Among the countless number of stars, there are also those with their own names. Many of them are well-known and have probably been seen at least once on the pages of newspapers and books - Sirius, Fomalhaut... But what other names of stars are there, and what do they mean? Today we will learn more about the names of stars.

Those who have been interested in the constellations and their history know about the beautiful and romantic names that stand behind their names. Heroes of ancient Greek myths, fabulous animals, legendary artifacts - they all found their place in the outlines of the stars of the night sky. It is logical that the stars should also mean something... But everything turned out to be much more prosaic.

The fact is that in the period of antiquity - the ancient era, when the foundations were laid modern sciences- only a few stars were named. They shone brightest in sacred constellations, or served as navigational ones - they pointed to the cardinal directions or rose in certain seasons. We will return to them later. However, most of the other stars remained unnamed, which over time began to annoy astronomers.

The situation with the names of stars became critical in modern times, when new ones began to be added to the ancient 48 constellations - especially in the sky of the Southern Hemisphere, which for the time being was partially hidden from European scientists. In 1592, the first 3 new constellations were added, and by the end of the century their number increased by another 11. And thanks to the fact that astronomy became fashionable among monarchs and rulers, a real madness began to create new constellations in honor of the greats of this world. It got to the point that court astrologers moved the “arms” and “legs” of ancient figures in order to place the beloved and rich king in the sky.

This lawlessness was stopped only in 1922, when the International Conference of Astronomers divided the celestial sphere into 88 constellations, which included entire areas of the sky. The remaining, “illegitimate” constellations, for which there was no place in the main ones, began to be called asterisms.

Stars: from Alpha to Omega

Bayer's "Uranometry" page

The hero's name was Johann Bayer, and he was a lawyer who was passionate about the stars. His love bore fruit that remained forever in the history of astronomy: in 1603, he released the atlas Uranometria, which became the world's first complete map of the starry sky. In addition, he also drew artistic images of the constellations, and gave each star a name corresponding to... its brightness.

The solution turned out to be incredibly simple - the brightest star was named after the first letter of the Greek alphabet, α (Alpha), the next brightest, β (Beta), and so on until the dimmest, ω (Omega). The method was captivating with its clarity and simplicity: this way you can always identify a specific star. As the power of telescopes increased, the number of visible stars in the constellation zones increased, and Latin lowercase letters were added to the Greek letters, and then capital letters. In the 18th century, a digital index appeared that indicated the right ascension of a star. For example, the final astronomical name of the brightest star in the sky became α 9 Canis Majoris (the Latin name of the constellation Canis Major).

However, the years passed, science developed, and the names given in 1603 also did not stand still. Constellations “changed” their outlines during the redistribution of stars. The stars under the gaze of telescopes turned out to be brighter than visible with the naked eye, and the stars themselves changed their brightness due to internal processes. Thus, the star Nat, a “butting” horn in Arabic, previously belonged to another constellation, . It was not the brightest star among its “colleagues”, and therefore was called Gamma, and was confined to the “foot” of the constellation. However, over time, she was transferred to Taurus, where she became Beta. And some constellations are generally deprived of “letters” - in the constellation Chanterelle there is only one star, Alpha. Therefore, the brightest star in the constellation is also called Lucida, in order to avoid confusion with old and new reference systems.

Today, even letter names in professional astronomy have faded into the background. Since the seventeenth century, scientists have been compiling catalogs of the starry sky, which include not only stars, but also other space objects- nebulae, clusters, galaxies, black holes and others. The luminaries are designated in them by a letter index, indicating their belonging to the catalog, and a number, which indicates the position of the star in it. For example, according to Henry Draper's catalog, containing data from 225 thousand luminaries, the brightest star in the sky, Sirius, is designated as HD 48915. There are as many designations as there are catalogs. Despite the apparent confusion, this is much more convenient than classical names: catalogs not only indicate the location of the star, but also valuable information about it.

Famous stars

So, above we learned the harsh truth - most of the stars have a technical name, depending on its various characteristics. And astronomers themselves were not particularly keen on naming, more willingly paying attention to their movement and constellations in ancient times, and the cosmogonic aspect in modern times.

However, there are also those stars who are lucky to have their own name. Today there are about 270 of them. This number can be stretched to 400-500 - thanks to the relay of scientific championship between the Europeans of Antiquity and the Arabs of the Middle Ages, many stars and constellations acquired several spellings at once. And yet, what secrets do the names of the stars hide?

Names with a trick

Suddenly, the most beautiful and most mysterious names of the luminaries are of the same utilitarian nature as modern ones. You may have already heard that many of the current names of stars are of Arabic origin - when the Roman Empire, the beacon of science of antiquity, was destroyed by a stream of barbarian peoples, its scientific and philosophical developments were continued by the Arabs.

Religion and worldview did not allow them to develop the Greek naming traditions, tied to myths alien to the Arabs - and at the same time, astronomy as a science required accuracy. In order to identify the most important and brightest stars in the sky, the Arabs decided to give them names that would depend on the position of the star in its constellation. They managed to solve the problem of the namelessness of the luminaries, but the result was very prosaic.

Take, for example, the star Fomalhaut in the constellation Southern Pisces - its name simply translates to “mouth of the fish.” Betelgeuse, Alpha Orionis, sounds even simpler - “the giant’s armpit”, because it is right at the celestial’s fingertips. This practical approach led to the fact that star names were often duplicated. As a result, there are more than a dozen stars named Deneb, which translates as “tail.” Moreover, in some constellations with a long “tail” there may be several Denebs at once - like the constellations Cetus or Eagle.

Like the Greeks, the Arabs named stars after their constellations. But when the Greek names of stars demarcated clusters of stars, or revealed more fully their mythological history, the Arabic ones simply repeated the name. The brightest star of the zodiac constellation Capricorn, thanks to the Arabs, is today called Giedi, “the little goat.” The famous star Altair, lucida Eagle, is also not far away - her name means “flying eagle”.

The times of Arab astronomy are long gone, but stars still receive simple names to this day. The red supergiant star μ Cephei is called Garnet after the light hand of William Herschel, who described its characteristic color this way. The well-known (translated as “closest”) Centauri is so called because it is the star closest to the Sun. And many more names were split up - for example, the already mentioned star Giedi Capricorn was found to have a “twin”, and Giedi became two: Giedi Prima and Secunda.

Modern titles

Some stars received their names completely by accident. NASA astronauts especially distinguished themselves in the field of “baptism” of stars. In astronautics, stars are used as a compass - they are motionless relative to the Sun and can serve as correct landmarks. Of the 36 stars on NASA's navigation charts, 33 had their own memorable names. The remaining three either had no name or had a repetitive Arabic designation. The astronauts had to learn all the stars by heart - and to make the training process easier, they came up with their own nicknames for them.

Virgil Ivan Grissom is the “godfather” of Navi star

Gamma Parusov, a bright star, began to be called "Regor" - curved English word"Roger", representing the name Roger and the phrase "That's right!" Gamma Cassiopeia turned into “Navi” - an inverted name of “Ivan”, and Iota of the Big Dipper - into Dnokes, a twisted word “Second”, “second”. These names were at first unofficial, but were widely used by NASA astronauts, including on the legendary Apollo mission to the Moon, and later in work reports. Gradually, Dnokes, Regor and Navi came into astronomical use.

There is also one scientific tradition: to name various space objects after their discoverers, or simply in honor of outstanding scientists. This is especially visible on the Moon: the craters there are named after Mendeleev, Pavlov, Copernicus... The same thing happens with the stars. The first helium star, discovered in the 40s by Daniel Popper, has since been called “Popper’s star” by scientists. There are also stars of Barnard, Krzeminski, Moiseev... Usually such names are not recognized by the official scientific community, but they go “with a bang” in the press and popular science literature.

Legends of antiquity

Now that we have dealt with the scientific prose of astronomy, we can move on to the lyrics. After all, there are many beautiful luminaries whose names have a thousand-year history behind them.

The oldest star known to man- this is Sirius. Its name from Greek translates as “brightest, hottest,” which perfectly reflects the two main properties of the star. Besides the fact that it is the brightest star in the sky, it appears only with the beginning warm season. The rising of Sirius in Egypt was a sign for the beginning of grain sowing - at that very time the Nile, the source of water and fertile lands of the ancient civilization, was flooding.

Due to the fact that Sirius heads the constellation Canis Major, the Greeks called the luminary the Canis of Orion - the constellation is located very close to the celestial figure of the legendary hunter (the one in whose armpit the star Betelgeuse is located). In the Roman Empire, Sirius was called "Vacation", "little dog", and the hot period of summer that comes after its rising - "dog days". Hence the modern term “vacation”. Nowadays this word carries only pleasant associations, but previously “dog-like” heat was a threat to the economy Ancient Rome- and to scare away the hot Sirius, the Romans sacrificed dogs to the gods. By the way, the first written mention of Sirius in the Russian language also has a “dog spirit” - in the 16th century the Slavs called the star Psitsa.

But not all stars were known for their brightness or their association with the seasons. An example of this is the twin stars Castor and Polydeuces, who serve as the brightest stars in the Gemini constellation. The translation of the names itself (“beaver” and “many sweets”) means little - but the story of the two star brothers has been passed down for centuries from plot to plot. In Greek legends they were also twins - only one was the son of a mortal, and the other the son of a god; one after death ascended to Olympus, and the other into the darkness of the kingdom of the dead. Separated by nature, the brothers went through many trials together on Earth, and were eventually reunited in the starry sky.

The history of the most expressive luminary of the constellation, Regulus, is also interesting. The word means "king" in Latin, and it seems logical that it refers to the royal nature of Leo. But this is just not the case - Regulus is one of the few stars that were named before their constellation received a name. Its mentions are found in ancient Mesopotamia, and are of a similar nature to Sirius - Regulus served as a sign of the beginning and end of field work.

Stars have many names, but now they are becoming a thing of the past - the International Union of Astronomers is increasingly bypassing the traditional names of luminaries, preferring them letter designations in constellations or numbers in catalogs. And this is especially true for those star names that are sold for money - they are fundamentally not recognized, even if the purchase is offered by authoritative organizations like Roscosmos. The fact is that anyone can create a star catalogue, where Sirius will be called the Cat, and the North Star - the South Star. But at the same time, such names remain only on paper, and have nothing to do with real astronomy.

Therefore, if you want to perpetuate the names of your family and friends, you should not trust their stars. They are too far away, and every year they fly further and further from us - it is easier and more pleasant to make your name immortal by doing things on.

Modern idea of ​​constellations.

In the 3rd century. Before our era, Greek (Alexandrian) astronomers brought the names of the constellations into a single system, which was subsequently borrowed by European science and preserved to this day, especially the names of the constellations of the northern hemisphere of the sky. In the southern hemisphere, the study of which by Europeans began essentially only in the 18th and 19th centuries, the constellations received more modern names: Telescope, Clock, Pump and others.

Currently, constellations do not mean prominent groups of stars, but areas of the starry sky, so that all stars (both bright and faint) are classified as constellations. The modern boundaries and names of the constellations were approved in 1922 at the First Congress of the International Astronomical Union (MAC). The entire sky is divided into 88 constellations, of which 31 are in the northern celestial hemisphere, and 48 in the southern. The remaining 9 constellations (Pisces, Cetus, Orion, Unicorn, Sextant, Virgo, Serpens, Ophiuchus and Eagle) are located in both celestial hemispheres, on either side of a large circle imaginary in the sky called the celestial equator, which in Latin means “equalizer” , since it divides the entire sky into two equal hemispheres.

The areas occupied by constellations in the sky and the number of stars in them are far from the same. The distances between the apparent positions of stars in the sky are measured in degrees, minutes and seconds of arc, and the areas occupied by constellations in the sky are measured in square degrees. Of the bright constellations, the largest in area is the constellation Ursa Major, occupying an area of ​​1280 square degrees and, in addition to the seven bright stars of the bucket, another 118 stars visible to the naked eye. The smallest constellation is located in the southern hemisphere of the sky - this is the beautiful bright constellation of the Southern Cross, with an area of ​​68 square degrees, consisting of five bright and 25 fainter stars. The smallest constellation in the northern sky is usually not known, since it consists of only 10 faint stars visible to the naked eye; it is called the constellation Lesser Horse, has an area of ​​72 square degrees and is adjacent to the southwestern border of the constellation Pegasus.

Designations of stars included in the constellations.

Proper names.

In each constellation, the main stars have certain designations. In ancient times, the brightest stars of each constellation were given their own names, many of which, mainly Greek and Arabic, have survived to this day. Thus, the seven bright stars of the Ursa Major bucket were named: Dubhe, Merak, Fekda, Megrets, Aliot, Mizar and Benetnash. The brightest star of the constellation Boötes was first called Arkad (king of Arcadia), in Greek the Shepherd, and then and until now - Arcturus, i.e. the Bear Hunter (from the Greek "arktos" - bear and "tereutes" - hunter). A bright star in the constellation Perseus, the change in brightness of which was noticed by the Arabs almost 1000 years ago, received the name El Ghul (modern name Algol), which meant “Demon”, which, according to the ancient Arabs, was distinguished by hypocrisy and duplicity. Capella or, translated from Latin, Goat, is the name given to the brightest star of the constellation Auriga, depicted on ancient maps as a male driver (coachman) with a whip, two kids in his left hand and a goat on his shoulder.

Using the alphabet.

As the number of stars studied increased, it became impossible to remember their names, and from 1603, relatively bright stars in the constellations began to be designated by letters of the Greek alphabet, usually in descending order of the brightness of the stars, although there are many exceptions to this rule. As an example, let us again refer to the Big Dipper, the stars of which are designated by the letters of the Greek alphabet not in descending order of brightness, but along the contour of the bucket. As a result, it turned out that the brightest star of the constellation, Alioth, is designated not by the first (), but by the fifth letter () of the Greek alphabet.

In the constellation Gemini, the star (Castor) is fainter than the star (Pollux), in the constellation Orion, the star Betelgeuse () is fainter than the star Rigel (), in the constellation Pegasus, the brightest star is designated by the letter, and the star (Markab) is only the third brightest.

Numbering.

Much later, digital numbering by constellation was introduced to designate stars, now, as a rule, used only for faint stars, which in a number of constellations are also designated by letters of the Latin alphabet. Star designations are indicated on modern star charts and in special lists of stars called star catalogues. To date, astronomers have registered in star catalogs all the stars visible to the naked eye, as well as many stars that can only be observed through telescopes. The census of stars shows that about five and a half thousand stars are visible to the naked eye in the entire sky. The rest of the stars are inaccessible to the naked eye due to their weak brilliance.

There are more than 100 billion stars in our Galaxy. About 0.004% of them are cataloged, while the rest are unnamed and even uncounted. However, all bright stars and even many faint ones, in addition to the scientific designation, also have their own name; They received these names in ancient times. Many of the currently used star names, for example, Aldebaran, Algol, Deneb, Rigel, etc., are of Arabic origin. Now astronomers know about three hundred historical names of stars. Often these are the names of the body parts of those figures that gave the name to the entire constellation: Betelgeuse (in the constellation Orion) - “shoulder of a giant”, Denebola (in the constellation Leo) - “tail of a lion”, etc.

Table 3 lists the names, designations, and magnitudes (in visual magnitudes) for some popular stars. These are mostly the brightest stars; and a group of faint stars in the constellation Taurus: Alcyone, Asterope, Atlas, Maya, Merope, Pleione, Taygeta and Electra are the famous Pleiades.

Starting at the end of the 16th century. detailed study of the sky, astronomers were faced with the need to have designations for each and every star visible to the naked eye, and later through a telescope. Beautifully illustrated Uranometry Johann Bayer, where constellations and the legendary figures associated with their names are depicted, the stars were first designated by letters of the Greek alphabet approximately in descending order of their brightness: a is the brightest star of the constellation, b is the second brightest, etc. When there were not enough letters in the Greek alphabet, Bayer used Latin. The full designation of a star according to the Bayer system consists of a letter and the Latin name of the constellation. For example, Sirius, the brightest star of Canis Major, is designated as a Canis Majoris, or abbreviated as a CMa; Algol is the second brightest star in Perseus, designated b Persei, or b Per.

Later, John Flamsteed (1646–1719), the first Astronomer Royal of England to determine the exact coordinates of stars, introduced a system of naming them that was not related to brightness. In each constellation, he designated the stars by numbers in order of increasing their right ascension, i.e. in the order in which they cross the celestial meridian. Thus, Arcturus, aka a Bootis, is designated according to Flamsteed as 16 Bootis. Modern star charts usually bear the ancient proper names of bright stars (Sirius, Canopus,...) and Greek letters according to the Bayer system; Bayer designations in Latin letters are rarely used. The remaining, less bright stars are designated by numbers according to the Flamsteed system.

As ever deeper star catalogs containing data on dimmer stars are published, scientific practice New designation systems adopted in each of these catalogs are regularly introduced. Therefore very serious problem represents cross-identification of stars in different catalogs: after all, the same star can have dozens of different designations. Special databases are being created to make it easier to search for information about a star using its various designations; the most complete such databases are maintained at the Astronomical Data Center in Strasbourg (Internet address: cdsweb.u–strasbg.fr).

Some outstanding (but by no means the brightest) stars are often named after the astronomers who first described their unique properties. For example, “Barnard's Flying Star” is named after the American astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard (1857–1923), who discovered its record-breaking proper motion in the sky. Following it in terms of the speed of its own motion is the “Kapteyn star,” named after the Dutch astronomer Jacobus Cornelius Kaptein (1851–1922) who discovered this fact. Also known are “Herschel’s garnet star” (m Cep, a very red giant star), “van Maanen’s star” (the closest single white dwarf), “van Biesbrouck’s star” (a luminary of record low mass), “Plaskett’s star” (record massive double star), “Babcock’s star” (with a record strong magnetic field) and some others, in total - about two dozen remarkable stars. It should be noted that these names are not approved by anyone: astronomers use them informally, as a sign of respect for the work of their colleagues.

Of particular interest when studying the evolution of stars are variable stars that change their brightness over time. Variable stars are designated by the Latin capital letters from R to Z, and then combinations of each of these letters with each of the subsequent ones from RR to ZZ, after which combinations of all letters from A to Q are used with each subsequent one, from AA to QZ (excludes from all combinations the letter J, which can easily be confused with the letter I). The number of such letter combinations is 334. Therefore, if a larger number of variable stars are discovered in a certain constellation, they are designated by the letter V (from variable) and a serial number, starting from 335. A three-letter designation of the constellations is added to each designation, for example, R CrB , S Car, RT Per, FU Ori, V557 Sgr, etc. Designations in this system are usually given only to the variable stars of our Galaxy. Bright variables from among the stars designated by Greek letters (according to Bayer) do not receive other designations.

December 15, 2016, 19:02

All over the world, people love to look at the stars, finding familiar ones and discovering new unknown constellations. But in addition to contemplation, which brings simple entertainment and joy from what is seen, these same stars and constellations serve as a tool.

Constellations were invented in the ancient world to better remember and navigate by the stars. The brightest “neighboring” stars were mentally connected by lines, and then such a “skeleton” was developed into some image: for example, an animal or a hero from legends.

The stars move across the sky according to their usual plan, just like the Sun. At different times of the year, different constellations appear at sunset. The ascending constellations rotate based on the Earth's path through space, and can therefore be used to mark the seasons in regions where moderate weather cannot convey the changes between winter and spring.

Going back further, scientists suspect that markings on the walls of the Lascaux cave in southern France - created more than 17,000 years ago - may represent the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters, making the cave the first known star map.

Of course, different peoples divided the sky in different ways. For example, in China in ancient times there was a map on which the starry sky was divided into four parts, each of which had seven constellations, i.e. only 28 constellations. And Mongolian scientists of the 18th century. numbered 237 constellations. The constellations used by the ancient inhabitants of the Mediterranean have become firmly established in European science and literature. From these countries (including Northern Egypt), about 90% of the entire sky can be seen throughout the year. However, for peoples living far from the equator, a significant part of the sky is inaccessible to observation: at the pole only half of the sky is visible, at the latitude of Moscow - about 70%.

In modern astronomy constellations- these are areas of the starry sky, delimited in accordance with the traditions of grouping stars that had developed by the beginning of the twentieth century, as well as the need for complete, continuous and non-overlapping coverage of the celestial sphere.

For many centuries, the constellations did not have clearly defined boundaries; Usually on maps and star globes, constellations were separated by curved, intricate lines that did not have a standard position. Therefore, from the moment of the formation of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), one of its first tasks was the delimitation of the starry sky. At the 1st General Assembly of the IAU, held in 1922 in Rome, astronomers decided that it was time to finally divide the entire celestial sphere into parts with precisely defined boundaries and, by the way, put an end to any attempts to reshape the starry sky. It was decided to adhere to the European tradition in the names of the constellations.

It should be noted that although the names of the constellations remained traditional, scientists were not at all interested in the figures of the constellations, which are usually depicted by mentally connecting bright stars with straight lines. On star maps, these lines are drawn only in children's books and school textbooks; They are not needed for scientific work. Now astronomers call constellations not groups of bright stars, but areas of the sky with all the objects located on them, so the problem of defining a constellation comes down only to drawing its boundaries.

But the boundaries between the constellations were not so easy to draw. Several famous astronomers worked on this task, trying to preserve historical continuity and, if possible, prevent stars with their own names (Vega, Spica, Altair,...) and established designations (a Lyrae, b Perseus,...) from getting into "alien" constellations. At the same time, it was decided to make the boundaries between the constellations in the form of broken straight lines, passing only along the lines of constant declinations and right ascensions, since it was easier to fix these boundaries in a mathematical form.

At the IAU general assemblies in 1925 and 1928, lists of constellations were adopted and the boundaries between most of them were approved. In 1930, on behalf of the IAU, Belgian astronomer Eugene Delporte published maps and detailed descriptions of the new boundaries of all 88 constellations. But even after this, some clarifications were still made, and only in 1935, by the decision of the IAU, this work was put to an end: the division of the sky was completed.

Often, the classification of constellations is carried out taking into account the calendar month in which they are best visible or according to the seasons: constellations of the winter, spring, summer and autumn sky.

Zodiac circle

The Sun, Moon and planets move along a set path across the sky, known as the ecliptic, and so does the Earth. The list of 13 constellations they pass through are known as the stars of the zodiac.

Astrologers use these 12 constellations as zodiac signs, omitting Ophiuchus, to make predictions. Unlike astronomy, astrology is not a science. Signs are distinguished from constellations by only vaguely referring to each other. The sign of Pisces, for example, corresponds to the rise of the constellation Aquarius. Ironically, if you were born under a certain sign, the constellation named after it is not visible at night. Instead, the sun passes through it at this time of year, making it the day of a constellation that cannot be seen.

List of all thirteen constellations through which our system passes:

Why is there no thirteenth sign of the Zodiac? Here is a comment from the staff of the Perm Planetarium:

“The system of zodiac signs was developed in ancient Babylon, approximately 3 thousand years ago. It was based on the displacement of the Sun against the background of other stars in the sky. This displacement is caused by the annual movement of the Earth around the Sun.

Over the course of a year, the Sun passes against the background of thirteen constellations (12 constellations of the Zodiac circle and the constellation Ophiuchus). Since the area of ​​the constellations is not the same, it turns out that the Sun lingers against the background of one constellation much longer than against the background of another. For example: against the background of the constellation Virgo, the Sun is about 45 days, and Scorpio - 7 days. Because of this difference, the ancient Babylonians decided to average the time of movement of the Sun over the areas of a particular constellation. Since in those distant times the Sun only slightly “touched” the constellation Ophiuchus, it was not included in the number of constellations of the Zodiac."

By today, the position of the stars has changed. Now the Sun resides in the constellation Ophiuchus 18 days a year. However, this is only from an astronomical point of view. From an astrological point of view, nothing has changed.

Designation of stars in constellations

Our Galaxy consists of more than 100 billion stars. Of these, only 0.004% are cataloged; all the rest remain nameless and even uncounted. However, each bright star and most weak ones, in addition to the scientific designation, also have their own name, received in ancient times. Many of the star names used today, for example, Rigel, Aldebaran, Algol, Deneb and others, are of Arabic origin. Modern astronomers know about three hundred historical names of stars. Often they denote the names of body parts of those images from which the name of the entire constellation comes: Betelgeuse (in Orion) - “shoulder of a giant”, Denebola (in Leo) - “lion’s tail”, etc.

Typically, stars and constellations are described by name, designation, and magnitude (visual magnitudes). The most famous are the brightest stars, while a group of dim stars from the constellation Taurus are the famous Pleiades - Alcyone, Asterope, Atlas, Taygeta, Electra, Maia, Merope and Pleione.

When astronomers began a detailed study of the sky at the end of the 16th century, they needed to have designations for absolutely all the stars that were visible to the naked eye, and eventually through a telescope. Johann Bayer, the author of the beautifully illustrated Uranometria, depicted in it the constellations and the legendary figures from which their names were derived. In addition, Bayer was the first to designate stars using the letters of the Greek alphabet in approximately descending order of their brightness: the brightest star in the constellation was designated “alpha,” the second brightest was designated “beta,” and so on.

When the letters of the Greek alphabet ran out, Bayer used the Latin one. In the Bayer system, the full designation of a star includes letters and the Latin name of the constellation. Thus, the brightest star from the constellation Canis Major - Sirius is designated a Canis Majoris, abbreviated as a CMa, and the second brightest star in the constellation Perseus - Algol - b Persei (b Per).

How to find constellations

To make it easier to find a constellation, you need to know what its asterism looks like.

Asterism is a characteristic, easily recognizable group of stars that may belong to one or more constellations. In the past, the concepts of asterism and constellation were almost synonymous - in both cases they were understood as an easy-to-remember group of stars.

Ursa Major is the most easily recognized asterism. Even people far from astronomy know the Big Dipper. Meanwhile, this asterism does not represent the entire constellation Ursa Major, but only the tail and part of the animal’s body.

Finding the Ursa Minor Dipper is also easy. If you draw a straight line through the Ursa Major stars Merak (β) and Dubhe (α), which form the wall of the Bucket, it will point to the North Star, the brightest in the constellation Ursa Minor.

In the current era, the North Star is located close to the North Pole of the world and therefore is almost motionless during the daily rotation of the starry sky.

If you draw an arc through the three stars of the handle of the Big Dipper, it will point to Arcturus Bootes, which is one of the brightest stars in our sky.

One of the most impressive constellations, Draco, stretches between Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Between the Ursa Minor Bucket and Vega you can see a small irregular quadrangle - the constellation Dragon's Head, and the stars Etamine (γ) and Rastaban (β) are the “eyes” of the dragon.

Near the Dragon you can see the brightest stars of Cassiopeia. They form the letter M, or W. The constellation Cepheus is observed in Russia, but it is not easy to see.

Between the stars Altair and Arcturus you can find the constellations: Corona Borealis, Serpens, Hercules, Orhiuchus and Scutum.

Moving east, you can find several more constellations, including zodiac ones: Pegasus, zodiac constellations Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces.

Aries (Aries), Taurus (Taurus), Charioteer (Auriga), Triangle (Triangulum), Perseus (Perseus), Giraffe (Camelopardalis). The brightest star in Auriga is Capella, while in Taurus it is Aldebaran. One of the most famous stars of Perseus, Algol, represents the “eye” of Medusa the Gorgon. The constellations Auriga and Taurus can be seen closer to 5 am.

Also, other interesting objects appear nearby, such as Orion, Lepus, Gemini, Cancer, Canis Minor, Lynx. The brightest stars of Orion are Rigel, Belgeuse and Bellatrix. The brightest stars in Gemini are Castor and Pollux. Cancer is the hardest person to spot.

It is worth noting that the constellations are static only for several generations of people. As is known, the gravitational influence of the Moon and the Sun on our planet causes a slow cone-shaped movement of the earth's axis, which leads to the movement of the vernal equinox point along the ecliptic from east to west. This phenomenon is called precession, i.e. preceding the equinox. Under the influence of precession, over several millennia, the position of the earth's equator and the associated celestial equator changes noticeably relative to the fixed stars. As a result, the annual course of constellations across the sky becomes different: for residents of certain geographic latitudes, some constellations become observable over time, while others disappear under the horizon for many millennia.

Sources used when creating this post: geo.koltyrin.ru, abc2home.ru, chel.kp.ru, adme.ru, astrokarty.ru, biguniverse.ru, allsozvezdia.ru, v-kosmose.com, files.school-collection .edu.ru

Humanity has always looked to the sky. The stars have long been guides for sailors, and they remain so today. A constellation is a group of celestial bodies that are united by one name. However, they may be at different distances from each other. Moreover, in ancient times the name of the constellations often depended on the shapes taken by the celestial bodies. This will be discussed in more detail in this article.

General information

There are a total of eighty-eight recorded constellations. Of these, only forty-seven have been known to mankind since ancient times. We should say thanks to the astronomer Claudius Ptolemy, who systematized the known constellations of the starry sky in the treatise "Almagest". The rest appeared at a time when man began to intensively study the world around us, travel more and record your knowledge. So, other groups of objects appeared in the sky.

The constellations in the sky and their names (photos of some of them will be presented in the article) are quite diverse. Many have several names, as well as ancient legends of origin. For example, there is a rather interesting legend about the appearance of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor in the sky. In those days when the gods ruled the world, the most powerful of them was Zeus. And he fell in love with the beautiful nymph Callisto, and he took her as his wife. In order to protect her from the jealous and dangerous Hera, Zeus took his beloved to heaven, turning her into a bear. This is how the constellation Ursa Major came about. The little dog Callisto became Ursa Minor.

Zodiacal constellations of the Solar System: names

The most famous constellations for humanity today are the zodiacal ones. Those that meet on the path of our Sun during its annual journey (ecliptic) have long been considered as such. This is a fairly wide strip of celestial space, divided into twelve segments.

Name of constellations:

1. Aries;
2. Taurus;
3. Twins;
4. Virgo;
5. Capricorn;
6. Aquarius;
7. Fish;
8. Scales;
9. Scorpion;
10. Sagittarius;
11. Ophiuchus.

As you can see, unlike the signs of the Zodiac, there is one more constellation here - the thirteenth. This happened because the shape of celestial bodies changes over time. The Zodiac signs were formed quite a long time ago, when the sky map was slightly different. Today, the position of the stars has undergone some changes. Thus, another constellation appeared on the path of the Sun - Ophiuchus. In its order, it stands just after Scorpio.

The spring equinox is considered to be the starting point of the solar journey. At this moment, our luminary passes along the celestial equator, and day becomes equal to night (there is also the opposite point - autumn).

Constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor

One of the most famous constellations in our sky is Ursa Major and its companion, Ursa Minor. But why did it happen that not the most demanding constellation became so important? The fact is that the Ursa Minor cluster of celestial bodies contains the Polar Star, which was a guiding star for many generations of sailors, and remains so today.

This is due to its practical immobility. It is located near the North Pole, and the rest of the stars in the sky revolve around it. This feature of it was noticed by our ancestors, which was reflected in its name among different peoples (Golden Stake, Heavenly Stake, Northern Star, etc.).

Of course, there are other main objects in this constellation of the starry sky, the names of which are listed below:

• Kohab (Beta);
• Ferhad (Gamma);
• Delta;
• Epsilon;
• Zeta;

If we talk about the Big Dipper, then it more clearly resembles a ladle in shape than its small counterpart. According to estimates, with the naked eye alone there are about one hundred and twenty-five stars in the constellation. However, there are seven main ones:

• Dubhe (Alpha);
• Merak (Beta);
• Phekda (Gamma);
• Megrets (Delta);
• Alioth (Epsilon);
• Mizar (Zeta);
• Benetnash (Eta).

Ursa Major has nebulae and galaxies, as do numerous other star constellations. Their names are presented below:

• Spiral galaxy M81;
• Owl Nebula;
• Spiral Galaxy "Column Wheel"
• Barred spiral galaxy M109.

The most amazing stars

Of course, our sky has quite remarkable constellations (photos and names of some are presented in the article). However, besides them, there are other amazing stars. For example, in the constellation Canis Major, which is considered ancient, since our ancestors knew about it, there is the star Sirius. There are many legends and myths associated with it. In Ancient Egypt, they very carefully monitored the movement of this star; there are even suggestions by some scientists that the African pyramids are aimed at it with their tip.

Today, Sirius is one of the stars closest to Earth. Its characteristics exceed those of the sun twice as much. It is believed that if Sirius were in the place of our star, then life on the planet in the form it is now would hardly be possible. With such intense heat, all the surface oceans would boil away.

A rather interesting star that can be seen in the Antarctic sky is Alpha Centauri. This is the closest similar star to Earth. According to its structure, this body contains three stars, two of which may well have terrestrial planets. The third, Proxima Centauri, according to all calculations, cannot have such properties, since it is quite small and cold.

Major and minor constellations

It should be noted that today there are fixed large and small constellations. Photos and their names will be presented below. One of the largest can be safely called Hydra. This constellation covers an area of ​​the starry sky of 1302.84 square degrees. Obviously, this is why it received such a name, all appearance it resembles a thin and long strip that occupies a quarter of the stellar space. The main place where Hydra is located is south of the celestial equator line.

Hydra is quite dim in its star composition. It includes only two worthy objects that stand out significantly in the sky - Alphard and Gamma Hydra. You can also note an open cluster called M48. The second largest constellation belongs to Virgo, which is slightly inferior in size. Therefore, the representative of the space community described below is truly small.

So, the smallest constellation in the sky is the Southern Cross, which is located in the Southern Hemisphere. It is considered an analogue of the Big Dipper in the North. Its area is sixty-eight square degrees. According to ancient astronomical chronicles, it used to be part of Centauri, and only in 1589 it was separated separately. In the Southern Cross, about thirty stars are visible even to the naked eye.

In addition, the constellation contains a dark nebula called the Coalsack. It is interesting because star formation processes can occur in it. Another unusual object is the open cluster of celestial bodies - NGC 4755.

Seasonal constellations

It should also be noted that the name of the constellations in the sky changes depending on the time of year. For example, in summer the following are clearly visible:

• Lyra;
• Eagle;
• Hercules;
• Snake;
• Chanterelle;
• Dolphin et al.

The winter sky is characterized by other constellations. For example:

• Great Dog;
• Small Dog;
• Auriga;
• Unicorn;
• Eridan and others

The autumn sky is the following constellations:

• Pegasus;
• Andromeda;
• Perseus;
• Triangle;
• Keith et al.

And the following constellations open the spring sky:

• Little Leo;
• Crow;
• Bowl;
• Hounds Dogs, etc.

Constellations of the northern hemisphere

Each hemisphere of the Earth has its own celestial objects. The names of the stars and the constellations they belong to are quite different. So, let's look at which of them are typical for the northern hemisphere:

• Andromeda;
• Auriga;
• Twins;
• Veronica's hair;
• Giraffe;
• Cassiopeia;
• Northern Crown and others.

Southern Hemisphere Constellations

The names of the stars and the constellations they belong to are also different for the southern hemisphere. Let's look at some of them:

• Crow;
• Altar;
• Peacock;
• Octant;
• Bowl;
• Phoenix;
• Centaurus;
• Chameleon and others.

Truly, all the constellations in the sky and their names (photo below) are quite unique. Many have their own special history, beautiful legend or unusual objects. The latter include the constellations Dorado and Toucan. The first contains the Large Magellanic Cloud, and the second contains the Small Magellanic Cloud. These two objects are truly amazing.

The Big Cloud is very similar in appearance to a Segner wheel, and the Small Cloud is very similar to a punching bag. They are quite large in terms of their area in the sky, and observers note their similarity to the Milky Way (although in actual size they are much smaller). They seem to be a part of him that separated in the process. However, in their composition they are very similar to our galaxy, moreover, the Clouds are the star systems closest to us.

The amazing factor is that our galaxy and the Clouds can rotate around the same center of gravity, which forms a triple star system. True, each of this trinity has its own star clusters, nebulae and other space objects.

Conclusion

So, as you can see, the names of the constellations are quite varied and unique. Each of them has its own interesting objects, stars. Of course, today we do not know even half of all the secrets of the cosmic order, but there is hope for the future. The human mind is quite inquisitive, and if we do not die in a global catastrophe, then there is the possibility of conquering and exploring space, building new and more powerful instruments and ships to obtain knowledge. In this case, we will not only know the name of the constellations, but also comprehend much more.