The first brightest star. The brightest stars on the earthly sky

\u003e The brightest star

Sirius - the brightest star in the modern universe: History of bright stars in the past, Arkurkur, Vega, Rigel, Denief, the influence of the movement of the solar system in the galaxy.

For all residents below 83 degrees of northern latitude the brightest star The visible universe is Sirius. It reaches the 1st star magnitude and performs the fifth brightest celestial object. But was he always the brightest star?

The brightest star in the universe of modernity

Of course, in the first place in brightness costs. The star was removed on 8.6 light years and played a crucial role for the ancient Egyptians, which built their calendar based on it.

Interesting: The brightest star north of the Heavenly Equator is, whose value reaches -0.04.

And now hold in mind yet, since it was her the title of the brightest star in the sky 200,000 years ago.

Where are these changes in the rated of the brightness of star celestial bodies? It's all about constant movement. Our solar system at 250 km / s traveling by. On a full passage takes 250 million years. It turns out that for 4.5 billion years of existence we fulfilled only 18 orbital galactic spans.

In addition, the solar system also performs oscillations regarding the galactic plane (up and down). It takes another 93 million years. At the same time, the stars are moving with us. On the video, you can pass on the movement of stars in the constellation Big Major.

Movement of a big bear

All these movements are carried out pretty chaotically and occupy long time intervals. Modern Sirius and Alpha Centauri are considered "the most bright stars of the universe," because they are located close. But there are also distant, but still perform the brightest representatives.

Similar differences are called visible. It is connected with the earthly observer. Therefore, scientists turn to a more accurate indicator - an absolute value (brightness at a distance of 10 parses). Send a denbon to this distance and its value will become -8.4. Examine a list of the brightest stars in the sky from the position of the earth observer.

List of brighter stars of the universe visible from the earth

№	Name	Distance, St. years	Visible value	Absolute value	Spectral class	Heavenly hemisphere
0		0,0000158	−26,72	4,8	G2V.
1		8,6	−1,46	1,4	A1VM.	South
2		310	−0,72	−5,53	A9II.	South
3	Toliman (α Centaurus)	4,3	−0,27	4,06	G2V + K1V.	South
4		34	−0,04	−0,3	K1.5iiip.	North
5		25	0,03 (MC)	0,6	A0VA.	North
6		41	0,08	−0,5	G6III + G2III.	North
7		~870	0.12 (MC)	−7	B8iae.	South
8		11,4	0,38	2,6	F5IV-V.	North
9	Ahernar (α Eridan)	69	0,46	−1,3	B3VNP.	South
10		~530	0.50 (MC)	−5,14	M2iab.	North
11	Hadar (β Centaurus)	~400	0.61 (MC)	−4,4	B1III.	South
12		16	0,77	2,3	A7VN.	North
13	AKRAS (α South Cross)	~330	0,79	−4,6	B0.5IV + B1VN.	South
14		60	0.85 (MC)	−0,3	K5III.	North
15		~610	0.96 (MC)	−5,2	M1.5IB.	South
16		250	0.98 (MC)	−3,2	B1V.	South
17		40	1,14	0,7	K0iiib.	North
18		22	1,16	2,0	A3VA.	South
19	Mimosa (β southern Cross)	~290	1.25 (MC)	−4,7	B0.5III.	South
20		~1550	1,25	−7,2	A2ia.	North
21		69	1,35	−0,3	B7VN.	North
22		~400	1,50	−4,8	B2II.	South
23		49	1,57	0,5	A1V + A2V.	North
24	Gakruks (γ southern cross)	120	1.63 (MC)	−1,2	M3.5III.	South
25	Shaul (λ Scorpion)	330	1.63 (MC)	−3,5	B1.5IV.	South

According to human standards of life, all the stars and constellations look equally. Just for the period of 80-100 years, they do not have time to change. But if you lived in centuries, they noticed how they slowly shifted - the right movement. For example, the star of barnard and 61 swans are moving on 10 and 3.2 angular seconds per year. But the correct movement measures the speed relative to our ray of view.

The brightest star in the universe in the past

The radial movement opens the secrets of leadership in past centuries. The light disappears with the reverse square of the distance. Take a burning candle and move it further. The light will remain the same, but it seems not so bright for you.

Now we are moving towards the point of the solar vertex near the star Oomikron Hercules at a speed of 16.5 km / s. But you can turn off the way back. For example, the value of the Delta of the shield 2.4 will increase to -1.8, exceeding the brightness of modern sirium. A 4.7 million years BC Adara star reached the size of -4 instead of modern 1.5.

Arcturus is now immersed through our galactic neighborhood at speeds at 2 angular seconds per year. It approaches its maximum brightness very closely (the process lasts 4000 years) and gradually starts to disappear from the view.

The brightest star in the universe in the future

Prepare to the fact that the Albireo Star will reduce the distance for 300 light years and reaches the value in -0.5. Future scientists will finally find out if it acts as a double pair or not.

Want to know what stars are the brightest on the night sky? Then read our rankings of the top 10 of the most bright celestial shining, which is very easy to see the naked eye at night. But to start a little story.

Historical view of a star magnitude

Approximately 120 years before the Nativity of Christ, Greek Astronomer Hipparchus created the very first famous stars catalog today. Despite the fact that this work did not live to the present day, it is assumed that about 850 stars are in the list of Hippark (later, in the second century of our era, the Hipparch catalog was expanded to 1022 thanks to the efforts of another Greek astronomer, Ptolemy. Hippah introduced in His list of stars, which could be distinguished in everyone known at the time of the constellation, he thoroughly described the location of each heavenly shine, and also sorted them on the brightness scale - from 1 to 6, where 1 meant the maximum possible brightness (or "star magnitude") .

This brightness measurement method is still applied. It is worth noting that during the times of Hippark there was not yet telescopes, so looking at the sky with a naked eye, an ancient astronomer could distinguish only the star of the 6th star magnitude to the dullness (the least glowed). Today, having modern ground telescopes, we are able to distinguish very dull stars, the stellar value of which reaches 22m. While the Hubble Space Telescope is able to distinguish the star magnitude to 31m.

Visible stellar value - what is it?

With the advent of more high-precision devices for measuring light, astronomers decided to apply decimal fractions to designate stellar values \u200b\u200b- for example, 2.75m - than just rudely indicate the amount of 2 or 3 numbers.
Today we know the stars, the star magnitude of which is brighter than 1m. For example, Vega, which is the brightest star Constellation Lira, has a visible stellar value equal to 0. Any star, luminous than Vega, will have a negative star magnitude. For example, Sirius, the brightest star of our night sky, has a visible stellar value equal to -1.46m.

Usually, when astronomers talk about stellar values, they mean "visible stellar magnitude." As a rule, in such cases, a small Latin letter M is added to the numerical value - for example, 3.24m. This is an indicator of the brightness of the star, which is observed by a person from Earth, without taking into account the presence of an atmosphere that affects the review.

Absolute Star Value - What is it?

However, the brightness of the star depends not only on the power of its luminescence, but also on the degree of its remoteness from the Earth. For example, if you light the candle at night, it will shine bright and light everything around you, but it is worth a 5-10 meters away from it and its glow will not be enough, its brightness will decrease. In other words, you noticed the difference in brightness, although the flame of the candle remained the same all the time.

Relying on this fact, astronomers found a new way to measure the brightness of the star, which was called the "Absolute Star Value". This method determines how brightly shone the star is exactly in 10 parties (approximately 33 light years) from the ground. For example, the Sun has a visible stellar value in -26.7m (because it is very and very close), while its absolute star value is only + 4.8m.

The absolute star magnitude is usually indicated along with a large letter M, for example 2.75m. Such a method measures the actual power of the star of the star, without corrections to the distance or other factors (such as, gas clouds, dust absorption or scattering of the star).

1. Sirius ("Pog Star") / Sirius

All stars are shining at the night sky, but none shines so bright as Sirius. The name of the star comes from the Greek word "seirius", which means "burning" or "scorching". With an absolute stellar value in -1.42m, Sirius is the brightest star of our sky after the sun. This bright star is located in the constellation of a large PSA (Canis Major), so it is very often called "Pesya Star". In ancient Greece, it was believed that with the advent of Sirius in the first minutes of dawn, the hottest part of the summer began - the "dog days" season.

However, today Sirius is no longer a signal to the beginning of the hottest part of summer, and all because the earth, for a cycle of 25 thousand 800 years, slowly hesitates around his axis. What causes a change in the position of the stars on the night sky.

Sirius is 23 times brighter than our Sun, but its diameter and the mass exceeds our heavenly shine only twice. Note that the distance to the pisa star is relatively small on cosmic standards, 8.5 light years, it is this fact that causes, to the greater the brightness of this star - it is the 5th in a row closest star to our sun.

Hubble telescope snapshot: Sirius A (brighter and massive star) and Sirius in (left below, more dull and small companion)

In 1844, the German astronomer Frederick Bessel (Friedrich Besse) noticed the oscillating of Sirius, and suggested that fluctuations could be caused by the presence of a companion star. After almost 20 years, in 1862, Besla's assumptions were confirmed by 100%: Astronomer Alvan Clark, while testing his new 18.5-inch refractor (the largest in the world at the time), found that Sirius is not one star, And two.

This discovery gave the new class of stars: "White Dwarfs". Such stars have a very dense core, since all the hydrogen in them has already been consumed. Astronomers calculated that Sirius's companion - called Sirius B - has a mass of our sun Passed in the sizes of our Earth.

Sixteen milliliters of Sirius B (B - Latin Letter) would have weighed on Earth about 2 tons. Since the opening of Sirius in, his more massive companion is customary called Sirius A.

How to find Sirius: The most successful time for Sirius observations is winter (for observers of the northern hemisphere), since the Pesya Star soon appears in the evening sky. To find Sirius, use the Orion constellation as a guideline, or rather three stars from the belt. Follow the line from the left extreme star of Orion belts with a slope of 20 degrees in the direction of the southeast. As an assistant, you can use your own fist, which closes about 10 degrees of the sky at a distance of an elongated hand, so you will need about two widths of your fist.

2. Canopus / Canopus

Canopus is the brightest star of the constellation of keel, and the second in brightness, after Sirius, at the night sky of the earth. Kiel's constellation is relatively young (by the standards of astronomy), and one of the three constellations once partitioned by the Argo Ship (Argo Navis), named after Odysseas Jason and Argonauts fearlessly held in search of the Golden Fleece. Two other constellations form sails (constellation sail / vela) and stern (constellation feed / puppis).

Nowadays, spacecraft use light from canopus as a reference point in outer space - a bright example, Soviet interplanetary stations and Voyager 2.

Canopus pays truly incredible power. He is not so close to us as Sirius, but it is very naughty. In the ranking of the 10 brightest stars of our night sky, this star takes 2nd place surpassing our Sun in Light 14800 times! At the same time, Canopus is located in 316 light years from the Sun, which is 37 times farther than the brightest star of our nightly sky, Sirius.

Canopus is a yellow-white star super giant class F - stars with a temperature of 5500 to 7800 degrees Celsius. She has already exhausted all its hydrogen reserves, and now recycles his core consisting of helium in carbon. It helped "grow" a star: Canopus exceeds the sizes of the sun 65 times. If we replaced the sun on canopus, this yellow-white giant was absorbed everything that was before the orbit of Mercury, including the planet itself.

Ultimately, Canopus will turn into one of the largest white galaxy dwarfs, and its size can even be enough for the full processing of all its carbon reserves, which will make a very rare type of neon-oxygen white dwarfs. Rare because white dwarfs with a carbon-oxygen core are most common, but Canopus is so massive, which can begin to recycle its carbon in neon and oxygen during transformation into a smaller, cold and dense object.

How to find a canopus: With the visible star magnitude in -0.72m, Canopus is fairly easy to find in the star sky, but in the northern hemisphere, this celestial luminaire can only be seen only south of 37 degrees of northern latitude. Focus on Sirius (how to find it above), Canopus is approximately 40 degrees in North of the brightest star of our night sky.

3. Alpha Centauri / Alpha Centauri

Star Alpha Centaurus (also known as Centavrucus Rigel) actually consists of three stars related to the force of gravity. Two main (read - more massive) stars - Alpha Centauro A and Alpha Centaur, while the smallest star star, red dwarf, has the name of Alpha Centaurus C.

Alpha Centauri system is interesting for us primarily in your proximity: while at a distance of 4.3 light years from our sun, these are the closest stars known to us today.

Alfa Centaurus A and B sufficiently similar to our Sun, while the Centaurus can be called even a twin star (both of the luminaire refer to the yellow G-class stars). The luminosity, centaution, and 1.5 times the luminosity of the Sun is 1.5 times, while its visible stellar value is 0.01m. As for the centaution of B, then in terms of luminosity, it is half a brightest satellite, centautionary A, and its visible stellar value is 1.3m. The luminosity of the red dwarf, the Centaurial C, is negligible compared to two other stars, and its visible stellar value is 11M.

Of the three these stars, the smallest is both the closest - 4.22 light years separate Alpha Centauro with from our Sun - that is why this red dwarf is also called the proxima of Centauri (from the Latin word proximus is close).

In clear summer nights, the Alfa Centaurus system shines in the starry sky with an indicator in -0.27m star magnitude. True, it is best to observe this unusual three-star system in the southern hemisphere of the Earth, starting from the 28th degree of northern latitude and further to the south.

Even in a small telescope, you can consider the two brightest stars of the Alpha Centauro system.

How to find Alpha Centauro: Alpha Centauro is at the very bottom of the constellation price centaution. Also, to find this three-star system, you can start to find the constellation of the Southern Cross in the stellar sky, after that we mentally continue the horizontal line of the cross towards the West, and you will first stumble upon the Hadar star, and a little further will shine alpha centaution.

4. Arctic / Arcturus

The first three stars of our rating are mostly visible in the southern hemisphere. Arctic, is the brightest star of the northern hemisphere. It is noteworthy that taking into account the binarity of the Alfa Centaurus system, Arcturus can be considered the third in the account of the world's brightest star of the earth, since it exceeds the brightness of the brightness of the Alpha Centaurus system, Centaurs A (-0.05m against -0.01m).

Arcturus, also known as the "Guardian of the Medoli", is an integral constellation satellite Big Major (Ursa Major), and visible in the northern hemisphere of the land (in Russia is visible almost everywhere). The name of Arktur received from the Greek word "Arktos", which means "bear" in translation.

Arcturus refers to the type of stars called "orange giants", its mass is twice as much as the mass of our Sun, whereas in the luminosity "Guardian of the Bear" bypass our daily shine is 215 times. Light with Arcticu requires to do a way long in 37 terrestrial years to fly to the Earth, so when we see this star from our planet, we see what it was 37 years ago. The brightness of the glow on the night sky of the land of the "Guardian of the Males" is -0.04m.

It is noteworthy that Arktur is in the last stages of his star life. Because of the constant confrontation between the gravity and pressure of the star, the "Guardian of the Medoli" today is 25 times higher in diameter our sun.

Ultimately, the external layer of Arcticu will fall apart and go into the form of planetary nebula, similar to a fairly well-known rings nebula (M57) in the constellation Lira. After that, the ArcTur will turn into a white dwarf.

It is noteworthy that in the spring period, using the above method, you can easily find the most bright star of the constellation of the Virgin, Speaker / Spica. For this, after you find Arcturus, you just need to continue the arc of a large bucket further.

How to find Arctur: Arcturus is Alfa (i.e., the brightest star) of the Spring Constellation of Volopasas. To find the "Guardian of the Medvanditsa", it is enough to find a large bucket (big bear) first and mentally continue the arc of his handles until you come across a bright orange star. This will be Arcturus, a star forming a few other stars, the figure of the air serpent.

5. Vega / Vega

The name "Vega" comes from Arabic and means translated into a Russian "soaring eagle" or "soaring predator". Vega is the brightest star of the constellation Lira, also being "home" for no less well-known rings (M57) and stars Epsilon Lyra.

Ring nebula (M57)

The rings nebula is a glowing gas shell, something similar to a smoke ring. Presumably, this nebula formed after the explosion of the old star. Epsilon Lyra, in turn, is a double star, while it can even be seen with the naked eye. However, looking at this double star, even through a small telescope, you can see that each separate star consists of two stars! That is why Epsilon Lyra is very often called the "Double Double" star.

Vega is a hydrogen-burning star of dwarf, it is 54 times brighter in brightness, whereas by mass surpasses it only 1.5 times. Vega is located in 25 light years from the Sun, which is relatively slightly on cosmic standards, its visible stellar value at the night sky is 0.03m.

In 1984, the astronomers were discovered a disc surrounding vegan and consisting of cold gas - the first of its kind - extending from the star to a distance of 70 astronomical units (1ae \u003d distance from the sun to the Earth). By the standards of the solar system, the outskirts of such a disk would end up at approximately the borders of the belt of the bore. This is a very important discovery, because it is believed that a similar disk was present in our solar system at the stages of its formation, and served in it the beginning of the formation of the planets.

It is noteworthy that astronomers discovered "holes" in the gas disk to the surrounding vega, which can be quite reasonable to indicate that planets have already been formed around this star. This discovery attracted the American astronomer and writer Karl Sagan to choose WEGA, as a source of intelligent extraterrestrial signals transmitted to Earth in their first scientific fiction novel "Contact". Note that in the real life of such contacts was never fixed.

Together with the bright stars, Altair and Denget, Vega forms the famous summer triangle, asterism that symbolically signals the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere of the Earth. This area is ideal for viewing in a telescope of any size, warm, dark, cloudless summer nights.

Vega is the first star in the world, which managed to take a picture. This event occurred on July 16, 1850, as a photographer made an astronomer of Harvard University. Note that the stars dim 2nd visible star magnitude were generally not available for photographing, with the equipment available at that time.

How to find Vega: Vega is the second brightness of the Northern Hemisphere star, so finding it in the star sky will not be much difficulty. The easiest way to search for entry will be the initial search for the asterism "Summer Triangle". With the beginning of June, in Russia, with the onset of the first twilight, in the sky to the southeast, the "summer triangle" is well distinguished. The right upper corner of the triangle forms just the same Vega, the left upper is denb, but the Altair shines below.

6. Capella / Capella

Capella is the brightest star of the constellation of the eagle, the sixth in brightness at the night sky. If we talk about the northern hemisphere, then here Capella takes an honorable third place among the brightest stars.

To date, it is known that Capella is an incredible 4-star system: 2 stars - the yellow giants of the G-class are similar, the second pair is a much more dull stars of the Red Dwarf class. A brighter of two yellow gigant, carrying the name AA, is 80 times higher in brightness and almost three times on the mass of our luminaries. A more dull yellow giant, known as AB, brighter than the sun 50 times and difficult it is 2.5 times. If you combine the glow of these two yellow giants, then they will surpass our sun in 130 times.

Sun comparison (SOL) and stars Capella system

The chapel system is on the distance from us in 42 light years, and its visible stellar value is 0.08m.

If you are on the 44th degree of northern latitude (Pyatigorsk, Russia) or yet nord, you can watch the chapel throughout the night: in these latitudes it never goes beyond the horizon.

Both yellow giants are at the last stage of their lives, and very soon (on cosmic standards) will turn into a couple of white dwarfs.

How to find a chapel: If you mentally lose directly through the two top stars Forming buckets of the constellation Big Major, you will simply inevitably push the bright star of the Capella, which is part of the non-standard pentagon constellation constellation.

7. Rigel / Rigel

In the lower right corner of the Constellation of Orion, the inimitable star of the Rigel shines. According to the ancient legends, it is in place where the Rigel shines the Hunter Orion during a short contraction with insidious scorpion. Translated from the Arab "Rigel" means "foot".

The Rigel is a multi-letter system in which the brighter star is the Rigel A, the blue supergigant, by the capacity of the glow of 40 thousand times the superior sun. Despite its remoteness from our heavenly luminaries in 775 light years, he shines in our night sky with an indicator of 0.12m.

The Rigel is in the most impressive, in our opinion, the winter constellation, invincible Orion. This is one of the most well recognizable constellations (except that the constellation is a large bucket), since Orion is very easy to identify in the form of stars, which reminds the outlines of a person: three stars located closely from each other symbolize the hunter's belt, whereas four stars located around the edges Picture his arms and legs.

If you observe the Rigel to the telescope, then you can notice his second companion star, the visible stellar value of which is only 7M.

The mass of the Rigel is 17 times higher than the mass of the Sun, and it is likely that after some time it will turn into a supernova and our galaxy illuminates the light from its explosion. However, it may also happen that the rigle can turn into a rare oxygen-neon white dwarf.

Note that in the constellation of Orion there is another very interesting place: the great nebula of Orion (M42), it is at the bottom of the constellation, under the so-called hunter's belt, and new stars still continue to be born here.

How to find a riglel: To begin with, you should find the Constellation of Orion (in Russia is observed throughout the entire territory). In the lower right corner of the constellation will be brightly shine a star of Rigel.

8. PERSONS / PROCYON

The star of the priest is located in the small constellation of the Small Psa (Canis Minor). This constellation depicts a smaller of two hunting pieces from Orion's hunter (more, as it is not difficult to guess, symbolizes the constellation of a large PSA).

Translated from the Greek word "promotion" means "ahead of a dog": in the northern hemisphere, the priest is a precursor of the appearance of Sirius, which is also called the "star's pezzles".

The priest is a yellow-white star, the luminosity is 7 times superior to the sun, whereas in the dimensions it is more than one of our luminaries. As in the case of Alpha Centauri, the speech shines so brightly on our night sky due to his proximity to the Sun - 11.4 of light years divided by our luminaries and a distant star.

The priest is at sunset its life cycle: now the star actively processes the remains of hydrogen in helium. Now this star is twice as long as the diameter of our sun, which makes it one of the brightest heavenly lights of the earth's night sky at a distance of 20 light years.

It is worth noting that the probe together with Bethelgeuse and Sirius forms well-known and recognizable asterism, a winter triangle.

Promotion A and B and their comparison with the Earth and the Sun

A star-dwarf star rotates around the transmission, which was visually detected to be found in 1896 by the German astronome John Shibur. At the same time, the existence guesses from the Common race were nominated back in 1840, when another German astronomer, Arthur von Ausvers, noticed some inconsistencies in the distance of a distant star that with a large share of the probability could only be explained by the presence of a large and dull body.

A more dull companion called the name of the priest B, it is three times less than the size of the Earth, and its mass is 60% of solar. A stronger star of this system since then is called Saturation A.

How to find a procation: To begin with, we find a good all familiar Constellation Orion. In this constellation, in the upper left corner, there is a star Bethelgeuse (also included in our rating), mentally reading from it directly in the western direction you will warm up to the probe.

9. Ahernar / Achernar

Ahern, translated from Arabic means "End of the River", which is quite natural: this star is the most extreme southernmost point of the constellation that begins the name of the river from ancient Greek mythology, Eridan.

Ahernar is the hottest star of our rating Top 10, its temperature varies from 13 to 19 thousand degrees Celsius. This star is also incredibly bright: it is about 3150 times in the brightest of our sun. At an apparent star value of 0.45m, the light with Ahernar is required 144 Earth years to achieve our planet.

Constellation Eridan with extreme dot, star Ahern

Agernar is quite close on the visible star magnitude with the star Bethelgeuse (number 10 in our ranking). However, Ahernar, as a rule, is placed in the ratings of the brightest stars in the 9th place, as Bethelgeuse is a variable star, whose visible stellar value can fall from 0.5m to the indicator at 1.2m, as was in 1927 and 1941.

Ahernar is a massive class B star, in weight it is eight times superior to our sun. Now it actively processes its hydrogen in helium, which ultimately turns it into white-dwarf.

It is noteworthy that for the planet of the class of our Earth, the most comfortable distance from Ahernar (with the possibility of existence of water in liquid form) would be a distance of 54-73 astronomical units, that is, in the solar system, it would be behind the Pluto orbit.

How to find Ahernar: On the territory of Russia, alas, this star is unclear. In general, for comfortable observation, Ahernar you need to be the southern 25th degree of northern latitude. To find Ahernar, spend a mentally straight line in the southern direction through the stars of Bethelgeuse and the Bimel, the first supermarket star, which you will see Ahernar.

10. Bethelgeuse / Betlegeuse

Do not think that the significance of Bethelgeuse is just as low as its position in our ranking. Distance in 430 light years hides from us the real scale of the star of the super giant. However, even at such a removal, Bethelgeuse continues to sparkle on the earthly night sky with an indicator of 0.5m, while this star is 55 thousand times higher than the brightness of the sun.

Betelgeuse translated from the Arabic language means "Hunter's Friend".

Bethelgeuse marks the eastern shoulder of the mighty Orion from the constellation of the same name. Also, Bethelgeuse is also called Alpha Orion, that is, in theory, it must be the brightest star of his constellation. However, on the fact, the brightest star of the constellation Orion is the star of Rigel. This emboss, most likely, was due to the fact that Bethelgeuse is a star variable (a star changing its brightness). Therefore, it is likely that in times when Johanes Bayer estimated the brightness of these two stars, Bethelgeuse shone brighter a bright.

If Bethelgeuses replaced the sun in the solar system

Betelgeuse's star is a red superigiant of class M1, its diameter is 650 times higher than the diameter of our Sun, while it is only 15 times heavier than our heavenly shine. If you imagine that Bethelgeuse will become our Sun, then everything that is located to the orbit of Mars will be absorbed by this gigantic star!

Starting the observations of Betelgeuse, you will see a star at sunset your long life. Her huge mass suggests that, most likely, it converts all its elements in the iron. If so, in the near future (according to cosmic standards), Bethelgeuse will explode and turn into a supernova, while the explosion will be so bright that it can be compared with the luminescence of the lunar sickle, visible from the ground. The birth of supernova will leave behind a dense neutron star. According to another theory, Bethelgueis can turn into a rare type of neon-oxygen stars-dwarfs.

How to find Betelgeuse: To begin with, you should find the Constellation of Orion (in Russia is observed throughout the entire territory). In the upper right corner of the constellation will be brightly shining the star Bethelgeuse.

The science

Night sky full incredible on the beauty of objects, To see which can be even naked eye. If you do not have special equipment to look at the sky - not trouble, some amazing things can be seen without it.

Impressive comets, bright planets, distant nebula, shimmering stars and constellations - all this can be found in the night sky.

The only thing important to remember light contamination of large cities. In the city, light from lanterns and windows of buildings is so strong that all the most interesting on the night sky it turns out hiddenSo, to see these amazing things, you should go beyond the city.

Light pollution

The brightest planet

Very hot neighbor land - Venus may rightfully be proud of the title the brightest planet of the sky. The brightness of the planet is associated with well-reflective clouds, as well as the fact that it is near the ground. Venus approximately 6 times brighterthan other land neighbors - Mars and Jupiter.

Venus brighter any other objects on the night sky, except, of course, the moon. Its maximum visible value is equal around 5. For comparison: the visible magnitude of the full moon is equal to -13 , that is, it is about 1600 times brighter Venus.

In February 2012, there was a unique compound of the three brightest objects of the night sky: Venus, Jupiter and Moonthat could be seen immediately after sunset.

The biggest star

The largest of the famous science of stars - VY Big PSA, red hypergigant type M, which is located at a distance of approximately 3800 light years From the Earth in the constellation of the Big PSA.

Scientists appreciated that the star VY is a large PSA may be in more than 2100 times more sun sizes. If you put it in a sunny system, then the edges of this monster will be around the Orbit of Saturn.

The surface of hypergigant can hardly be called noticeably outlined, since this star is approximately 1000 times less densethan the atmosphere of our planet at sea level.

VY Big PSA is a source a large number of disputes In the scholar of the world, as the assessment of its size goes beyond the boundaries of the current star theory. Astronomers believe that the star Vy is a large dog for the following 100 thousand years It will explode and die, turning into a "hypernova" and highlighting a colossal amount of energy, and this energy will be greater than any other supernova.

The brightest star

In 1997, astronomers, with the help of the NASA-telescope, NASA "Hubble" found out that the bright of the famous stars is a star, located at a distance 25 thousand light years from us. This star highlights 10 million times more Energy than the sun. In size, this star is also much more exceeding our star. If you put it in the center of the solar system, it will take the orbit of the Earth.

Scientists suggested that this major star, located in the Sagittar Constellation, creates a gas cloud around him, which is called Neboler "Pistol". Thanks to this nebula, the star also received the name of the star Pistol.

Unfortunately, this amazing star is not observed from the land due to the fact that the dust clouds of the Milky Way are hiding. The brightest on the night sky star You can call a star Siriuslocated in the constellation of large dogs. Sirius Star Value is -1,44.

You can watch the Sirius from any point of the Earth, except the northern regions. The brightness of the star is explained not only to her high luminosity, but also a relatively close distance. Sirius is located approximately in 8.6 light years From the solar system.

The most beautiful star in the sky

Many stars are known for their brilliance of different colors, for example, a system consisting of blue and orange stars. Albireo., or bright red star giant Antares. However, the most beautiful of all visible with the naked eye of the stars can be called a red-orange star MJ Cefheawhich is also called the "Grenade Star of Herschel" in honor of its first researcher, British astronomer William Herschel.

Red giant MJ CEFEVA is located in the Cefhea constellation. it thinking variable star and its maximum brightness varies from 3.7 to 5.0. The color of the star is also changing. Most of the time MJ CFERE saturated orange-red, but sometimes it acquires a strange purple shade.

Although MJ Tsefay is a little dull, her reddish tint It can be noticed even with a naked eye, and if you take a simple binoculars, the spectacle will be more impressive.

Long Space Object

The farthest object visible to the naked eye is andromeda galaxywhich includes about 400 billion stars and which noticed in the 10th century an ancient Persian astronomer Al Sufi. He described this object as a "small cloud".

Even if you arm binoculars or amateur telescope, Andromeda will still look like a little stretched blurred spot. But still she is very impressive, especially if you know that the light from her gets to us 2.5 million years!

By the way, Andromeda Galaxy is approaching our Milky Way Galaxy. Astronomers rated that these two galaxies will connect about 4 billion years oldAnd Andromeda can be observed in the form of a bright disk in the night sky. However, it is not yet known whether the wishes to look at the sky through so many years will remain on Earth.

Note:

(Alpha Big PSA; α CMA, Sirius). The brightest star in the constellation of Big Psa and the brightest star in the sky. This is a visual-double star with a period of circulation of 50 years, the main component of which is a (a) is a star, and the second component (B, puppy) is a white dwarf of the 8th Star magnitude. Sirius B was optically discovered in 1862, and its type was determined on the spectrum in 1925. Sirius is removed from us at a distance of 8.7 light years and in proximity to the solar system takes the seventh place. The name is inherited from the ancient Greeks and means "Clearing", which emphasizes the shine of the star. In connection with the name of the constellation, to which Sirius belongs, he is also called the "dog star". The third star, brown dwarf, closer to (a) than the component (B), opened by French astronomers in 1995.
(Alpha Volcasa, α Boo, Arctur.). The brightest star in the constellation of Volopasses, an orange giant, K-star, the fourth star brightness in the sky. Double, variable. The name has a Greek origin and means the "watchman bear". Arcturus was the first star, which was able to see the day with the help of a telescope to the French astronomer and astrologer MOREOR in 1635.
(Alpha Lira; α LYR, Vega). The brightest star in the constellation Lyra and the fifth brightness of the star in the sky. This is a star. In 2005, the space telescope "Spitzer" were obtained images of the vegue, as well as the surrounding dust star in the infrared spectrum. A planetary system is formed around the star.
(Alpha Vay; α AUR, Capella). The brightest star in the constellation of the erection, spectral-double star, in which the main component is a giant G-star. Her name of Latin origin and means a "little goat".
(Beta Orion.; β ori Rigel). The brightest star in the constellation Orion. For its designation, the Greek letter beta is used, although it is a little brighter Bethelgeuse marked as Alpha Orion. Rigel is a supergiant, a B-star with a compartion of the 7th Star magnitude. The name having arabic origin means "Giant's foot".
(Alpha Small Psa.; α cmi, PERSON). The brightest star in the constellation of small dogs. The priest takes the fifth place among all stars. In 1896, J. M. Sheberl discovered that the probe is a double system. The main companion is a normal F-star, and a weak companion is a white dwarf of the 11th Star magnitude. The system of circulation of the system is 41 years. The name of the probe has a Greek origin and means "in front of the dog" (reminder that the star goes back to the "dog star", i.e. Sirius).
(Alpha Orla; α AQL, Altair). The brightest star in the constellation of the Eagle. Arab word "Altair" means "flying eagle." Altair - A-Star. This is one of the closest among the most bright stars (located at a distance of 17 light years).
(Alpha Orion; α ori Bethelgeuse). Red supergiant, M-star, one of the biggest famous stars. Through point interferometry and other interference methods, it was possible to measure its diameter, which turned out to be approximately 1000 diameters of the Sun. The presence of large bright "star spots" was discovered. Ultraviolet observations conducted using the Hubble Space Telescope showed that Bethelgeuse is surrounded by an extensive chromosphere, the mass of which is approximately twenty solar. Variable. Brightness is irregularly changing between 0.4 and 0.9 values \u200b\u200bwith a period of about five years. Notable is the fact that during the observation from 1993 to 2009, the stars diameter decreased by 15%, with 5.5 astronomical units up to about 4.7, and astronomers can not yet explain what it is connected with. At the same time, the brightness of the star did not change any noticeable during this time.
(Alpha Tales; α tau, Aldebaran.). The brightest star in the Constellation of the Taurus. Arabic name means "next" (that is, coming after the Pleiades). Aldebaran is a giant K-star. Variable. Although the star in the sky looks part of the accumulation of Hiad, in fact she is not his member, being twice as close to the ground. In 1997, a possible existence of a satellite is a large planet (or small brown dwarf), with a massive of 11 masses of Jupiter at a distance of 1.35 AE. The drone spacecraft Pioneer-10 heads towards Aldebaran. If nothing happens to him along the way, it will reach the stars area around 2 million years.
(Alpha Scorpion; α SCO, Antares). The brightest star in the constellation of Scorpio. Red supergigant, M-star, variable, the double name has a Greek origin and means "Mars Competitor", which reminds of the wonderful color of this star. Antares-half-speaking variable, the brightness of which changes between the stellar values \u200b\u200bof 0.9 and 1.1 with a five-year period. It has a blue star of the 6th Star magnitude, removed by only 3 arc seconds. Antares in was opened during one of these coverage on April 13, 1819. Satellite circulation period - 878 years.
(Alpha Virgin; α vir Spika). The brightest star in the constellation of the Virgin. This is an eclipse double, variable whose brightness changes by about 0.1 star magnitude with a period of 4,014 days. The main component is a white-blue B-star with a mass of about eleven mass of the sun. The name means "corn bye".
(Beta twins; β gem Pollux). The brightest star in the constellation of twins, although its designation is beta, not alpha. It seems unlikely that Pollux since the time of Bayer (1572-1625) became brighter. Pollux is an orange giant, K-star. In the classic mythology, the twins Kastor and Pollux were sons of ice. In 2006, the star was found an exoplanet.
(Alpha South Fish; α psa,
(Epsilon of Big PSA; ε CMA, Adara). The second brightness (after Sirius) Star in the constellation of a large dog, a giant B-star. Has a post-companion 7.5 m. The Arabic name of the star means "Virgin". Approximately 4.7 million years ago, the distance from ε large ps to the ground was 34 light years, and the star was brightest in the sky, its shine was equal to -4.0 m

(Alpha Genetov; α gem Castor). The second brightness in the constellation of twins after Pulux. Its stellar value when observed with the naked eye is estimated as 1.6, but this is the combined brightness of the multiple system consisting of at least six components. There are two A-stars with star values \u200b\u200b2.0 and 2.9, forming a close visual couple, each of which is spectral-double, and a more distant red star of the 9th Star magnitude, which is the eclipse double.

(Gamma Orion.; γ ORI, Bellatrix.). Giant, B-star, variable, double. The name has a Latin origin and means "Woman Warring". One of the 57 antiquity navigation stars

(Beta Tales; β tau, NAT). The second in brightness in the Constellation of the Taurus, lying on the edge of one of the bull horns. The name comes from the Arabic expression "Boding horns." This star on vintage maps portrayed the right leg of the human figure in the constellation of the ease and had a different designation, the gamma of the ease. ELNAT - B-star.

(Epsilon Orion; ε Ori Alnim). One of the three bright stars forming an Orion belt. Arabic name is translated as "pearl thread." Alnim - supergiant, in-star, variable

(Dzeta Orion.; ζ ori Alnito.). One of the three bright stars forming an Orion belt. Arabic name is translated as a "belt". Alnitiat - Supergiant, O Star, Triple Star.

(Epsilon Big Mesmen; ε uma, Alieot.). The brightest star in the constellation is a big bear. Greek letters in this case are fixed behind the stars in the order of their position, and not brightness. Aliot - A-Star, maybe it has a planet 15 times a massive Jupiter.

(Alpha Big Mesmen.; α uma, Dubhe). One of the two stars (second is a merate) of a large bucket in a big bear, called pointers. Giant, K-star, variable. The 5th Star Moist companion revolves around it with a period of 44 years. DUKKH, literally "bear", is a reduced version of the Arab name, meaning the "back of a larger bear."

(Alpha Persea; α per, Miraph). The brightest star in the Perseus constellation. Yellow supergigant, f-star, variable. The name, Arabic origin means "elbow".

(This big bear; η uma, Benetnash). Star located at the end of the "tail". B-star, variable. Arabic name means "head of the plasters" (for Arabs the constellation was seen like a catatball, not a bear).

(Beta big dog; β CMA, Mirzam). The second in brightness in the constellation of large dogs. Giant B-star, variable, is a prototype class of weak variable stars type Beta Beta PSA. Its brightness varies every six hours for several hundredths of the stellar value. Such a low level of variability is not detected by the naked eye.

(Alpha Hydra; α hya, Alphard.). The brightest star in the constellation Hydra. The name of Arabic origin means "the retired snake." Alphard - K-star, variable, triple.

(Alpha Malaya Medveditsa; α UMI, Polar). The brightest star in the constellation of a small bear, located near the Northern Heavenly Pole (at a distance of less than one degree). Polar is the nearest to the ground with a pulsating variable star type Tsfhey type with a period of 3.97 days. But the polar is a very non-standard cefeta: her pulsations are fucked during the order of the tens of years: in 1900, the change in brightness was ± 8%, and in 2005 - approximately 2%. In addition, during this time, the star became on average 15% brighter.

It is nice to see the sky not only finished romance and meticulous scientists. Everyone from time to time loves to watch one of the most beautiful phenomena by our universe - bright stars. And therefore, to learn about which luminaries are characterized by the greatest radiance, it will be interesting to everyone.

Sirius

Without a doubt, the brightest star at the night sky is Sirius. She ranks first in its shine. Located in the constellation of a large PSA and well-observed in the northern hemisphere in the winter. Residents of the Southern Hemisphere can see it in the summer months, north of the polar circle. Sirius is located approximately 8.6 light years from the Sun and is one of the brightest stars closest to us.

Gloss Sirius and is a consequence of the proximity of the shone to the solar system. It is one of the favorite objects to observe the amateurs astronomers. Sirius is 1.46 m.

Sirius is the brightest Northern Star. Astronomers were noticed in the 19th century that his trajectory, although straight, is still subject to periodic oscillations. Astronomers began to guess that some hidden luminaries are responsible for these deviations of the trajectory, rotating around Sirius with a period of about 50 years. Hined 18 years after this bold assumption near Sirius, they found a small asterisk of 8.4 m, belonging to the category of white dwarfs.

Canopus

For the first time, the brightest star in the sky, an ancient Greek scientist of Hipparch began to conceive. His classification was offered 22 centuries ago. The hypoche first divided the luminaries according to their brilliance by 6 values. The two brightest - Sirius and Canopus - minus the first magnitude. Canopus occupies second place in brightness after Sirius, but it is much less known. Apparently, for the reason that it is best to watch from the southern hemisphere. From the northern territories, Canopus is observed only in subtropical latitudes.

For example, in Europe, it is noticeable only from the south of Greece, and in the countries of the former USSR, they can admire only residents of Turkmenistan. Most of all in this respect was lucky Australia and New Zealand astronomers. Here, Canopus can be observed throughout the year.

According to the calculations of scientists, the luminosity of the canopus is higher than solar 15,000 times, which is a huge indicator. This shine played a large role in navigation.

Currently, Canopus is a white supergiant located on a significant distance from the Earth - about 310 light years, or 2.96 quadrillion kilometers.

Vega

Looking at warm summer evenings on the sky, you can see a bright bluish-white point. This is Vega - one of the most visible only in the northern hemisphere.

Vega is not only the main in the constellation Lyra. She is the main shot throughout all year old months. It is very convenient to observe from the northern hemisphere due to the location. Starting from the end of spring and up to the middle of the autumn, it is the most noticeable luminary.

As with many other stars, a lot of ancient legends are connected with the vegan. For example, in the Far East there is a tale that Vega is a queen that fell in love with a simple person (which the star of Altair is present in the sky). The father of the girl, who realized this, was angry, forbidding it to see the usual mortal. And in fact, Vega is separated from Altair foggy Milky. Only once a year, according to legend, thousands of forty shape with their wings, the heavenly bridge, and lovers have the opportunity to reunite. Later, the tears of the princesses spill on the ground - so the legend explains the meteorite rain from the Perside Flood.

Vega 2 times more severe than the sun. The luminosity of the star is 37 times superior. We have such a tremendous mass that it exists in its present white star another 1 billion years.

Arctur.

It is one of the brightest stars that can be observed from almost any point of the Earth. Intensity is inferior only to Sirius, canopus, as well as the double luminarity of Alpha Centaur. The star brighter is 110 times. Located in

Unusual legend

The name of its Arkurku is obliged to constellation Big Malar. Translated from the ancient Greek word "Arctusus" means "Guardian of the Major". According to myth, Zeus settled him in place in order for him to guard Nimif Callisto, who was turned the goddess Hero to the Medleang. In Arabic, Arcturus is different - "Haris-As-Sama", which means "the keeper of heaven."

In the northern latitudes, the star can be observed all year round.

Alpha Centauri

Another of the brightest stars, from a long time known to astronomers - Alpha Centauro. It is part of however, in reality, this is not one star - it includes three components: the price of Centaution A (is also known as Toliman), Centaurus B and Red Dwarf Proxy Centaurus.

In their age, Alpha Centauro older than our solar system for 2 billion years - this group has shone about 6 billion years, while the sun is only 4.5. The characteristics of these shining are as close as possible.

If you look at the Alpha Centauro without special equipment, it is impossible to distinguish the luminaries and from it - it is precisely thanks to this alliance that the impressive shine of the star is achieved. However, it is worth arming a conventional telescope, as a short distance between two celestial bodies becomes noticeable. The light that radiates the shine gets to our planet for 4.3 years. On a modern spacecraft you can get to Alpha Centaur for 1.1 million years, so in the near future it is unlikely possible. In the summer, the luminaire can be seen in Florida, Texas, Mexico.

Bethelgeuse

This luminaire refers to the category of red supergiant. The mass of Bethelgei, or Alpha Orion, is about 13-17 solar masses, and its radius is 1200 times superior.

Betelgeuse is one of the brightest stars on the night sky. It is removed from the Earth for 530 light years. The luminosity of it is 140,000 times higher than at the Sun.

This red supergiant today is one of the largest and most striking stars. If Bethelgeuse were in the central part of the solar system, then its surface would absorb several planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. It is assumed that the age of Bethelgeuse is only about 10 million years. Now the luminais is in the late stage of his evolution, and scientists suggest that in the next few million years she will explode and turn into a supernova.

PERSON

Star Saturation is one of the brightest stars. Is Alpha Small Psa. In fact, the probe consists of two shining - the second is called Gomayesa. Both of them can be observed without additional optics. It is very interesting and origin of the name "Promotion". It was based on long-term surveillance of the starry sky. This word is literally translated as "before PSA", and the more literary translation sounds like a "harbinger of the dog." The Arab people called the Sirius Sirius Sirius. All these names have a direct relationship with Sirius, which a lot of ancient peoples worshiped. It is not surprising that with the time of the star and the priests discovered the harbinger of Sirius appearing in the sky. He appears in the sky 40 minutes earlier, as if running ahead. If you depict the constellation of small ps in the figure, it turns out that the priest is in its hind legs.

A star is located quite close to the ground - of course, this distance can be called small only on cosmic standards. It is separated from us 11.41 light years. It moves towards the solar system at a huge speed - 4500 m per second. Sleeping is shining like 8 to our Suns, and its radius is no more than 1.9 from the radius of our star.

Astronomers belong to the category of star-subgigan. According to the brightness of the glow, scientists concluded that the nuclear reaction between hydrogen and helium in its depths no longer occurs. Scientists are convinced that the process of expanding the star has already begun. After a very long time, the prome will turn into a red giant.

Polar - the brightest star of the Bear

This shine is very unusual. First of all, the fact that it is closer to others is located to the North Pole of the Planet. And due to the daily rotation of the Earth, the stars are moving around the polar star. For this reason, it is often called North. As for the southern pole, there are no similar shining. In ancient times, the axis of the planet was directed to another scope of the sky, and Vega occupied the northern star.

Those who are interested in what the brightest star in the sky, observed from the northern hemisphere, should know: the polar cannot be called such. However, it is easy to find it, if you extend the line connecting the two shining bucket of a big bear. Polar is the most recent star in the handle of the head of the neighbor of this constellation, a small bear. The brightest star of this cluster is also shining.

Astronomer's interest also represents a big bear. It is easy to see due to the form of a bucket, well distinguished in the sky. The brightest star in the constellation is alimate. In reference books, it is denoted by the letter of Epsilon, and it takes the 31st place in brightness among all visible shining.

Currently, as in the days of ancient astronomers, an ordinary person can observe the stars from the surface of the earth. However, it is quite possible that our great-grandchildren will be able to go to the brightest luminaries and learn more interesting and entertaining information about them.