Do you know about the brightest stars? Today we propose to consider a dozen famous luminaries.
The mysterious night sky always beckoned people. What is there, behind that beauty and radiance of stars? And by the way, what is there on the stars themselves? And that they themselves, the stars, are of themselves why some shine brighter, and the brilliance of others is muffled? And which of them are the brightest? Humanity asked these questions from ancient times. Today we will respond to some of them.
The most famous stars in the sky: TOP-10
10. Betelheze
If you make up the TOP-10 of the brightest stars of the night sky, then the countdown can be started from the star, which is also called the alpha Orion. This red giant is located at a distance of five hundred to six hundred light years from us, has a low temperature, however, its brightness exceeds the sunny one of 100 thousand times.
According to scientists, the next centuries will become for Betelgazes the beginning of the transformation into a supernatal star, it is possible that the brightest, which we can see even in the daytime. There is another version that predicts the Gigant Star Fate to become a neo-oxide star-Carlick. The name of the star is of Arabic origin and is literally defined as “a Harshes of a hunter”.
Located in the eastern part of the constellation Orion. Betelheze is a star of variable brightness, therefore, sometimes inferior in brightness to the other star of this constellation - Rigel. The diameter of Betelgase is more than sunny by 650 times, and the mass is 15 times. Therefore, if this giant took the place of our sun, then he would absorb everything that is located in the solar system to the orbit of the planet Mars.
9. Achaernar
The brightest star of the constellation Eridan, therefore, is called alpha. Located in the southern part and is double, blue and the hottest. Its elongated form (the size of the equatorial diameter is more than one and a half times larger than the polar) is explained by surprisingly rapid rotation around the axis.
It is located at a distance of about 139 light years from the solar system.
The name of the star is from the Arabic language and means “the end of the river” (Eridan - this is the name of the river from Greek myths, which gave the name a constellation). Its mass is seven times higher than the mass of the sun, brightness is 3 thousand times, and the temperature is 10 thousand degrees.
The forecasts of scientists talk about the transition of the planet in the future to the class of white dwarfs
Unfortunately, we cannot see Achaernar from our latitudes.
8. Protion
A system of two stars, which includes a white dwarf A and a weak white dwarf V. Alfa Small Psa (another name) owes its brightness to close location from the Sun, from which is only 11 and a half light years. It is translated from Greek as “before the dog”, since it appears in the sky before Sirius and is located in the area of \u200b\u200bthe hind legs of the outlines of the small dog.
The light of prion is seven times brighter than the sun, the mass is one and a half times larger, the star is also twice as wider in diameter than our luminary. Protion is best visible in winter. At this time, the star finishes its life cycle, its hydrogen continues to be replaced by helium. To find Protion in the sky, you need to draw in your thoughts a straight line from Betelgze to the west.
7. Rigel
Another star from the constellation Orion, his beta is Rigel. It is located at a distance of about 870 light years from the sun. Huge compared to the Sun, Rigel surpasses it in the mass by 17 times, in brightness of 66 thousand times, and in diameter - almost 80!
The origin of the name comes from the Arabic word, which means "foot". This is due to the fact that the Rigel is located in that part of the constellation, where, according to legend, there is a place of the skus of Scorpio.
This is a multi -star system, but the second star is noticeable only when observing through a telescope. It is possible that in the future the Blue Giant Rigel will become a supernova, although it is possible to turn into a dwarf star. Rigel is one of the brightest stars in our part of the Milky Way.
6. Capella
It is also called an alpha of a charioteer. It is located at a distance of more than forty light years from the sun. In many languages \u200b\u200b(Latin, Greek, Arabic), an analogue of this word is a “goat”. This yellow giant, which is a polar star of the second magnitude, is located in the area of \u200b\u200bthe “shoulder” of the charioteer.
The chapel is also a double star, and the second one is more bright, where the process of burning helium has not yet begun. Both stars are about two and a half times heavier than the sun, and it is possible that someday the chapel will expand to the red giant, in contact with the shells of the stars.
In the period BC, it was the brightest star in the sky, today its brightness exceeds the sunny by about 78 times. By the way, in Russian Pyatigorsk and north, the chapel is visible throughout the night, since at this latitude it does not fall beyond the horizon.
5. Vega
It enters the constellation Lyra, being the brightest blue star of the triangle, visible in the summer and autumn, in which Altair and Donob are also located. From us to Vega is not so far - 25 light years. The brightness exceeds sunny by 40 times, the mass is more than 2 times, and the diameter is over 2 times. The origin of the name is Arabic, in translation - "falling eagle."
This is the most investigated by the astronomers of the star, it was even able to photograph and determine the spectrum of radiation and distance. Vega has an elongated shape, because it rotates at a very high speed. It is interesting that back in the 12th century this star was considered polar, and after 12 thousand years, it will again become one.
In the last century, the astronomers discovered that Vega was surrounded by a disk of cold gas, similar to the one that was present in the solar system when the planets were formed. Moreover, holes have already been identified in this disk, which may indicate that the formation of the planets is already happening.
4. Arctur
The main star of the constellation Volopas is located at a distance of almost 37 light years from the sun. Orange giant, surpassing the sun by brighter than 100 times. The mass is approximately equal to the mass of the sun. It is one of the stars included in the stream of the Arcture, which, as scientists suggest, was absorbed in the Milky way.
The name is based on the Greek concept of "bear". Arctur - the brightest star of the Northern Hemisphere, is easily determined in the night sky, focusing on the handle of the bucket of the constellation of the Big Lear. Today, the star completes the life cycle, its next form is planetary nebula, and then a white dwarf.
3. Alpha Centauri
It is a double star of the constellation Centaurus, and we can see them with the naked eye as one. It is located at a distance of more than 4 light years from the sun and is closest to it. It has its own names in different languages.
The star is similar to the sun, but more bright and hot, B is colder. Both stars are closely connected and affect each other, ellipse -shaped orbit, which is associated with a fairly rapid rotation.
The system also includes a red dwarf proxim of a centaur, approaching the ground at a minimum distance. It is best visible in the summer in the southern hemisphere. Located at the bottom of the centaur.
2. Canopus
Alpha Kile is located at a distance of more than 300 light years from the Sun and is the brightest in the constellation. Brighter than the sun is 13.5 thousand times, heavier than 8.5 times, in diameter exceeds 65 times. The constellation Kile is relatively new, once, together with the sail and stern, which was part of the Argo ship.
Today, the light of the Kanopus star serves as a guideline in space for interplanetary stations. This is a yellow-white super-giant, which has already “burned” hydrogen in its core, which in the future will become a huge white dwarf, possibly neo-acidic. To find a canopus in the sky, you need to focus on Sirius and look at the north about 40 degrees.
1. Sirius
Finally, we got to the brightest star of our sky, the main thing in the constellation of the Big Psa - Sirius. It is 22 times brighter than the Sun, the inhabitants of the Northern Hemisphere see it in the winter, the southern one in the summer.
This is one of the closest stars to us, the distance to Sirius is about 8.6 light years. The mass exceeds the solar by 2 times, the diameter is almost 3. Sirius is a system of two stars, it also includes the most massive white dwarf, opened in the last century. The age of Sirius is about 300 million years.
Today, Sirius can be seen in the daytime in the presence of a pure sky and low position of the sun in relation to the horizon. Its bright light will be stronger, because The star is gradually approaching us.
These are them, giants and dwarfs of all colors. They change, move from one category to another, but meanwhile the sun remains our brightest star-after all, only we cannot look at it with the naked eye. And the fact that we do not see him in the night sky does not mean anything - after all, at that time it shines for the inhabitants of another hemisphere, leaving the moon for us and all of the above stars.
Video: A dozen brightest stars in the sky
