View of the sky in January in the middle latitudes of Russia around midnight
This article will help you navigate star maps:
"How to use the star map"
We remind you: true midnight in Bratsk occurs around 1 am local time!
why so, we read in the material: Games with time. When is noon in Bratsk? ,
and after October 26, 2014 we read in the material: Clocks in the Irkutsk region will be changed once and for all
THE PATH OF THE CIRCUPOLAR CONSTELLATIONS
Ladle Ursa Major begins its journey in the evening to the right of Ursa Minor, balancing on the handle of the Bucket, turns around overnight North Star counterclockwise by about 120 degrees, while rising higher and higher above the northeast, by the middle of the night it completely overturns the Bucket, approaching the zenith above North Star . By the morning Big Dipper moves to the northwestern part of the sky, scratching the zenith with its handle.
Starry sky in January from the northern horizon in the middle latitudes of Russia:
Other circumpolar constellations make the same turn. Cassiopeia, whose figure lines are similar to the letter "M" or "W", shines to the left in the evening sky Polar in the northwestern part of the sky, descending towards the northern horizon in the morning (letter "W"). The Dragon with an easily distinguishable trapezoid of the head in the evening encircles Ursa Minor from below near the northern horizon, by morning climbing with its tail to the zenith above North Star. "House" Cepheus, located between Cassiopeia And Dragon makes the same circuit around Polar on the left, moving to the northeastern part of the sky by morning.
The constellation is very noticeable above the northwestern horizon in the evenings Swan(in the form of a huge cross) with a bright star Deneb, and a star sparkles at the very northern horizon Vega from the summer constellation Lyres.
FROM THIS EVENING...
In the evening, the constellation begins its ascent over the eastern horizon Leo, and bright winter constellations sparkle above the south: Taurus, Gemini, Orion, Canis Major and Canis Minor. The constellation is leaning towards the west Pisces and Square Pegasus. They sparkle at the zenith Auriga with a bright star Capella and constellation Perseus. Located high in the southwestern sky Andromeda(between Perseus and Pegasus). Under Andromeda two bright stars are visible Aries. The constellation rising above the northeastern horizon Bootes with a bright orange star Arcturus .
Evening sky in January at the middle latitude of Russia (56 N):
from the eastern horizon around 21:00:
from the southern horizon around 21:00:
around 21:00:
This is a favorable period for observations of one of our closest galactic neighbors Andromeda Nebula (M31). It is easily distinguishable even with binoculars as a large elongated nebulous spot above the star ν Andromeda. This beautiful spiral galaxy is located at a distance of 252 million light years from Earth. Its extent is 260 thousand light years, which is 2.6 times longer than the Milky Way. In the Earth's sky, it occupies an area of 3.2° × 1.0°. The magnitude is +3.4m.
The Andromeda nebula and its position in the constellation
The magnificent scattering of Pleiades stars (M45), similar to a small bucket, is easily visible with a simple glance in the constellation Taurus (in September it rises around midnight). The nine brightest stars of the cluster received their names in honor of the seven sisters of the Pleiades of ancient Greek mythology: Alcyone, Keleno, Maia, Merope, Sterope, Taygeta and Electra, as well as their parents - Atlas and Pleione. Long exposures reveal glowing blue nebulae that envelop the stars. The Pleiades star cluster is about 12 light-years in diameter and contains about 1,000 stars. The age of the Pleiades is estimated at 100 million years, and the distance to them is approximately 440 light years. Previously, it was believed that the dust that forms the nebula is the remnants of the material from which the stars of the cluster were formed. However, within 100 million years, this material would be dispersed by the pressure of stellar radiation. Apparently, the Pleiades are simply now moving through a region of space saturated with cosmic dust.
The open star cluster Pleiades (old Russian name Stozhary) and its position in the constellation.
AT NIGHT...
Be sure to look at the three stars just below Orion's Belt. The middle of them is resolved through binoculars to a blurred spot of irregular shape, called Great Orion Nebula M42, where very young stars are currently developing, is a sort of cosmic nursery. This is the most attractive object in the northern sky for astronomy lovers.
Orion constellation over Lough Eske in Ireland
In average amateur telescopes, the nebula appears in the form of a bat - with a bright center and rapidly decreasing brightness of the “wings”. A trapezoid of four young stars is visible in the center of the nebula. It was here that the Hubble Telescope spotted a protoplanetary disk. The distance to the Orion Nebula is about 1350 light years and is 33 light years across. Adjacent to the northern part of M42 is a sort of “comma” - a small emission nebula, designated M43.
The Great Orion Nebula and its position in the constellation
photo: Svetlana Kulkova (Bratsk)
At night, in the southeastern sky there is a trapezoidal constellation Leo with a bright star Regulus. Orange sparkles in the east Arcturus from the constellation Bootes. The constellation moves near the southern horizon Canis Major with the brightest star in the sky Sirius. Stars sparkle in the southwest Orion, and high above the western horizon there is a bright orange star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus, above them a star sparkles Chapel from Charioteer. They come in the northwest Andromeda With Aries, high above them accompanies them Perseus.
from the western horizon around 7 o'clock:
In the first days of the new year, the Quadrantid starfall is active. The largest number of shooting stars (up to two hundred per hour) can be seen on the night of January 3-4, flying from the constellation Bootes.
Wishing you clear skies and exciting observations!
As the sun sets, January still offers a chance to see some of the constellations in the autumn sky. They inevitably lean towards the horizon, and their period of visibility is fleeting. In the first hour after sunset, you can still see the Summer-Autumn Triangle formed by the brightest stars of the constellations Lyra, Cygnus and Eagle - Vega, Deneb and Altair. High - almost at the zenith - Perseus and Cassiopeia shine, and just below them - high above the southern side of the horizon - Pegasus and Andromeda. Even lower, in the extended constellation Pisces, one can note an unusually bright luminary for this constellation, and also red in color - completely unusual for stars. This is the planet Mars. In January, Mars is visible in the evenings and will spend the entire month in this constellation.
Winter constellations will confidently rise above the horizon by 9 pm. In mid-latitudes, an indicator of the full emergence of winter constellations in the sky can be the appearance above the roofs of low houses of the brightest star in the entire sky - Sirius, and the front paws of the figure of the constellation Canis Major, to which the brightest of the stars belongs.
The winter sky is rich in bright stars, and only in winter can you see so many celestial diamonds in the sky at the same time. The constellation Orion is rightfully considered the main decoration of the January sky. It is compared to a New Year tree decorated with garlands. And really, in what other constellation can you count 7 stars from first magnitude and brighter? But Orion is rich not only in bright stars.
At 11 pm, the main winter constellation rises to its maximum height above the horizon and shines majestically in the southern part of the sky. Armed with binoculars, a telescope or a small telescope, an observer can easily find under the three stars of Orion's belt the famous nebula in which new stars are forming right now - the Orion Nebula. A significant part of the visible stars of this constellation began their life path in this nebula, and it is capable of giving life to many hundreds more hot blue stars.
Photographs taken by high-aperture astro cameras with a large field of view show that the Orion Nebula is huge - it envelops the entire constellation and even extends beyond it. Of course, it is hardly possible to see this with the eye, even when observing through a strong telescope. But for telescope owners, there are many other interesting objects in Orion - double and multiple stars, open star clusters and a number of fainter nebulae.
South of Orion along the horizon are located in the direction from west to east the constellations Eridanus, Hare and Canis Major with the Sirius already known to us - sparkling in the frosty air like a diamond. Eridanus is a very large constellation and symbolizes a mythical river, which the ancient Greeks associated either with the Nile or with the Euphrates, but it remained unknown for certain where and when this river flowed.
Most of Eridanus is invisible in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere, including its brightest star, Achernar, located at the southernmost edge of the constellation.
The Hare, on the contrary, is inconspicuous and small, although the main figure of its stars is clearly visible under the “feet” of Orion.
In addition to Canis Major, the celestial hunter Orion also has Canis Minor - also a hunting dog. Together they pursue the angry celestial bull - Taurus. Taurus, in turn, protects the beautiful sisters hidden in its withers - servants of the goddess Artemis - it was their image that the ancient Greeks saw in the beautiful open star cluster of the Pleiades, shining on the outskirts of the constellation Taurus. In this constellation there is another cluster - the Hyades - it surrounds the brightest star of Taurus - Aldebaran - which represents the eye of the celestial bull. Aldebaran is an orange star. Its hue is clearly visible and especially contrasts with the blue stars of the Pleiades and Orion. By cosmic standards, Aldebaran is just around the corner - only 16 light years away. Most other stars in the winter sky are much further away. For example, the brightest stars of Orion are about 1000 light years away. The Pleiades are about 400. Even the Hyades are further away - 150 light years. But there are also neighbors of the Sun in the winter sky. The brightest star of Canis Minor, Procyon, is only 11 light years away. It's 8 and a half to Sirius. As you can see, the apparent brightness of stars says nothing about their distance. And a bright star can be either close or distant.
The bright orange-red star Betelgeuse, Alpha Orionis, deserves special attention. This star is living out its last days. In our earthly concept of time, they can last for years and even centuries. But astronomers are expecting a rare and dramatic event in the foreseeable future - Betelgeuse will explode as a supernova, becoming unusually bright for a couple of weeks - perhaps even brighter than the Moon, and who knows, maybe even comparable to the Sun. When dying, this star will throw off the upper layers of burnt-out matter, which can no longer provide energy to continue its life. The shell of the star will dissipate in space, forming a beautiful planetary nebula around Betelgeuse. There are a lot of such nebulae - the remains of dead stars - in the sky. And although the substance from which they consist is no longer suitable for the formation of new stars, it is an excellent material for building planetary systems, because they contain all the chemical elements necessary for planets - carbon, oxygen, iron... Once upon a time, the Solar System arose precisely from matter dead star.
One of these nebulae is easily accessible to amateur telescopes in the constellation Taurus - this is the famous Crab Nebula. Another beautiful nebula, but of a different nature, the Rosette, is similar to the Orion Nebula, and new stars are also born in it. It is located in the constellation Monoceros. Unicorn is an inconspicuous but large constellation located between Canis Major and Canis Minor of Orion. But Orion does not hunt the Unicorn.
Above the Unicorn and Canis Minor it is not difficult to find the constellation Gemini, led by two bright stars - Castor and Pollux. The stars are named in the same way as two twin brothers were once called. Even though the brothers were twins, they had different fathers. Castor was the son of Tyndareus and Leda, whom the most powerful of the Greek gods, Zeus, loved very much. Pollux, or otherwise Polydeuces, was the son of Zeus and Leda, and therefore was immortal. When Castor was mortally wounded, his divine brother asked Zeus for death for himself, so as not to be separated from his brother. As a result, both went to heaven and became inseparable - they turned into a constellation. At the same time, Pollux shines a little brighter, which emphasizes his divine origin.
In the opposite part of the constellation from the head of Gemini, through binoculars you can find a beautiful open star cluster designated M35. It's very far away. Hundreds of these sparkling lights are about 4 thousand light years away.
At the zenith of the winter skies, the yellowish beauty Capella shines - the brightest star in the constellation Auriga. In the century before last, astronomers looked at Capella with hope, suggesting that this sister of our Sun was similar to it in everything. But now it is known that a yellowish color is all that the Sun has in common with the Capella. Moreover, the Dazzling Point in the sky - as Capella looks through any telescope - is actually a quadruple system of two giant stars and two dwarf stars. It has not yet been possible to visually divide Capella into individual components, but spectral analysis comes to the aid of astronomers, which makes it possible to recognize duality or even more complex structure in the luminary. Using the same method, astronomers discovered the first few extrasolar planets. Now some of them can already be seen in the usual optical-visual way. But whether there are planets in the Capella system is still unknown to astronomers. But if they are there, surely the sunrises and sunsets of four yellow and red suns would look very fantastic to our perception.
Throwing your head back even higher and knowing exactly where to look, you can see the completely starless - at first glance - constellation Lynx. This is a fairly young constellation - it was placed on star charts 350 years ago by the Polish astronomer Jan Hevelius, famous for his elegant constellation maps, although this is the least of his services to science. Before that, there was simply a nameless place in the celestial sphere. And astronomers could not unambiguously decide the question of which of the nearest constellations to assign several dozen very faint stars to.
The constellations adjacent to Lynx are Cancer, Gemini, Auriga, Giraffe, Leo Minor and Ursa Major.
By the middle of the night, the seven-star figure of the Ursa Major dipper is already beginning its rise to the zenith in the northeast, and in the pre-dawn hours these stars replace the Capellas at the top of the northern skies. By this time, spring constellations rise onto the stage of the January sky, among which the first to attract attention are Leo with the bright star Regulus, Bootes with bright orange Arcturus and Virgo with bright blue Spica, whose name is translated as “Spike”. These are the three most famous and largest of the spring constellations. But all the beauty of the spring sky is concentrated in constellations that are small or do not sparkle with bright stars. We'll talk about them in the spring.
Now let’s pay attention to the eastern horizon, because of which, shortly before sunrise, several planets begin to rise one after another.
Dazzling Venus is the first to rise above the horizon. Its brightness is many times greater than that of the brightest stars. And outside the city, you can even see shadows cast by trees and buildings in the light of the rays that the Morning Star sends to Earth. But, of course, Venus does not shine on its own. And its dazzling brilliance simply represents the reflected rays of the Sun, which Venus reflects very effectively. The reflectivity of its atmosphere - albedo - is about 70%.
At the beginning of January, Venus is still in the constellation Libra, but very soon it moves to the constellation Scorpio, then to the constellation Ophiuchus, where in the last ten days of the month it is scheduled to meet with Jupiter, another morning planet of January.
At the very beginning of January, in the southern latitudes of our country, you can still have time to catch Mercury, which is very quickly approaching the Sun, and it will only take a couple of days to find it low above the horizon in the flames of the morning dawn.
In the last days of January, Saturn will begin to appear in the same flame of dawn. But favorable conditions for its visibility will begin only in February.
Some interesting astronomical phenomena await us on certain days or nights in January 2019:
January 2 in the morning the thin crescent of the old Moon will pass north of Venus.
January 3 in the morning an exceptionally thin crescent moon near Jupiter.
January 3 The Earth passes perihelion - the point of its orbit closest to the Sun.
4 January maximum activity of the Quadrantids meteor shower. The radiant of the shower is located in the constellation Draco.
6th January new moon.
6th January partial solar eclipse visible on the Russian waterway.
6th January Venus is at its greatest distance from the Sun to the west. Western elongation reaches 47 degrees.
January 12 and 13 Moon near Mars.
January 14 Moon in first quarter phase.
January 17 In the morning, Venus passes north of the star Antares - Alpha Scorpius.
January 17 In the evening, the Moon passes near Aldebaran and through the open star cluster Hyades.
January 20th Moon near Castor and Pollux - Alpha and Beta Gemini.
January 21 Full moon.
January 21 in the morning a total lunar eclipse visible in the north-west of Russia.
January 21 - 23 The approach of Venus and Jupiter.
January 23 The moon passes close to the star Regulus - alpha Leo.
January 27 The Moon passes close to the star Spica - Alpha Virgo.
28 January The moon is in the last quarter phase.
January 29 The maximum brightness of the long-period variable star U Orionis (+4.8m).
January 30 In the morning the Moon is north of the star Antares - alpha Scorpio.
January 31 In the morning the Moon is near Jupiter.
January 31 and February 1 In the morning the Moon is near Venus.Interactive map of the starry sky at midnight on January 1, 2019 at the latitude of Moscow (controlled with the mouse). Developer: Stuart Lowe
Time runs inexorably forward, and now 2018 is already counting down its last days. New Year's Eve 2019 is ahead. Time for new starts, hopes, plans. We hope that one of our readers will certainly plan to become seriously interested in astronomy in the new year or simply expand their horizons with knowledge of the star patterns of the night sky. But even if you don’t plan either one or the other, your attention is probably drawn to the night sky covered with stars from time to time. And perhaps one of these moments could be New Year’s Eve, during which many stay awake and spend time outside “under the starry dome of the sky” (weather permitting, of course). And today we will tell you what the starry sky will be like on the first night of the coming 2019.
Evening of December 31, 2018
The last day of light of the outgoing 2018 will end with sunset, which at the latitude of Moscow will occur at 16:04. And after about an hour and a half, the last rays of the evening dawn will go out in the southwestern part of the sky, and the dome of the sky will be decorated with patterns of constellations.
With the onset of darkness, we first look at the southern part of the sky, where the planet Mars is located not high above the horizon, which during these months is visible in the sky as a bright reddish star, comparable in brilliance to the brightest stars in the night sky. However, in the southern part of the sky on early December evenings there are no bright stars, so Mars in December 2018 shines here as the only bright “star”, which will undoubtedly allow anyone to accurately find it in the sky.
Mars at the end of December 2018 - beginning of January 2019 moves through the constellation Pisces from west to east. This extended constellation is completely devoid of bright stars and is unlikely to attract your attention. But above Mars, pay attention to the large square of fairly bright stars located high above the horizon. This is the central part of the Pegasus constellation. From the upper left of the “square” star Pegasus stretches a chain of stars of the constellation Andromeda, above which the constellation Cassiopeia in the form of the Latin letter W is clearly visible.
Below Cassiopeia and to the left of Andromeda, we will find the T-shaped constellation Perseus and turn our gaze to the eastern part of the sky, where the stars of the bright winter constellations are already rising. Constellations such as Auriga and Taurus have already risen above the horizon. Gemini and Orion are rising, which is perhaps the most beautiful constellation. As for the well-known Ursa Major bucket, it can be found low in the northern part of the sky.
And in the western part of the sky you can still find three bright stars. Deneb (α Cygnus) is visible high in the sky, below and to the right of which the bright Vega (α Lyrae) shines, and very low above the horizon the bright white star Altair (α Eagle) is visible. And these three bright stars, being the decoration of summer and autumn starry evenings, form in the sky summer-autumn triangle.
Midnight January 1, 2019
Remember the positions of the stars this evening, and then look at the sky again at midnight on January 1, 2019. And you will notice how much his appearance has changed. All the bright winter constellations are located in the southern part of the sky. First of all, this is Orion, distinguished by three stars lined up in one slender line, above which the reddish Betelgeuse (α Orionis) flickers, and below and to the right is the bright white Rigel (β Orionis). Above and to the right of Orion, high in the southwestern part of the sky, are the stars of the constellation Taurus with bright orange Aldebaran (α Tauri), as well as open star clusters clearly visible to the naked eye - the Hyades and Pleiades. High in the sky in the southern part is visible the large pentagon of the constellation Auriga with the bright yellow Capella (α Auriga). Below and to the left of Auriga (above and to the left of Orion) the stars of Gemini catch the eye. These are, first of all, two bright stars: Castor (the one above) and Pollux (the one below and slightly brighter). On star charts, these stars are designated by the Greek letters α and β, respectively. Below Gemini is the small constellation Canis Minor with bright white Procyon (α Canis Minor). And finally, at a low altitude above the horizon in the southern part of the sky we will find a very bright blue-white star. This is Sirius (α Canis Major) - the brightest star in the earth's night sky. Its brightness has a negative value - minus 1.4 stars. led Now look for Procyon and Betelgeuse again and you will notice that in the sky these three bright stars form an almost equilateral triangle, which is called - winter triangle.
Dawn January 1, 2019
And those of you who find the strength to wait for the first morning of the new year will be rewarded with an amazingly beautiful celestial picture that will appear before us at about 6 o’clock in the morning in the southeastern part of the sky. Here the sky will be decorated with the golden crescent of the waning Moon, below and to the left of which the planet Venus will shine as a bright yellowish star. And after 7 o’clock in the morning, against the background of the morning dawn, a yellowish Jupiter will appear low in the southeastern part of the sky, which can be found in the morning sky on January 1 by drawing a mental straight line from the crescent Moon through Venus to the horizon. Although Jupiter is inferior to Venus in brilliance, it is still quite bright, so it is noticeable even against the background of the morning dawn. But it is advisable to try to find it before 8 o’clock in the morning, since then Jupiter will quickly disappear in the bright rays of the flaring morning dawn.
The January starry sky is considered one of the most beautiful. Firstly, such unusual constellations as Orion and Taurus rise to the zenith. Secondly, in January you can observe two of the most famous nebulae - the Horsehead Nebula and the Great Orion Nebula. Thirdly, the most beautiful galaxy of “Seven Sisters” becomes accessible for observation. Well, residents of the southern hemisphere can see the famous Large Magellanic Cloud.
Constellations of the winter sky: December | January | February
Cutter
This small constellation spreads over the sky of the southern hemisphere. In terms of area occupied, Rezets is in 81st place, since its territory is calculated at 125 square degrees. Of all the stars in this constellation, no more than two dozen can be seen with the naked eye.
The shape of the constellation resembles a broken line. To find it in the starry sky, you can select the bright star Fact (Alpha Pigeon) as a reference point and draw an imaginary line from it towards the Hours. The Cutter will be approximately in the middle.
On the territory of Russia, the constellation Rezets can be observed only in the southern regions - south of the 41st parallel. The best time to observe is December.
There are no particularly attractive space objects in the constellation Rez. The most interesting things are the stars themselves. So, Alpha Cutter is a spectral star of 4th magnitude, which is located at a distance of 66 light years from our planet.
Gamma Cutter- a star system consisting of two double stars: an orange star with a companion and a variable star, next to which there is a white dwarf.
Among the deep space objects in Rezets, two galaxies can be distinguished: spiral and elliptical.
Golden Fish
This slender constellation of the southern hemisphere occupies 179 square degrees in the sky and contains more than 30 stars that can be observed without the help of optical instruments.
The constellation Dorado is considered the most central in the southern hemisphere, since it is here that the south pole of the ecliptic is located. You can find it in the sky by focusing on the diamond of the Grid. To the south you can see three bright stars stretched out in a clear line. And the outline is completed by a triangle directed towards the Flying Fish. Unfortunately, it is impossible to see the Golden Fish on Russian territory. In the northern hemisphere, this constellation is visible only south of the 20th parallel.
Alpha Dorado- one of the brightest stars in the south. It is a double star system consisting of a blue-white giant and a white subgiant. Its magnitude is 3.30 mm.
Beta Dorado located at the base of the triangle. This star has variable brightness and its color varies from blue to yellow.
Gamma Doradus is at the end of a straight line. This giant is a rare class of Cepheids, distinguished by an unusual pulsation mechanism.
Doradus is best known for the fact that it includes the main satellite of our Milky Way - the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. The galaxy is considered a dwarf, but more than 400 nebulae, about 700 star clusters and over 1000 stars are observed in it, including many supergiants.
Table Mountain
This is the southern constellation, which is very close to the pole zone. For this reason, it is almost impossible to see Table Mountain in the northern hemisphere, only south of the 5th parallel. One of the faintest constellations, since of its 24 stars visible to the naked eye, only a few are 5th magnitude. The rest are even less.
In the sky, Table Mountain covers an area of 153 square degrees. You can find it by focusing on the neighboring constellations Southern Hydra and Flying Fish. Table Mountain will be right between them. To the south of it the Octant sparkles, and to the north remains the Golden Fish.
Table Mountain's four brightest stars form a figure resembling an inverted trapezoid. By the way, the constellation got its name after a real geographical feature: Table Mountain is a mountain in Africa.
The brightest in the constellation is its Alpha, a 5th magnitude dwarf. Of the most notable stars, it is worth noting Pi Table Mountain. This orange dwarf is accompanied by a huge gas exoplanet.
But there are no deep space objects observed within Table Mountain. Only the Large Magellanic Cloud touches the territory of this constellation with its edge.
Orion
One of the most beautiful and most recognizable constellations in our sky. Orion is considered an equatorial constellation, but in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere it can be observed from August to April. Although November-December is considered the best time.
Orion is very easy to recognize by its famous Orion Belt - three stars lined up in a row. These three stars, like a vector, are a guide for other stars. If you draw a line from Orion's Belt to the east, it will point directly to the blue giant Sirius. In the west, Orion's Belt points to the red star Aldebaran.
The constellation itself resembles a person in outline. In its forms, it is customary to distinguish several constituent parts (asterisms).
Orion's Belt, as we have already said, these are three bright stars stretched out in one line. They have their own names: Mintaka, Alnilam and Alnitak. These three stars are also called the three sisters, three wise men or rakes.
Butterfly or Sheaf- another asterism, shaped like a sundial. In addition to those already listed, it includes three more stars of zero and first magnitude: Betelgeuse, Rigel and Bellatrix.
Alpha Orionis, Betelgeuse is a zero magnitude red supergiant. One of the brightest stars in our sky, as it shines almost 14 thousand times brighter than the Sun.
Beta Orionis, Rigel is another zero-magnitude blue-white giant. It is considered the most powerful star in terms of brightness, as it shines 130 thousand times brighter than the Sun.
The constellation also includes the famous Orion Nebula, the first planetary nebula to be photographed by astronomers. It can be observed even with an ordinary medium-power telescope. The second planetary nebula in Orion is called the Horsehead Nebula, since its shape is very similar to the head of this animal.
Net
A beautiful southern constellation, shaped like a diamond. It occupies an area of 114 square degrees, on which more than two dozen stars can be distinguished.
Finding a constellation in the sky is not difficult, as its shapes stand out very much. In the south, Setka borders on Yuzhny Ryba, in the north on Chasy. But it is impossible to see the Grid on the territory of Russia, since in the northern hemisphere it can only be observed south of the 23rd parallel.
Alpha Grids is a yellow giant 160 light years away from Earth. Beta Reticuli is a triple star system whose main component is a blue subgiant.
And the most curious star is Zeta Reticuli. This is a double star, consisting of two orange dwarfs that are very similar to our Sun.
As part of the Grid, astronomers also observe a barred spiral galaxy.
Taurus
This is one of the largest and brightest constellations in the northern hemisphere. Its area is 797 square degrees and according to this indicator it is in 17th place. And among the 200 Taurus stars visible to the naked eye, almost 10 are on the list of the brightest.
Finding the constellation Taurus in the sky is not difficult. You can navigate along the Belt of Orion, which from the west points directly to Aldeberan, the brightest star in Taurus. The constellations Gemini and Aries are located nearby.
This is an almost non-setting constellation, since in Russia it can be observed from August to April. Taurus is especially visible in mid-latitudes.
Alpha Taurus, or Aldebaran, is a huge giant of the first magnitude, one of the brightest stars in the north. A small red dwarf orbits next to it. The distance to Aldebaran is estimated at 65 light years.
Beta Taurus also has its own name - Nat. It is the second brightest in the constellation and has a double structure.
The other two bright stars in Taurus are named Elcyone and Tau.
Among the deep space objects in Taurus, it is worth highlighting the Crab Nebula, left after the supernova explosion of 1054. And also two star clusters known to astronomers since ancient times - the Hyades and Pleiades clusters.
On a clear winter evening, look towards the western sky as soon as possible. Against the background of the evening dawn, you will definitely see a very bright luminary of dazzling white color - this is the planet Venus. In terms of brilliance, Venus now occupies first place in the starry sky, so it is impossible to confuse it with any other planet or star.
Recall that there are eight planets in the solar system. As they move away from the Sun, they are located as follows: Mercury rotates closest, then Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Venus is thus second in this series. It is closer to the Sun than the Earth, therefore, due to the laws of celestial mechanics, it can only be seen and observed in the morning before dawn or in the evening after sunset. During periods of morning visibility, the name of Venus (not scientific, but folk, poetic) is the Morning Star, and during periods of evening visibility, the Evening Star. Venus is now the Evening Star.
In terms of size, Venus is not the largest of the planets, but in terms of brilliance it has no equal and surpasses even the giant planet Jupiter in this parameter. Why? Mainly due to the presence of a thick atmosphere, which, like a mirror, reflects three-quarters of the sunlight. Through this atmosphere, no telescope could see its surface, so Venus was also called the planet of mysteries.
A continuous cloud layer up to 30-40 km thick, behind which nothing is visible, became the reason that the surface of Venus was a favorite setting for science fiction novels. In them, as a rule, it was believed that Venus was covered with primeval tropical forests, in which terrible monsters like our dinosaurs teemed. One of the most famous works on this topic was Vladimir Vladko’s novel “Argonauts of the Universe” with amazing illustrations by the artist Georgy Malakov.
But those times are long gone. Space rockets rushed to Venus, penetrated the clouds, saw the surface of the mysterious planet, and even made several soft landings in different areas. The actual, real world of Venus turned out to be little similar to the supposed one. It turned out that the temperature on the surface of this beautiful planet reaches plus 470 degrees Celsius, that is, higher than on Mercury, which rotates in an orbit closer to the Sun. Nobody expected this. At night, hot stones, and there are many of them on Venus, glow with a reddish light, like smoldering coals in a dying fire.
Another stunning result was reported by scientific automatic stations that studied Venus. Atmospheric pressure on the surface of the planet reaches 90 atmospheres - the same as at a kilometer depth of the Earth's ocean. There is practically no oxygen, without which we cannot breathe, on Venus, but carbon dioxide is 97%. What else there is a lot of there are stones. Everywhere where spacecraft have landed, the surface of Venus is literally strewn with rocks of various sizes. But water - ordinary, clean, transparent, cool, tasty, which we all need so much - on Venus, apparently, there is no water at all.
Until recently, Venus was considered the sister of the Earth, suggesting that if the sizes and masses of the planets are approximately equal, there are atmospheres, then, therefore, the conditions for life should be similar. Maybe they thought they would have to move there someday if the earth’s resources were running low. But in fact, the conditions on Venus turned out to be much more severe: terrible heat, enormous pressure, lack of oxygen and water, and, in addition, constant hurricane winds blowing at speeds of up to 100 meters per second - something between a good steam room and supposed hell! Otherwise, Venus is a planet just like a planet. Much of its surface is hilly plain, but mountainous areas are also found. One of the mountain ranges, the Maxwell Mountains, reaches a height of almost 11 kilometers.
It would seem that by the beginning of the twenty-first century, the main mysteries of Venus had finally been solved. Now it is even known that a Venusian day lasts almost a month and a half, 44 Earth days! However, it is also true that not a single woman, and especially the goddess of beauty, can be completely solved! There are questions related to Venus that have no answers yet. One of them is that if most of the planets of the solar system rotate around their axes in one direction from west to east, like our Earth, then Venus - on the contrary, in the opposite direction, from east to west. Why? A whim of a woman's character? Perhaps, if we consider that Venus does not rotate in the opposite direction alone, but as if in a secret conspiracy with Uranus. There is no scientific explanation for this fact yet. Another mystery is related to the question of the origin of Venus. If it had formed along with other planets of the solar system, then ancient observers would certainly have seen it, but for some reason Venus is not mentioned in the earliest chronological records in the list of visible planets.
Humanity has known Venus since ancient times. An ancient Greek myth says that one fine morning a girl of dazzling beauty emerged from the sea foam, not far from the island of Cyprus.
We could talk about other interesting details regarding Venus. Due to its exceptional brightness, for example, Venus is the only object in the starry sky that is visible through binoculars even during the day. It turns out that in a small telescope the phases of Venus are clearly visible, which in appearance are very similar to the phases of the Moon, and the crescent of Venus is no different from the crescent of the moon.
It’s interesting that most of us simply don’t notice Venus. Of course, we see some bright luminous point in the sky. It is even brighter than distant street lamps, but we don’t pay much attention to it. In general, we rarely look above our heads, except perhaps at the number of an approaching trolleybus or minibus.
Anatoly KOPYLENKO, astronomer, popularizer of science
