Auriga is the constellation of the northern hemisphere of the sky. Description, the brightest star

In winter, stars in the sky light up much earlier than in summer, and therefore they can enjoy not only astronomers and lovers of late walks. And there's something to see! The majestic Orion rises high above the horizon, accompanied by Gemini and Taurus, and next to them lights up the Charioteer - a constellation with a long history and a large number of interesting objects. It is today at the center of our attention.

Location:

Auriga - the constellation is bright and well visible to the naked eye. In form it resembles an irregular pentagon. The best guide for the search for this heavenly figure is the Great Bear. A few points to the right of it can be seen quite a bright point. This is the alpha of the Auriga, the Capella is a star, which can be considered under not very favorable conditions. It marks one of the vertices of the pentagon. A little to the right (east) of the Capella is a small elongated triangle formed by three luminaries. These stars in the sky, together with the aura of the Auriga, form the asterism of the Little Goat.

Orientations can serve as other heavenly drawings. The Charioteer is located north of the Gemini and to the east of Perseus. Observe the constellation on the territory of our country can be almost all year. Above the horizon it rises in December and January, and in June and July, on the contrary, the Charioteer is seen poorly due to light nights and low location.

Legend

The stars of the constellation Charioteer in ancient times were associated with scientists with several characters. In Mesopotamia, the heavenly figure was called the "shepherd's staff" or "scimitar". It is not known whether he included the Chapel. In Babylon, almost all the bright stars of the Auriga were also correlated with the shepherd who watched the goats or sheep. The Bedouins considered them to be a group of animals. The charioteer was a herd of goats.

In ancient astronomy, this heavenly figure was also originally thought to be associated with grazing goats. Later, the main part of the constellation became associated with the figure of the man driving the chariot. In the days of Ancient Greece, several characters of myth were associated with the Charioteer. Most often it was Erichtonius, the son of Hephaestus and a pupil of Athena. He is credited with the invention of a chariot with two wheels and four horses (quadriga). In reward for this, as well as for devotional service to Athena, Erichthony was placed on the sky by Zeus. So the constellation Auriga appeared.

Traces of the past

The mythology of Ancient Greece and the preceding representations left their imprint on the traditional image of the constellation. On the maps of the night sky one can see Auriga in the image of a man with a goat on his back and two kids on his hand. In antiquity, even a separate constellation of Goat was distinguished, which correlated with the mythical Amalfee, who raised Zeus. Constructed it Capella, ε, ζ and η Auriga. The latter form the very small triangle, which is located to the right of the brightest star of the figure.

Interesting objects

The constellation of the northern hemisphere of the sky, the Charioteer, includes about 150 "points". There are many interesting objects on its territory. First of all, these are the stars: Capella (alpha), Mencalinan (beta), Al Anz and Hedus (epsilon and zeta). In addition, there is a planetary nebula IC 2149 and a large cluster of galaxies MACS 0717. With binoculars or a small telescope in the area of the sky occupied by the Auriga, it is possible to consider the scattered star clusters M36, M37 and M38. They are removed from our planet for a distance of 4-4,5 thousand light years.

Alpha constellations

If you see this heavenly drawing at least once, the question of which star is the brightest in the constellation of the Charioteer will be solved by itself. The chapel stands out well among other "points" above its head. It is considered the sixth in brightness in the sky and is clearly visible even under the most favorable conditions for observation.

Capella is a star with an apparent magnitude of 0.08. It is 40 light-years away from the Sun. For the earth observer, she looks yellow-orange, which is why she is often confused with Mars. The chapel is a system of two pairs of stars. The first and the brightest unites similar cosmic bodies. They belong to the yellow stars and exceed our diameter by a factor of 10. The distance between the components of the pair is only two-thirds of the length of the segment "Sun-Earth".

The second part of the system consists of red dwarfs. They are removed from a pair of yellow stars for one light year. Red dwarfs are much smaller in size and emit a relatively small amount of light.

Beta Auriga

Mencalinan is a star, the second in brightness in this heavenly figure. Its name in Arabic means "the shoulder of the one who holds the reins". Beta Auriga is a triple star system. Its two components are almost identical to each other. Each star that makes up a pair shines 48 times more powerful than the Sun and belongs to the class of sub-giants. The distance between the elements of the pair is very small - only 0.08 astronomical units, which is equivalent to the fifth part of the segment "Earth-Sun". In the nuclei of both components of the pair, hydrogen ended. The stars experience that stage of evolution, when their size and brightness begin to increase due to new processes arising in the bowels. A short distance separating the components leads to their deformation under the action of tidal forces. Another consequence of this interaction is the synchronization of the period of revolution and rotation around the axis. Its result is expressed in the fact that two stars are always rotated to the same side by the same side.

The third component of the system is a red dwarf distant from the pair at a distance of 330 astronomical units. It can not be seen with the naked eye from the Earth.

Epsilon

A charioteer is a constellation, at least one object of which keeps the eyes of many modern astronomers confined to themselves. This is the epsilon of the heavenly figure, which has the traditional names Almaaz ("kid") and Al Anz (exact meaning is unknown). The eclipsing double star attracts the attention of many specialists around the world because of the mystery of one of the components. A bright element of the system of the eagle of the Auriga is the supergiant of the spectral class F0. Its radius is 100-200 times larger than the solar one. By brightness, the star "outruns" our star 40-60 thousand times.

The second component is supposed to belong to the spectral class B. In the literature it is referred to simply as "invisible". Every 27 years he eclipses a bright star for 630-740 days (about 2 years). Invisible it is called because it emits very little light for such an object, that is, it is difficult to study it. It has been suggested that the dark component is a double system surrounded by a dense dust disk, or it is a translucent star or a black hole. Recent research using the Spitzer telescope has shown that, most likely, a mysterious element is a Class B star. It is surrounded by a dust disk consisting of fairly large particles resembling gravels. However, the point in this issue has not yet been raised and the study of the system continues.

Zeta

Another eclipsing-double in this heavenly drawing is the Auriga zeta. The historical names of the star are Hedus and Sadatoni. It shines 1700 times brighter than the Sun. The system consists of two components. The first is the orange giant of the spectral class K4. The second is a blue and white star, located on the main sequence and belonging to the class B5. Every 2.66 years, it "disappears" behind a dim, but larger, component. Such an eclipse leads to a decrease in the overall brightness of the star by about 15%.

The average distance between the components of the system is estimated at 4.2 astronomical units. They rotate in elongated orbits.

The charioteer is a constellation, interesting both for observation without any adaptations, and for thorough research with the help of professional equipment. His objects can tell a lot more interesting, but because astronomers around the world send their telescopes to them.