored enough to be considered the most-the most ... The question, which is the brightest star in the universe, remains open.

Now let's return from the stellar distances and see which of the stars visible from the Earth is the brightest. The first astronomer who classified the stars in apparent brightness was the Greek Hipparchus who lived two centuries before Christ. He also first introduced the term "star magnitude". After one thousand eight hundred thousand years, the German astronomer Bayer decided to designate the brightness of the stars with the letters of the Greek alphabet.

With the help of modern instruments and methods of investigation, it is not difficult to determine the apparent brightness of a star. The brightest star in the sky of the Earth is Deneb in the constellation Cygnus. The second place is taken by Rigel from the constellation of Orion, and the third is Betelgeuse, which is also in the constellation of Orion.

From observations of Chinese astronomers, we learned that in 1054 a so bright star appeared in the sky that it could be observed even in the daytime. Perhaps, it was the brightest star of all times and peoples! But very quickly it disappeared, and in its place appeared the famous Crab nebula. As astronomers established, it was a supernova flash, as a result of which a neutron pulsar was formed at the site of the star, which is the most powerful in our Galaxy. The diameter of the pulsar by cosmic standards is microscopic - no more than thirty kilometers.