Quick Guide to search for bright planets in the sky

Very often beginners of astronomy lovers or simply interested asking us about one or another "very bright star" in the sky, as well as how to learn to recognize the planets in the sky.

Well, I am pleased to fulfill the request of our readers and today we will tell how to learn how to find the solar system planets. But we will only touch on the brightest of them, which are easily visible to the naked eye, namely, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.

From the planets listed above the most bright are Venus and Jupiter. However, Mars competes from time to time (during the so-called. Great confrontations, the last of which was in August 2003, and the next will have to wait until July 2018).

We dare to declare that Jupiter and especially Venus saw every adult man. Venus is the bright yellow evening or morning "star", shining in the sky against the background of the evening or morning dawn. It is with questions about this bright luminaire most often come with letters of our readers. And it is not surprising, because the maximum gloss of Venus can reach -4.3m, and she herself is Third in brightness luminaries on the earth's sky after sun and moon.

Jupiter's gloss can reach -2.3m, which, together with a characteristic yellow color, also highlights it on the background of the starry sky. But Mars and Saturn can be confused with the most vivid stars, especially at the moments of their maximum removal from the Earth, when the first visible stellar value may be the order of the second star magnitude, and the second is the first.

Planet - Mercury, Mercury, is also bright in the earthly sky (its brilliance can reach -1.7M), but because of the proximity to the daily luminaries, he is constantly hiding in his bright rays, only sometimes removing from him on such an angular distance that allows you to recognize the planet against the background of the evening or morning dawn. For the search for Mercury, it is important to have some observation experience, but from southern latitudes Planet search in the sky during the maximum angular removal from the Sun (elongations) much easier. In moderate latitudes, the most favorable oriental elongations in the spring, when Mercury is clearly visible in the evenings in the West and in some periods it goes beyond the horizon already in the dark heaven; as well as the morning (Western) elongation in the fall. Then the planet is visible in the east to the predestal clock and sometimes goes back to the emergence of the first signs of dawn.

It is important to note that all the planets, like the moon, are moving on the earthly sky according to zodiac constellations. Everyone knows that such constellations are twelve. But there is both the thirteenth - a snakes, in which the sun is at the end of November - early December. It may also be bright planets. Therefore, you should not seek the planets, for example, in a big bear, Orion, Swan, Pegasus and other non-zodiac constellations.

It is also necessary to take into account the fact that planets are divided into two categories: domestic and external. Internal - these are the planets, the orbits of which lie inside the Earth orbit. This is Mercury and Venus. The external are the planets, the orbits of which are outside the Earth's orbit (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto). Therefore, the inner planets can be visible only in the evening or morning sky, and the external planets can be observed in periods close to confrontation throughout the night.

So, the best period of visibility of the internal planets are periods close to Eastern (Western) elongation, and external - confrontation. At moments confrontation, the angular distance between the planet and the sun is 180 °, so the planet can be observed throughout the night. It rises at sunset, cultures around midnight, and goes beyond the skyline at sunrise. During periods of confrontation of the planet, the maximum shine is achieved.

If you carefully observe the inner planet, you can find that at first it is gradually removed from the sun every day, then stops (reaches the maximum removal from daylight shine - elongation), after which the angular distance between the planet and the sun begins to shrink and through For a while, the planet disappears in the rays of the evening (morning) dawn. The visibility period of Venus can last up to several months, the period of visibility of Mercury is a couple of weeks. Mercury can be removed from the Sun to the angular distance to 28 °, but in the evening spring and morning autumn elongations, which, as we have already noted, are most convenient for observations of moderate latitudes of the northern hemisphere, are 18 °. But this is enough so that Mercury can be clearly discerning even in the evening heaven.

Eastern (Evening) Endugation of Mercury (or Venus). Orbit scheme.

Venus is removed from the Sun to a much larger angle - up to 47 °. And because of its big brightness (-3; -4m), it can be visible on the background of bright dawn paints and even during the day! Yes, yes, Venus can be found in the naked eye and in the bright time of the day when the sun shines brightly. A particularly convenient time for day observations is spring - summer, when the planet rises high above the horizon, following the zodiac constellations of the northern hemisphere of the heavenly sphere: fish, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Lev, Virgo.

As for the external bright planets, in their visible movement in the celestial sphere there are such concepts as a compound, standing, confrontation, direct and e-mail. Let's start in order. Suppose that one or another external planet, for example, Jupiter is in conjunction With the sun. This means that at that moment the angular distance between the planet and the daily luminaries is minimally and it is not visible in his bright rays. A couple of weeks and planet passes in the morning in the eastern part of the horizon against the backdrop of the morning dawn. In the following weeks, the planet continues to be removed from the Sun, although it moves in heaven live moving. from west to east after the sun. Only the sun per day do the way to the east slightly less than 1 °, while the planet makes a much shorter way, so the angular distance between them is inevitably growing. Gradually, the planet dates it earlier and earlier and becomes already night luminaries. After some time, the planet slows down its direct movement and stops. Becoming standing Planets in the sky. After that, it is already moving in the opposite direction, i.e. from east to west. Such a movement is called pretty. Soon the moment occurs when the angular distance between the sun and the planet reaches 180 °, i.e. Both lights are in the diametrically opposite parts of the sky. Becoming confronting Planets The Sun is the most favorable period for its observations. After the confrontation of the planet continues to move to the west, after which he slows down again and reaches a new standing point. After that, describing the loop in the sky, the planet returns to direct movement, i.e. to the East. The moment confrontation has to be just at the middle of the opponent path of the planet.

Despite the fact that the planet is again in direct movement, the Sun for the above reason already catches the planet in the sky. The planet dates it before and earlier, cultures over the south's point until midnight, then at all in the early evening. It takes time and the planet is already hardly distinguishable in the rays of the evening dawn, and soon and at all in them disappears shortly before the connection with the Sun. So the next period of visibility of the planet ends. After connecting from the Sun, when the angular distance between the planet and the Sun becomes sufficient for the planet to notice on the background of the morning dawn, a new period of visibility of the planet comes, which will repeat the same phases of its trajectories that we just described.

Now go from a brief theory to observations. As you probably understood, the planets on the celestial sphere are in constant motion, moving gradually from the constellation in the constellation. No wonder they are called wandering luminaries. And it is for this reason that the planet is not applied to star maps. So, if you carefully fix the position of the planet relative to one or another star (or group of stars) in the sky and repeat the observation a few days later, it will be possible to note that the planet has changed its position against the starry sky. This movement is most noticeable to Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter. Saturn moves slower, because It is located from the ground further than all other bright planets. For the observation of his movement in the heavenly sphere, it is better to make sketches once a month.

Considering the fact that the planets are not applied to star cards, it makes no sense to make recommendations for the search for planets, using the methods proposed. Therefore, we strongly recommend our readers to begin to get acquainted with the constellations, and then, using the astronomical calendar or any planetarium program, determine what planet you will search.

Before you begin observations, with the help of an astronomical calendar or planetarium program, which is enough on the Internet, determine which planets we can observe these days in the sky. And we will show the example of January - February 2011. We note immediately that the main planet is once to find, after which you can follow it over the entire period of visibility, get used to her mind in the sky, after which you will definite bright planets in the sky without any calendar. But it is also important for this to get acquainted with the constellations in which there are bright stars competing in particular in brilliance with Mercury, Mars and Saturn. It is useful to find out the position of the side of the horizon in the observation point (direction to the north, east, south and west).

So, January - February 2011. An early evening in the southwestern part of the sky, you can observe a bright yellow shone. This is Jupiter. In the predestal clock in the south - southwest, a white-yellow Saturn is visible, and a bright Venus shines in the southeast on the background of the morning dawn.

An important assistant in the search for planets is the moon, which, moving on the background of the sky, on some days it gets closer with bright planets. So, in the evening on January 10, the moon will be held above Jupiter, at night on January 25, below Saturn, and at dawn on January 30, just below Venus. Early evening on February 7, the moon will again be near Jupiter (above him), at night on February 21 below Saturn, and at dawn on March 1 will be slightly higher than Venus, but the conditions of visibility and the moon, and Venus will be unfavorable (low above the horizon shortly before sunrise) Therefore, the task is to observe this connection will not be out of the lungs. It is worth noting that rapprochement of not the heavenly sphere of the moon with a planet, planets with another planet, planet or moon with a star, asteroid, etc. Also called compound.

At the very end of March 2011, it will be very convenient for observations from medium latitudes Eastern (Evening) elongation of Mercury. And in the early evening of April 4, try to find against the background of the evening dawn and Mercury, and the finest sickle of the moon after the day after the new moon.

But Venus will not be very pleased in 2011. So, by the beginning of the spring, conditions of its visibility will be not very favorable. The planet will be on the background of bright morning dawn in the south-east - east. In the following months, the planet rises almost simultaneously with the sun, hiding in his bright rays. But this situation is preserved until August, when Venus turns out to be connected to the Sun, after which the period of its evening visibility will begin. A truly bright "evening star" Venus will be only by the end of 2011, when it is difficult to not notice in the evenings low in the south-west. But since the end of the summer of 2011, first in the morning, and then the Mars can be observed at night. At the end of the year, he will become a night luminaire, but his confrontation will occur already in 2012.

Successful observations!

In the last month of the year, you can observe all seven big planets of the solar system. On the evening sky there are Saturn, Mars and the distant planets Uranus and Neptune. Luxurious Venus shines on the morning sky. During December, Mercury is low above the horizon in the rays of the morning dawn, and from the middle of the month you can also see the bright Jupiter.

But for detailed observations in the telescope half the planets is too low above the horizon. Perhaps only Uranus, Mars and Neptune, and even the Venus in front of the sunrise are located at an acceptable height. The rest of the planets will experience a strong influence of the earth's atmosphere - on their disks when observed through a telescope, you will find some details. It is especially annoying that this fully belongs to Jupiter and Saturn, the most attractive planets in terms of observation.

Let's look at the visibility and location of the planets for December. Let's start in order - with Mercury.

Mercury

The closet to the sun planet is not in vain considered to be impossible: she is all the time in the sky somewhere near our daylight. In those brief periods, when she "flies" from the Sun in the sky, Mercury is observed in the rays of the morning or evening dawn.

December is a very favorable month for observing Mercury. Starting on December 5, the planet is observed in the morning in the south-east, about 1 - 2 hours before sunrise. Finding Mercury is easiest way, pushing away from very bright Venuswhich at this time is pretty high in the sky.

On the morning of December 10, Mercury is perfectly visible against the backdrop of the morning dawn in the south-east. Hereinafter, the picture is shown for the latitude of Moscow. Figure: Stellarium.

The best time to observe the closest planet comes to the sun on December 10 And lasts approximately December 22 - 23. During this period, Mercury is observed within an hour against the backdrop of the morning dawn. Maximum removal from the Sun in the sky (such removal is called maximum elongation) Planet will reach December 15; The angular distance between Mercury and the Sun will be 21.5 degrees.

In mid-December 2018, Mercury dates back at the dark sky. Figure: Stellarium.

From December 17 to December 25, a bright planet Jupiter is adjacent next to Mercury. Which of the two planets will be noticeable in the sky? In mid-December, unambiguously, Mercury - he will be higher in the sky. But after December 20, Jupiter - the planet will be brighter and higher in the sky than Mercury.

Mercury is removed from the ground; As a result, the visible diameter of Mercury decreases within a month - from 10 angular seconds in early December to 5 "at the end of the year. Phase of the planet, on the contrary, increases - from 0.1 to 0.9 by the end of December. This means that when observed in the Mercury telescope, first will have a type of sickle, in the middle of the month will turn into a semi-dish, and by the end of the year - in oval. The glitter of the planet increases from 2 m to -0.5 m to mid-December, and then goes to a wagon slowly.

Venus

Venus - Home Planet on December 2018 sky. As always fantastically bright, she sparkles on the morning sky, acting as a beautiful Morning Star.

Venus rises approximately 3.5 hours before sunrise in the south-east. On the dark background of the sky she looks like large star white or (at the horizon) of yellowish color. Unlike stars, Venus does not flicker, but shines even, calm light. Venus is so bright that it looks more like a spotlight flying towards the aircraft than the star, being an uninterrupted source of UFO observation reports.

Venus on the predestal sky in mid-December 2018. Please note: the planet forms an almost ancedine triangle in the sky with bright stars with spice and arctic. By the way, comparing their shine with the brilliance of Venus, you will receive an idea how much brighter the planet than any of the stars. Figure: Stellarium.

When the morning dawn is already having fun in the sky, Venus is still perfectly observed at an altitude of 20-25 ° above the horizon (the exact height depends on the latitude of the observation location). Even when the stars disappeared from the skyscle, on a blue background, Venus is visible very clearly, disappearing only after sunrise. In fact, Venus is so bright that can be observed with the naked eye even during the day! True, to search for the planet for such a bright background, you still need some kind of day observation experience.

Already in binoculars are noticeable phases Venus. In early December, the planet is observed in the form of a sickle with a diameter of 40 angular seconds; By the end of the month, the phase decreases from 0.25 to 0.45, as well as the visible diameter - to 28 ". By the new year, exactly half of the Venus disk will be illuminated. The planet's gloss slightly decreases - from -4.8 m to -4.6 m.

Mars

December 2018 Mars Observed in the evenings in the south side of the sky. During the month, the Red Planet moves against the background of stars in one direction with the Sun (from the west to the East), traveling on the constellations of Aquarius (until December 21) and fish.

The best time to observe Mars - first 3-4 hours after sunset. In the evenings, the planet is quite high in the sky in the south and southwest. Externally, Mars looks like a bright (0 m) star-shaped object reddish color. There are no other bright stars nearby from the planet, so you can easily find it in the sky. Keep in mind that in particular windy evenings Mars can flicker, although not as much as the stars.

In the evenings in December, Mars is lonely shining above the southern horizon. Figure: Stellarium.

After the Great confrontation on July 27, 2018, Mars is removed from the ground. As a result, the brilliance and visible dimensions of the planet decrease. During December, the gloss drops from 0 m to 0.4 m, the disk diameter decreases from 9 "to 7.5".

Marsa view in a small telescope at the end of November 2018. Photo: Masa Nakamura

Small telescopes will show only the largest details on the surface of Mars like polar hats and large dark areas. To conduct serious observations of the planet, you will need a telescope with a lens over 150 mm.

Jupiter

The largest planet of the solar system entered into connection with the Sun on November 26, after which he switched to the morning sky. December 2018. Jupiter spends in the constellations of scorpion and snakes; Starting from December 10, it can be observed in the rays of the rising sun in the south-east.

To find Jupiter in the middle of the month, take advantage of a bright Venus as a guide. Approximately an hour before the sun, when only the brightest stars remain in the sky, spend a mental segment from Venus to that area on the horizon where the brighter is brighter. Jupiter will be close to this segment very low above the horizon. To see the planet in the first days, you will surely need an open horizon in the southeastern direction - Jupiter barely has time to go before will finally break, and because of street observations, the surrounding houses, trees and even hills are successfully closed. Great, if you have binoculars - it will greatly simplify the search!

Please note: at the same time - from December 10 to 25 - Mercury will be near Jupiter! Do not confuse the planets! Up until December 21, Mercury will be located closer to Venus than Jupiter, and from December 22, Jupiter will be closer to Venus.

And once again remind you that on December 22 in the morning Jupiter and Mercury come into a fairly close connection - Separate the planet in the sky will be less than one degree. Four in the morning in a row - from December 20 to December 23 - Jupiter and Mercury will be a beautiful couple against the backdrop of the morning dawn, when observed in binoculars while in one field of view!

For the last days of December, Jupiter rises already on the dark background of the sky, the planet is observed in two hours after the venera's sunrise and up to sunrise.

What can be seen on Jupiter in a telescope? So far, frankly, a little. Sure, disk Jupiterwhich is distinguished already in binoculars. The telescope will show that Jupiter is fightened to the poles. Also in the telescope will be noticeable stripes on the disk and, possibly, a large red spot. Some fine details will most likely be loathe in the atmosphere, which often occurs with objects located low above the horizon.

The four of the largest satellites of Jupiter are easily observed in binoculars or a small telescope in the form of pretty bright stars on the sides of the planet. In the telescopes with an aperture of over 80 mm, you can trace the interesting phenomena in the Jupiter system - the entry of satellites into the shadow of the planet or for their passage before the disk of the gas giant, when the tiny satellites themselves discard the shadow on the planet. Such observations makes sense in the last periods of December, when Jupiter will be higher over the horizon. Jupiter's satellite configurations for December 2018 can be found in an astronomical calendar (compiler Alexander Kozlovsky)

The angular diameter of the largest planet of the solar system is about 31 in December, the shine is preserved at -1.7 m.

Saturn

In the first days of December Saturn Observed for a short time in the southwest in the rays of the evening dawn. You can try to find Saturn with a naked eye, and better with the help of binoculars, carefully reviewed the sky in the southwestern horizon. You can start looking for about an hour after sunset.

The best planet is visible in the south of Russia; At the latitude of Moscow and St. Petersburg, it is difficult to see it, as it is very low in the sky and goes beyond the horizon before the onset of complete darkness. As in the case of Jupiter, to observe Saturn you will need an open horizon in the direction of the sunset.

In early December 2018, Saturn is very low above the horizon under the summer triangle. Figure: Stellarium.

The visible sizes of the ring of the planet constitute an average of 40 "× 15" when inclined to the observer 26 degrees, the planet disk will be 15 ". In a small telescope, you can observe the ring and satellite Titan, as well as other brightest satellites.

Uranus and Neptune

Uranus and Neptune For several years already have "autumn" planets, since they are located in the autumn constellations of fish and aquarius. These are the most distant planets of the solar system and because the most dull.

The shine of uranium is at the limit of the visibility of the naked eye, but it is not to see it on the urban sky, even if you have very sharp vision. Wine everything is a street illumination. If you want to make a feat and still see the planet without help optics, look for a very dark and transparent sky - far in the steppe, in a taiga or in the mountains.

Under normal conditions for searching and observing uranium, you will need star maps and telescope. Landmark when searching will serve as a star omicron fish - Uranus is 1.5 degrees northeast of her. And on December 18, a growing moon will be relatively not far from the planet.

During the month, Uranus is observed all night; Planet disk You can distinguish between 90 mm lens using an increase over 80 times. The brilliance satellites of uranium have a shine of about 13 m and for observations in small amateur telescopes are not available.

Neptune still dimly than uranium. Even in binoculars, he appears with nothing noticeable asterisk of the 8th Star magnitude. There are a huge number of such shine in the sky, and find Neptune among them is quite difficult. Usually to search for the planet can not do without star cards. But on December 7, in the evening, the rarest case will be introduced to see Neptune without labor-intensive search - Mars will be all in 2 angular minutes! All you need to do is bring your telescope on Mars; You will find Neptune in one field of view with a red planet.

In other days, look for Neptune, pushing out from the star lambda Aquarius (Her name is Hidor), near the planet. Neptune's position map From the astronomical calendar for 2018, edited by Alexander Kozlovsky (it can be downloaded for free on the Internet) or make it yourself, printing a screenshot from any planetaria program on the printer.

Let's summarize.

The main "planetary" events in December 2018 occur in the morning sky, where bright in the morning sparkles Venusand the horizon in the rays of the morning dawn is observed Mercury and Jupiter. It is very interesting to trave to the movement of the last two planets: throughout the entire pair of weeks they will noticeably shift each other.

In the evening sky, the main planet - Marswhich is observed in the evenings in the constellations of Aquarius and fish. In the same constellations there are two most distant planets - Uranus and Neptune. Do not miss the close connection of Mars and Neptune in the evening of December 7th. Planet Saturn Also visible in the evenings, but for a short time very low above the Western horizon.

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Details Oleg Nehaev

Star The sky you see on this map (below) displays the real position of the planets, bright stars and constellations at the moment. It is enough to make adjustments to the program settings and you will see everything on the screen, based on your location. How to configure "Star sky"? How to see the most interesting in space?

At the top of the left of the card there are two lines: the date and time below the coordinates. The first string automatically displays the time when you opened this page. Want to see how the sky will look later? Enter the year, month, number and time to see how to locate the stars in the sky. Depending on the geographic point there will be a different position of the shone and planets. To set the desired coordinates, click on the second line. Enter the latitude and longitude if they are known to you, or determine them in the graph below using the navigator. Write the name of the city (preferably by the Latin), click Search (Search). If he is successful. Close the panel. If the "SELECT" window appears, click on this column and select the desired options. Close the window and check the new values.

To clarify the coordinates, you can contact through the search for Yandex Card. Enter the name of the area (location) and click Search. The coordinates of the place will appear on the right. Write them down. Wikipedia can help for most locations. Enter the name of the city name and in the right column you will see the necessary numbers. Attention! Enter data without degree characters and minutes. After an integer, put the point and add the other numbers without separation. First recording latitude. The default coordinates of the Moscow Center are configured.

Star card is very convenient not only to prepare views through a telescope, but also for conventional observations of space objects, without the use of technical means. You will always know: what planets are shining in the sky or how the notice of the star you saw, which you saw today, and what is called the constellation that appeared in the sky. You can watch the span of low-bit satellites of the Iridium system. And they are very important to look at a certain point. Amazingly bright flashes periodically proceed from these devices. Remind falling noticeable meteorites. The brightness of this phenomenon is such that only the sun and the moon is inferior. Or you can pre-predict the trajectory of the flight of the International Space Station. And you will wait for her appearance in a certain place of the starry sky. Live broadcast from the station is conducted on Siberian. And calculate the exact time of the visible span of the ISS in your place, you can on our page for this Link .

Small explanations. Starry sky in the diagram appears before us as if it is on our head. For real perception, it is necessary to make a mental coup of the image. The correct representation will help the light indicated on the scheme.On the map you see them at the edges of the circle. You need to reveal them in reality. Determine where the North is located at the place of your location, with the help of a compass or other means, for example, by means of GPS-GLONASS navigation in programs on a smartphone or tablet. And then it is mentally positioned on them, based on the identified data, a star of the starry sky, or turn the configured card using the cursor.

Designations. Lilac color The map shows the names of constellations. White - titles the brightest stars. Turquoise The contour shows the borders of the Milky Way. Arc of red color Decorates ecliptic - the trajectory (projection) of the sun. The same paths adhere to the planets of our star system. They are displayed orange Color. Light green The dots of the radiant meteor threads are shown. In periods of their activity, in some days, you can see from this area "Star rain". Let you be lucky.

Do not forget that in the northern hemisphere, where the overwhelming majority of visitors to our site, the most significant, coordinate star is polar (Polaris). It is easy to find in the sky if you take to help the famous constellation Big Medveditsa (Ursa Major), and rather her big bucket. On the map, its second star in the handle - Mitsar (Mizar) is highlighted. So, if you hold the line up in the last two stars of the bucket, then after five of the same distances, as between these stars, you will find the polar. She is the only one that is in one place, and everyone else, as it were, rotate around it. She points to the north. Therefore, it was always called guide.
With other visible bright stars, it is not difficult to understand. Some of the most noteworthy of them ...

Denb It is among the largest and is the most powerful star from all 25 brightest stars of the sky, famous science. For one day, the denbew radiates more light than our sun in 140 years. Very distant star.

Sirius - By perception - the brightest star for us. Because it is located to us much closer than others shum, except, of course, the sun. In fact, it is double. Moreover, having significant mobility. Approximately 11 thousand years old Sirius will cease to be visible to those who live in Europe.

Arctic Orange giant. One of the brightest stars. All year round can be seen from Russia. Arcturus became the first star, which he managed to consider in the telescope Day. It happened more than three hundred years ago.

Vega. Young, fast rotating star. The best studied (if you do not take into account the sun). The first one, which managed to take a good photo. In addition to Antarctica, it can be seen almost from any other point of the world. Vega is among the favorite "heroines" science fiction writers.

Altair - a star close to us is enough. It is located just 159 trillion kilometers. Compare: Mentioned Denie is almost a hundred times further.

Rigel - White-blue supergigant. More than seventy times more than the sun. It is located so far from us that the light that we now see was emitted by a star of 860 light years ago. Compare: Light from the moon comes to us in one second at a distance of about 400 thousand kilometers. Rigel - the star of an incredible force in its luminosity and monstrously distant. And there, someone or something perceives it like the sun. But, from there, it is impossible even in the most powerful telescope to consider our sun, not to mention the land on which we live ...

Pay attention! 1. Carefully read the indications of the map of the starry sky. Many are treated with questions about the location of stars and planets, which they can get answers themselves by entering the appropriate data in the map settings. 2. There are visible "planets parades" and not visible (without the use of binoculars and telescopes). The latter occur quite often. The nearest visible parade of the five planets from the territory of Russia will occur only in 2022. Do not believe frequent messages about the "end of the world" and that the location of the planets can affect the rotation of the Earth.

Clear to you sky and successful observations!

The best of the best

The largest planet solar system

Jupiter. Its equatorial diameter is equal to 143884 km, which is 11.209 times the diameter of the Earth and is 0.103 of the diameter of the Sun. Jupiter's form is not entirely spherical, since the planet consists of gas and liquid and quickly rotates. The polar diameter of Jupiter is 133708 km. The mass of Jupiter is 318 times higher than the mass of the Earth and 2.5 times more mass of all other planets combined. Jupiter is only 1047 times less massive than the sun.

The smallest planet solar system

Pluto. Its diameter is only 2400 km. Rotation period 6.39 days. Mass 5 times less earthly. He has a satellite charon, open J. Christie and R. Harrington in 1978.

The brightest planet of the solar system

Venus. Its maximum stellar value is -4.4. Venus is closest to the ground and, moreover, the most effectively reflects the sunlight, since the surface of the planet is closed by clouds. The upper layers of Venus clouds reflect 76% of the sunlight falling on them. When Venus looks brighter, it is in the sickle phase. Orbit Venus lies closer to the sun than the Earth's orbit, so the Venus disk is completely covered only when it is on the opposite side of the sun. At this time, the distance to Venus is the largest, and its visible diameter is the smallest.

The largest planet satellite in the solar system

Ganymed is a satellite of Jupiter, the diameter of which is 5262 km. The largest moon of Saturn -otitan - is the size of the second (its diameter is 5150 km), and at one time it was even considered that Titan more than Hyameda. In third place there is a neighboring satellite of Jupiter Callisto. Both Gamornad and Callisto more than Planet Mercury (the diameter of which is 4878 km). Gamornied by its status "The Big Moon" owes a thick mantle of ice, which covers its inner layers of rock rocks. The solid cores of Gamed and Callisto are probably close in size to two small domestic Galilean Moon Jupiter - IO (3630 km) and Europe (3138 km).

The smallest planet satellite in the solar system

Dimimos - satellite Mars. The smallest satellite, the size of which is exactly known - Dimimos, roughly speaking, has the form of an ellipsoid with dimensions of 15x12x11 km. His possible rival is the moon of Jupiter Leda, the diameter of which is estimated at about 10 km.

The largest asteroid in the solar system

Ceres. Its sizes are 970x930 km. In addition, this asteroid was opened the very first. It was discovered by Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi on January 1, 1801, his name asteroid received because Ceres, the Roman goddess, was connected with Sicily, where Piazzi was born. The next after Cerere is the largest asteroid - Pallada, opened in 1802. His diameter is 523 km. Cercher revolves around the Sun in the main belt of asteroids, being from it at a distance of 2.7 a. e. It contains a third of the total mass of all seven more than thousands of famous asteroids. Although Cercher is the largest asteroid, it is not the brightest, because its dark surface reflects only 9% of sunlight. Its shine reaches 7.3 star magnitude.

The brightest in the solar system asteroid

Vesta. Its brightness reaches a star magnitude 5.5. With a very dark, Vesta can be detected even with a naked eye (this is the only asteroid that can be selected in generally with the naked eye). The next brightness is the largest asteroid of Cerer, but its brightness never exceeds the stellar value of 7.3. Although Vesta size is more than half of the ceres, it has a much greater reflectivity. Vesta reflects about 25% of sunlight falling on it, while Ceres are just 5%.

The biggest crater on the moon

Herzshprung. Its diameter is 591 km and it is located on the back of the moon. This crater is a multiple drum part. Such shock structures on the visible side of the moon were later filled with lava, which, hardened, turned into a dark solid breed. These details are now usually called seas, not crater. However, on the back of the moon, such volcanic eruptions did not occur.

The most famous comet

Surveillance comet Gallea traced back until 239 BC No other comet has historical records that could be compared with Gallet's comet. Comet Halley is unique: it was observed for more than two thousand years 30 times. This is due to the fact that Comet Halley is much more and more active than other periodic comets. The comet is named by Edmund Halley, who in 1705 realized the connection between several previous appearances of the comet and predicted its return in 1758-59. In 1986, the Space Apparatus "Jotto" was able to get the image of the Kernel Kaeta Gallea from a distance of only 10 thousand kilometers. It turned out that the kernel has a length of 15 km with a width of 8 km.

The brightest comets

The most striking comets of the 20th century include the so-called "Great Comet of Day Light" (1910), Comet Gallei (with the appearance in the same 1910), comets of Shelleruup-Maristani (1927), Bennett (1970) , Vesta (1976), Hale-Boppa (1997). The brightest comets of the XIX century, - probably "big comets" 1811, 1861, and 1882. Previously, very bright comets were recorded in 1743, 1577, 1471 and 1402. The very close to us (and the most bright) The appearance of the Gallei comet was noted in 837

The closest comet

Lexel. The smallest distance to the Earth was achieved on July 1, 1770 and amounted to 0.015 astronomical units (ie, 2.244 million kilometers or about 3 diameters of the moon orbit). When the comet was closest, the visible size of its coma was equal to almost five diameters of the full moon. The comet was opened by chall Mesia on June 14, 1770, but was received by the name of Anders Johann (Andrei Ivanovich) of the Lexel, who identified the comet orbit and published the results of his calculations in 1772 and 1779. He found that in 1767, the comet came close to Jupiter and passed into orbit under his gravitational impact, which took place near the Earth.

The longest total solar eclipse

The theoretically complete phase of the eclipse can occupy all the time of complete solar eclipse - 7 minutes 31 seconds. Practically, however, such long eclipses are not registered. The longest complete eclipse in the recent past was the eclipse on June 20, 1955. It was observed from the Philippine Islands, and the full phase lasts 7 minutes 8 seconds. The longest eclipse in the future will be held on July 5, 2168, when the full phase lasts 7 minutes 28 seconds.

The closest star

Proxima Centaurus. It is located at a distance of 4.25 light years from the sun. It is believed that together with a double star Alfa Centaurus a and b, it enters the free triple system. The dual star Alpha Centauro is from us a little further, at a distance of 4.4 light years. The Sun lies in one of the spiral sleeves of the galaxy (orion sleeve), on a distance of about 28,000 light years from its center. At the location of the Sun, the stars are usually removed from each other for several light years.

The brightest star

Sirius. Its stellar value is -1.44. Sirius received its name in ancient Greece, and means it "appear." Sirius is sometimes called a dog star named the constellation of a large dog, to which he belongs. Being at a distance of only 8.7 light years, Sirius is one of the closest stars to the sun. Next after Sirius is the brightest star - Canopus in the constellation of the constellation of keel, the stellar value of which is -0.72. In fact, Sirius is a system of two stars, rotating each other near each other. Almost all of the world comes to us from the main star, which is called Sirius A and is a white normal star about 2.3 times with a massive sun. Weak companion, Sirius B, open at visual observation in 1862, is a white dwarf. Light from Sirius B is only one ten-thousand part of Sirius Light A. Double Syryus system completes one revolution in 50 years.

The most powerful star radiation

Star in a pistol. In 1997, astronomers working with the Hubble Space Telescope discovered this star. They called it a "star in a pistol" in shape of the surrounding nebula. Although the radiation of this star is 10 million times higher than the power of the radiation of the Sun, it is not visible with the naked eye, since it is close to the center of the Milky Way at a distance of 25,000 light years from the ground and hidden by large clouds of dust. Before the discovery of the star in a pistol, this keel was the most serious applicant, the luminosity of which is 4 million times higher than the luminosity of the Sun.

The biggest star

MJ Cefhea. Currently, the star of MJ CEFEVA is considered the greatest, the diameter of which is more than $ 1.6 billion kilometers. Placed in the center of the Solar System, this star would absorb all the planets on Saturn inclusive.

The fastest star

Star barnard. Opened in 1916. And so far is a star with the biggest self-movement. The unofficial name of the star (Barnard star) is now generally accepted. Her own movement per year is 10.31. Barnard's star is one of the closest stars to the sun (next after the proximation of the Centaur and Dual System Alfa Centaurus A and B). In addition, the star of barnard moves and in the direction of the sun, approaching it 0.036 of the light year in the century. After 9000 years she will become the closest star, taking the place of the procus.

The brightest supernova

Star from the Constellation of Wolf Observed in 1006 AD. Based on many preserved records of observations, it is possible to establish that the visible supernovae's stellar value was about -10, which is comparable to the moon. The position of this supernova was identified by a well-known supernova residue (number PKS 1459-41), which emits in radio wave and X-ray bands and is observed in the optical range as weak fibers. The distance to the supernova is estimated at 3260 light years. At the time of the maximum brightness, all supernovae reaches approximately identical absolute stellar quantities, but their visible brightness depends on both the distance and on the amount of dust on the path of the light beam. The next brightness (after supernova 1006) is an explosion of 1054, as a result of which the crab nebula in the Taurus appeared. This supernova reached a visible star magnitude equal to -5.

The biggest famous ball cluster

Omega Centaurus. It contains millions of stars focused in the amount of diameter of about 620 light years. The form of the cluster is not quite spherical: it looks slightly fightened. In addition, Omega Centaurus is the brightest ball cluster in the sky with a common star magnitude 3.6. It is removed from us for 16,500 light years. The name of the cluster has the same kind as they usually have the names of individual stars. It was assigned to cluster in ancient times, when when observed with a naked eye, to recognize the true nature of the object was impossible. Omega Centauro is one of the oldest clusters.

The closest galaxy

The dwarf galaxy in the constellation Sagittarius is the closest galaxy to the Milky Way galaxy. This small galaxy is so close that the Milky Way seems to absorb her. The galaxy lies at a distance of 80,000 light years from the Sun and 52,000 light years from the center of the Milky Way. The next galaxy closest to us is a large magtels cloud located in 170 thousand light years from us.

The most distant object visible to the naked eye

The most distant object, which can be seen with the naked eye - the Galaxy Nebula Andromeda (M31). It lies at a distance of about 2 million light years, and in brightness is approximately equal to the star of the 4th Star magnitude. This is a very large spiral galaxy, the largest member of the local group, to which our own galaxy belongs. In addition to her, only two other galaxies can be observed with a naked eye - large and small magtels clouds. They are brighter than the nebula of Andromeda, but much less and less removed (at 170,000 and 210,000 light years, respectively). However, it should be noted that dormant people in a dark night can see the galaxy M31 in the constellation of a large bear, the distance to which 1.6 megaparsk.

The biggest constellation

Hydra. The sky, which is part of the Hydra constellation, is 1302.84 square degrees, which is 3.16% of the entire sky. The next largest is the constellation of the Virgin, which occupies 1294.43 square degrees. Most of the Hydra constellation lies south of the celestial equator, and its total length is more than 100 °. Despite its size, the hydra in the sky does not particularly stand out. It mainly consists of pretty weak stars and find it difficult. The brightest star is Alphard, the orange giant of the second star magnitude, located at a distance of 130 light years.

The smallest constellation

South Cross. This constellation occupies the sky area in a total of 68.45 square degrees, which is equivalent to 0.166% of the entire sky area. Despite the small size, the southern cross is a very noticeable constellation that has become a symbol of a southern hemisphere. It contains twenty stars brighter than the star value 5.5. Three of the four stars forming his cross, the stars of the 1st value. In the constellation of the South Cross there is a scattered star cluster (Kappa South Cross, or a cluster "Jewelry Box"), which many observers consider one of the most beautiful in the sky. The following largest constellation (more precisely speaking, occupying among all the constellations 87th place) is a small horse. It covers 71.64 square degrees, i.e. 0.174% of the sky.

The biggest optical telescopes

Two bracket telescope located near the top of Maun Kea, Hawaii. Each of them has a reflector with a diameter of 10 meters, compiled from 36 hexagonal elements. From the very beginning they were intended for collaboration. Since 1976, the largest optical telescope with a solid mirror is a Russian large azimuth telescope. Its mirror has a diameter of 6.0 m. For 28 years (1948 - 1976), the biggest optical telescope in the world was Hale's telescope on the mountain Palomar in California. Its mirror has in diameter 5 m. A very large telescope, located in the Sierro-Paranal in Chile, is a design of four mirrors with a diameter of 8.2 m., Which are associated together, forming a single telescope with a 16.4-meter reflector.

The world's largest radio telescope

Radi-telescope of the Assibian Observatory in Puerto Rico. It is built into the natural cavity on the earth's surface and has a diameter of 305 m. The world's largest fully controlled Radioantenna - Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia in the United States. The diameter of its antenna is 100 m. The largest array of radio telescope, located in one place, is an array of a very large lattice (ORD, or VLA), which consists of 27 antennas and is located near Sokorro in New Mexico, USA. In Russia, the largest radio telescope "Ratan-600" with a diameter of 600 meters installed around the circle circumference.

The closest galaxies

The astronomical object behind the M31 number, the most famous nebula of Andromeda, is located closer to all of all other gigantic galaxies. In the northern hemisphere of the sky, this galaxy looks like bright from the ground. The distance to it is only 670 PDAs, which in the usual measurements for us is a little less than 2.2 million light years. The mass of this galaxy is 3 x 10 more than the mass of the sun. Despite the huge sizes and mass, the nebula of Andromeda looks like a Milky Way. Both galaxies are gigantic spiral galaxies. The same closest from us - small satellites of our galaxy - a large and small magtellane clouds of incorrect configuration. Distance to these objects, respectively, 170 thousand and 205 thousand light years, which is negligible compared to distances that are used in astronomical calculations. Magellanovy clouds differ in the unarmed eye in the sky in the southern hemisphere.

The most distant galaxies

Among the astrophysicists who devoted their creative activities to the study of distant galaxies, an employee of the University of California in Berkeley X. Spinrad is allocated. He belongs to the opening of not one superdassed galaxy. Initially, Spinrad in 1975 discovered a galacticar of the Northern direction from the star cluster of the Pleiada, which was from us at a distance of 8 billion light years. This galaxy is listed in the star catalog for the ZS number 123. It has the strongest level of radio emission, exceeding the power of such radiation of other giant galaxies by about 6 times.

In the next series of observations conducted in 1984 through the 4-meter reflector of the Kittpik National Observatory in the US state of Arizona, Spinrad discovered a number of radio-beactics, among which were the most distant of famous science.

Optical radiation, for example, the Radiogalaxies of the ZS 256 reaches the solar system for a long 10 billion years. In addition, the distance continues to increase, as it is removed from us at a speed of 200 thousand km / s. Unlike other radiogalaxies near us with pronounced elliptical forms, this has incorrectly elongated configuration. More than recently American astronomers K. Chambers and J. Miles in the Leiden Observatory received a more or less clear image of the next galaxy-record holder. The distance to it is 12 billion light years.

It is not by chance of astrophysics to pay their close attention to superdudated astronomical objects. Processing information collected not in one billion light years, it is possible to compile a generalized idea of \u200b\u200bthe distant past of star formations, especially at the initial stages of their formation and origin, in the period corresponding to the beginning of the process of expanding the universe. Opening all new superdudated galaxies take place by no means randomly. They are most often the fruit of many years of targeted work of not one astronomer group. This is evidenced by the opening recently another of the most distant galaxies with the visible star magnitude 20, 19. This became possible due to the implementation of a predetermined program for the search for superdudated galaxies with weak radiation in the vicinity of other, already famous heavenly shine, including quasars (quasi-refoable sources of radio emission) emitting many times more energy than the most powerful galaxies. The record holder galaxy was found near the quasar PKS 1614 + 051 with the value of the red bias z \u003d 3,209. The light radiation from it was emitted when the universe was. Three times younger than now.

The furthest star of our galaxy

The group of astronomers from the Washington University found the most distant star of our Galaxy - a red 18-star giant. This star is located in the direction of the constellation of scales and removed from the Earth for the distance, which can overcome the light for 400 thousand years. It is clear that this star is at the border line, in the so-called zone of galactic halo. After all, the distance to this star is about 4 times higher than the diameter of imaginary expanses of our galaxy. (The diameter of the Milky Way is estimated at about 100 thousand light years.) It is surprising that the most distant, pretty the bright star was discovered only in our time, although it was observed earlier. For incomprehensible considerations, astronomers did not pay special attention to the weakly luminous speck on the starry sky and differing on the photographic plate. What is happening? People see the star for a quarter of a century and ... do not notice her. Most recently, American astronomers from the Lowell Observatory were revealed by another of the most remote stars in the peripheral limits of our galaxy. This star, already sweating from "old age," can search for the sky in the location of the constellation of the Virgin, at a distance of about 160 thousand light years. Such discoveries in the dark (in the literal and figurative sense of the word) sites of the Milky Way allow you to make important adjustments in determining the true values \u200b\u200bof the mass and size of our star system towards their significant increase. And this can seriously affect the cosmological picture of the universe adopted in the scientific environment.

The most scattered star cluster

Of all the stellar clusters, the totality of stars, called the "Veronica's Hair", is most scattered on the Space Space. Stars are scattered here at such huge distances from each other, which is seen as flying in the chain of the cranes. Therefore, the constellation, which is the decoration of the starry sky, is also called the "Wedge flying cranes."

Super-state clusters of galaxies

It is known that the Galaxy Milky Way along with the solar system is located in a spiral galaxy, which in turn enters the system formed by the accumulation of galaxies. The universe has many such clusters. I wonder what accumulation of galaxies is the most dense and biggest? According to scientific publications, the existence of gigantic supersystems galaxies galaxy guess a long time ago. Recently, the problem of super-consuming galaxies in a limited space of the Universe is causing increasing attention of researchers. And first of all, because the study of this issue can give additional important information about the birth and nature of galaxies and radically change the existing ideas about the origin of the universe.

Over the past few years, gigantic star clusters on the sky have been discovered. The most dense accumulation of galaxies on a relatively small plot of world space was recorded by American astronomer L. Kowi from Hawaiian University. From us, this ultra-discharge of galaxies is located at a distance of 5 billion light years. It radiates as much energy as several trillion can work out together combined celestial bodies like the sun.

In early 1990, American astronomers M. Keller and J. Haikr revealed a super-pressed accumulation of galaxies, which was given the name "Great Wall", by analogy with the Great Chinese Wall. The length of this star wall is approximately 500 million light years, and the width and thickness - respectively, 200 and 50 million light years. The formation of such a star cluster does not fit into the common theory of a large explosion of the origin of the universe, which flows the relative uniformity of the distribution of matter in space. This discovery put a rather complicated task before scientists.

It should be noted that the coming clusters of galaxies are located in the constellations of Pegasus and fish at a distance of only 212 million light years. But why are the galaxies on more deletion from us are more dense layers relative to each other than in our neighboring areas of the universe, as expected? Over this difficult question still break the heads of astrophysics.

The closest star cluster

The most close to the solar system is a scattered star cluster - these are famous giads in the Constellation of the Taurus. Against the background of the winter starry sky, it looks good and recognized as one of the most wonderful creatures of nature. Of all the stellar clusters in the Northern Star Sky, the Constellation of Orion is best distinguished. It is there that are some of the brightest stars, including the Rigel Star, which is from us at a distance of 820 light years.

Heavymissive black hole

Black holes are often involved in a rotational movement around themselves located near the cosmic bodies. Unusually rapid rotation of astronomical objects around the center of the Galaxy, removed from us at a distance of 300 million light years, was found quite recently. According to experts, such a ultra-high speed of rotation of the bodies is due to the presence of the world's supermassive black hole in this section, the mass of which is equal to the mass of all bodies of the galaxy, combined (approximately 1,4x1011 mass of the Sun). But the fact is that such a mass is concentrated in a part of the space, 10 thousand times less than our star system of the Milky Way. This astronomical discovery has been so struck by American astrophysics, which was decided to immediately begin a comprehensive study of the super-grasses black hole, the radiation of which is closed in itself with powerful gravity. To do this, it is planned to use the possibilities of an automatic gamma observatory launched on an near-earth orbit. Perhaps, such a determination of scientists in the study of the sacraments of astronomical science will finally find out the nature of mysterious black holes.

The largest astronomical object

The largest astronomical object of the Universe is marked in star catalogs behind the ZS 345 number, registered in the early 80s. This quasar is located at a distance of 5 billion light years from the ground. German astronomers by means of a 100-meter radio telescope and receiver radio frequency of fundamentally new type measured such a distant object in the universe. The results were so unexpected that scientists first did not believe them. Joke Lee, Quasar had a length of 78 million light years in the diameter. Despite such a great removal of us, the object when observed is visible inwards larger than the lunar disk.

The largest galaxy

Australian astronomer D. Malin In 1985, in the study of the Star Sky site in the direction of the constellation, the Virgin found a new galaxy. But on this, D. Malin's mission was considered completed. Only after the re-opening of this galaxy, American astrophysicists in 1987 it turned out that it was a spiral galaxy, the most largest and at the same time the darkest the most dark of all science.

Located from us at a distance of 715 million light years, it has a length in cross section of 770 thousand light years, almost 8 times higher than the diameter of the Milky Way. The luminosity of this galaxy times 100 is less than the luminosity of ordinary spiral galaxies.

However, as shown by the subsequent development of astronomy, galaxies were listed in star catalogs and larger. Of the extensive class of weak-in-luminosity of formations in the metagalaxy, called marcaryan of the galaxy, the galaxy was allocated for the number 348, an open quarter of a century ago. But then the size of the galaxies were clearly understated. Later observations of American astronomers using a radio telescope located in Sokorro, Newmexico, made it possible to establish the true dimensions. The record holder has a length of 1.3 million light years in diameter, which is already 13 times greater than the diameter of the Milky Way. It is removed from us for 300 million light years.

The biggest star

At one time, Eibell made a catalog of galactic clusters, consisting of 2712 units. In accordance with it, the largest galaxy in the universe was discovered in the galactic cluster of the number 2029 right in the center. Its sizes in the diameter time in 60 exceed the Milky Way and make up about 6 million light years, and radiation is over a quarter of the entire radiation of the galactic accumulation. Astronomers from the United States recently discovered a very large star. Studies still continue, but it is already known that a new record holder appeared in the universe. According to preliminary results, the size of this star is 3500 times higher than the dimensions of our shining. And it radiates 40 times more energy than the hottest stars in the universe.

Brighter Astronomical Object

In 1984, the German astronomer of Cure with employees discovered such a dazzling quasar at the starry sky (quasi-refoable source of radio emission), which even at a high distance from our planet, calculated by many hundreds of light years, it would not give way to the sun in the intensity of the light emission, Although a space space is distant from us, which light can overcome for 10 billion years. In brightness, this quasar is not inferior to the brightness of the usual 10 thousand combined galaxies taken. In the star catalog, it received the number S 50014 + 81 and is considered the brightest astronomical object in the limitless expanses of the universe. Despite its relatively small sizes reaching in the diameter of several light years, the quasar radiates much more energy than a whole giant galaxy. If the magnitude of the radio emission of the conventional galaxy is 10 J / s, and the optical radiation is 10, then for the quasar, these values \u200b\u200bare respectively 10 and 10 j / s. Note that the nature of the quasar is not yet clarified, although there are different hypotheses: quasars are either the remains of the dead galaxies, or, on the contrary, the objects of the initial stage of the evolution of galaxies, or they are still quite new.

The brightest stars

According to the information that came to us, for the first time began to distinguish the stars in their brightness ancient Greek astronomer of Hipparch in the second century BC. e. To assess the luminosity of different stars, he divided them into 6 degrees, enclosing the concept of a star magnitude to use. At the very beginning of the XVII century, German astronomer I. Bayer proposed to designate the degree of brightness of stars in various constellations with the letters of the Greek alphabet. The brightest stars were called "Alpha" Togoto Constellation, following brightness - "beta", etc.

The brightest in our visible chaise is the Stars Denget from the constellation Swan and Rigel from the Constellation Orion. The luminosity of each of them exceeds the luminosity of the Sun, respectively, 72.5 thousand and 55 thousand times, and the remoteness from us is 1600 and 820 light years.

In the constellation Orion, there is another brightest star - the third largest luminosity of the star Betelgeuse. According to light emission, it is brighter of sunlight at 22 thousand times. Most of all bright stars, although the shine is changed periodically, it is assembled in the constellation Orion.

Star Sirius from the constellation of a large dog, which is considered the brightest among the most close to us stars, brighter our shine is only 23.5 times; The distance to it is 8.6 light years. In the same constellation there are stars and bougar. So, the Adara star shines as 8700 combined the sun at a distance of 650 light years. And the polar star, which for some reason was incorrectly considered the brightest visible star and which is located in the tip of the small bear at the removal of 780 light years from us, shines only 6,000 times the brightest sun.

The Zodiacal Constellation of the Taurus is noteworthy in that it contains an unusual star, characterized by supergiant density and relatively small spherical magnitude. As the astrophysics found out, it mainly consists of fast neutrons flying out in different directions. This star was considered the brightest in the universe.

In general, blue stars have the highest luminosity. The brightest of all famous is the star of UW SMA, which shines in 860 thousand times the bright sun. Over time, the brightness of the stars may vary. Therefore, the star-record holder in brightness may change. For example, reading an old chronicle dated July 4, 1054, you can find out that in the constellation Taurus, the brightest star was shining, which was visible to the naked eye even during the day. But over time, she started dull and after a year she was missing. Soon on the place where the star shone brightly, began to distinguish the nebula, very similar to the crab. Hence the name - the crab odds, which was born due to the outbreak of a supernovae. Modern astronomers in the center of this nebula have discovered a powerful source of radio emission, the so-called pulsar. He is the remnant of that bright supernovae described in the old annals.

So:

the brightest star in the Universe is a blue UW SMA star;
The brightest star on the visible sky is denb;
The brightest of the nearest stars is Sirius;
The brightest star in the northern hemisphere - Arctur;
the brightest star in our northern sky - Vega;
the brightest planet of the solar system - Venus;
The brightest small planet - Vesta.

The most dull star

From a plurality of weak plump stars scattered throughout the cosmic space, the most dull arrangement of 68 light years from our planet. If in size this star is inferior to the sun every 20, then in terms of luminosity - already 20 thousand times. The previous record holder by 30% emit more light.

The first test certificate of a supernova

Supernovae astronomers call star objects suddenly flashing and reaching their maximum luminosity for a relatively short period of time. As you managed to establish, the most ancient testimony about the outbreak of a supernovae of all surrendered astronomical observations refers to the XIV century BC. e. Then the ancient Chinese thinkers registered the birth of a supernovae and pointed out on the polycir of a large turtle its location and outbreak time. Modern researchers managed to determine the place in the universe, at which there is currently a powerful source of gamma emission. There is hope - that such ancient testimonies will help to the end to deal with the problems associated with supernovae, and trace the evolutionary by the special stars of the universe. Such evidence plays an important role in the modern interpretation of the nature of the origin and the death of stars.

The shortest star

The discovery of the Australian Astronomer Group under the leadership of K. Makcarenoma in the 70s of the X-ray star of a new type in the Constellations of the Southern Cross and Centaurus made a lot of noise. The fact is that scientists turned out to be witnesses and the death of the star, the life expectancy of which was an unprecedented short time - about 2 years. This has not yet happened in the entire history of astronomy. A suddenly broken star lost his shine for negligible for star processes time.

The most ancient stars

Astrophysics from the Netherlands developed a new, more advanced methodology for determining the age of the most old stars of our galaxy. It turns out that after the so-called large explosion and the formation of the first stars in the Universe, only 12 billion light years have passed, i.e., much less time than still considered. How true in judgments these scientists will show time.

The youngest star

According to the testimony of scientists from the UK, Germany and the United States, leading joint research, the youngest stars are located in the nebulae NGC 1333. This nebula is located from us at a distance of 1100 light years. It attracts the increased attention of astrophysics since 1983 as the most convenient object of observation, the study of which will allow to reveal the mechanism of the birth of stars. Reliable data received from the infrared satellite "IRAS" confirmed astronomer guesses on the incorrect processes characteristic of the early stages of the formation of stars. At least several south of this nebula was recorded 7 brightest star birth. Among them were identified the youngest, called "IRAS-4". Its age turned out to be quite "infant": only a few thousand years. A lot of hundreds of thousands of years will need, so that the star reaches the stage of its ripening when conditions for the raging flow of chain nuclear reactions will be created in its core.

The smallest star

In 1986, earlier American astronomers from the Kittpik Observatory in our galaxy was discovered previously unknown star, which received the designation LHS 2924, the mass of which is 20 less than that of the Sun, and the luminosity is less than six orders. This star turned out to be the smallest in our galaxy. The light emission occurs as a result of the thermalide reaction of the conversion of hydrogen in helium.

The most rapid star

In early 1993, a message was received from Cornell University that the unusually quickly moving star object was found in the depths of the universe, which received the PSR 2224 + 65 number in the star catalog. With a correspondence meeting with a new star, the discoverers collided immediately with two peculiarities. First, it turned out to be in shape not round, but guitar-like. Secondly, this star moved in outer space at a speed of 3.6 million km / h, which is much superior to all other well-known stars. The speed of the newly discovered star times in 100 exceeds the speed of our shining. This star is from us at such a distance that if she had moved towards us, it could overlap it for 100 million years.

The fastest rotations of astronomical objects

In nature, the pulsars rotate the fastest - pulsating sources of radio emission. The speed of their rotation is so huge that the light emitted by them focuses into a thin conical beam, which the earth observer can register at equal intervals. Atomic clock strokes with greatest accuracy can be removed by means of pulsary radio radiation. The fastest astronomical object was found by a group of American astronomers at the end of 1982 with a large radio telescope in Arecibo on Puerto Rico Island. This is a super-fast pulsar with assigned designation PSR 1937 + 215, located in the constellation of chanterelles at a distance of 16 thousand light years. In general, the pulsars are known to humanity only a quarter of a century. For the first time they were discovered in 1967 by a group of English astronomers led by the Nobel Laureate E. Hewish as sources of pulsating with high accuracy of electromagnetic radiation. The nature of the pulsars was not fully studied, but many experts believe that it is rapidly rotating around their own axis neutron stars, exciting strong magnetic fields. But the innovative pulsar-record holder rotates with a frequency of 642 rev / s. The former record belonged to the pulsar from the center of the crabovoid nebula, giving strictly periodic radiation pulses with a period of 0.033 rev / s. If other pulsars emit usually waves in the radio band from meter to centimeters, then this pulsar also emits X-ray and gamadiapazones. And it was from this pulsar for the first time a slowdown in ripples. A new double star system was discovered by the joint efforts of researchers from the European Space Agency and the famous Losalamamos Scientific Laboratory when studying X-ray radiation of stars a new double star system was discovered. Scientists most interested in the extraordinarily rapid rotation of its components around their center. Record close was also the distance between the celestial luminaires included in the star couple. At the same time, the emerging powerful gravitational field includes a near-locked White Dwarf in its scope, thereby causing it to rotate with a colossal speed - 1200 km / s. The intensity of the X-ray radiation of this pair of stars is about 10 thousand times higher than the radiation of the Sun.

Highest speed

Until recently, it was believed that the maximum speed of distribution of any physical interactions is the speed of light. Above the speed of movement, equal to 299,792,458 m / s, with which the light in vacuo is spread, according to specialists, in nature should not be. This follows from the theory of Einstein's relativity. True, many prestigious scientific centers on existence in the global space of superlumular movements have become increasingly more common. For the first time, superluminal data managed to obtain American astrophysics R. Walkeer and J. M. Benson in 1987. When observing the radio source of the CH 120, located at a considerable distance from the nucleus of the galaxy, these researchers recorded the speed of moving the individual elements of the radio builder exceeding the speed of light. Careful analysis of the combined radiocarity of the source of the source of the CP 120 gave the value of the linear velocity of 3.7 ± 1.2 on the speed of light. The scientists have not been operated in large values \u200b\u200bof movement speeds.

The strongest gravitational lens in the Universe

The phenomenon of the gravitational lenses predicted Einstein yet. It creates the illusion of the dual image of an astronomical radiation object by means of a powerful gravitational field that bridges the rays of light. For the first time, Einstein's hypothesis received a real confirmation in 1979. Since then, a whole dozen gravitational lenses is opened. The strongest of them was discovered in March 1986 by American astrophysics from the Kittpike Observatory led by E. Turner. When observing one quasar remote from the Earth for a distance of 5 billion light years, it was recorded by its split, separated by 157 angular seconds. This is a lot of fantastic. Suffice it to say that other gravitational lenses lead to a split image with a length of no more than seven angular seconds. Apparently, the cause of such a colossal generation of the image is a supermassive black hole, which is 1000 times heavier than our galaxy, as a result of which a powerful gravitational field is created in this part of the space of the universe.

The most powerful magnet of the universe

The most powerful magnetic field in the universe is formed in the vicinity of the star of the fifteenth size under the astronomical designation of PG 1031 + 234. This is a white dwarf of about the same size as the Earth, but from the star at a distance of 100 light years. American astrophysics from the University of Arizona in the mid-1980s determined the magnitude of magnetic induction in this section of space and ... could not believe it. The instrument testimony was at the level of 70 thousand. Testel, or in Gaussian units - 700 million. Such a strong magnetic field in the Universe has not yet been observed.

Unique gas-pepped clouds in space

In the late 70s, the press appeared information about discovery in the interstellar space of a giant gas-pepped cloud. According to scientists estimates, the mass of this cloud is three times the mass of the Sun (1.9889x1030 kg). This is the biggest gas pepper cloud in the universe. And the most bright gas pepper cloud in the interstellar space is the Orion Nebula. The mass of the super grinding gas cloud exceeds the mass of the Sun 300 times, and it is located at a distance of about 1.5 thousand light years from us.

The largest hydrogen cloud in the universe

An impressively large cloud of neutral hydrogen was found in the Universe completely by chance when solving other astronomical tasks in Arecibo American astronomers from Cornell University. In the diameter, this is a cloud of 10 more than our galaxy, and the hydrogen mass in the cloud is almost billion times more than the mass of our shining. The cloud is located towards the constellation of Leo at a distance of 65 million light years from the Earth and rotates around the center of the masses at a speed of 80 km / s. As scientists suggest, from this gigantic hydrogen cloud, the birth of a new galaxy is possible. Thereby, there is a question of a large explosion theory of the simultaneous birth of all galaxies after a colossal explosion in the universe.

The most common substance in the interstellar space

In a lifeless interstellar medium, molecules of more than 60 chemicals were identified. Most of all in the interstellar space of hydrogen. For prevalence, hydrogen is much ahead of the total content of all other chemical elements. If we take a hydrogen content per unit, then the relative content of helium will be 0.09, oxygen - 0.0007, carbon - 0.0003, nitrogen - 0.00009.

The most compacted accumulations of astronomical objects

Black holes are the most compacted accumulations of astronomical objects. The most dense clusters of space objects are the so-called black holes predicted by the theory of relativity. In the outer space, the occurrence of black holes occurs as a result of a colossal gravitational compression of supermassive astronomical objects. Compression is so strong that the field that has arisen does not release the light emission from the zone of its influence. According to estimates of astrophysics, the cosmic density in black holes reaches 5x10 mg / m. It is so huge amount that it is difficult to imagine or compare with the measured values \u200b\u200bin nature. For comparison: the density of the neutron star and the density of the atomic nucleus is 10.4 mg / m, and the sun is only 1.4 mg / m. The average density in the ordinary galaxy is 2x1 mg / m, and in the entire universe presumably 10 mg / m.

Millennies people peered into the starry sky. Whether it concerned the creation of legends and myths, monitoring the change of seasons of the year, or navigating on the expanses of the World Ocean, the celestial sphere was one of the most important assistants of humanity throughout his history.
In this selection, we consider 25 brightest space objects that you can see (depending on light pollution in your area), just looking at the sky.
Objects in this list are distributed by the degree of their brightness for a conventional observer from the Earth - the unit of measure, known as the visible starry value.

Nebula Kila
We will start our selection of "25 brightest space objects visible to the unarmed look" with the only nebula on this list: the nebula of the keel.
The nebula of the keel is called the interstellar accumulation of cosmic dust and ionized gas. It is especially noteworthy in that it is the brightest star of the Milky Way - WR25.
Although this star is like 6300,000 of our Suns, in the presented top-25, it did not get due to their remoteness from us - almost seven and a half thousand light years. For comparison, the sun from the Earth separates the distance of just at 0.000016 of the light year.

Sword star
In the night sky, we can see other galaxies and nebulae - such as our native Milky Way, Orion Nebula, Pleiad and the Galaxy of Andromeda - but, from the point of view of the visible star magnitude, they are pale of other cosmic bodies in our list.
Therefore, the second place is the star of the Speaker - Alpha Constellation of the Virgin. Technically, the spoke is two stars, located so close that together they form one star in the shape of an egg.

Antares
The next chosen one is removed from the ground for six hundred light years and is known as the "Heart of Scorpio", as it is the brightest star of this constellation.
Best of all Antares watch around May 31, when it is exactly opposite the Sun, appearing at dusk and disappearing at dawn.

Aldebaran.
Star Aldebaran (not to be confused with Alderan - the native planet of the princess lei from the "Star Wars") - this is Alpha Constellation Taurus. Translated from Arabian Aldebaran means "follower".
Aldebaran is easy to detect in the night sky - just find the Orion's belt and count three stars in the direction of the clockwise direction (or, on the contrary, if you are in the southern hemisphere) to the next brightest stars.
Humanity will find out more about Aldebaran when the probe Pioneer 10 will pass by this star in two million years. Oh yeah. We do not wait.

Alpha Southern Cross (Akruks)
The southern cross is among the most recognizable features of the night skyscland, also known as CRUX constellation. His brightest star, his Alpha - Akruks - placed five states for their flags: Australia, Papua - New Guinea, Samoa, New Zealand and Brazil.
In fact, Akroks is not a single star, but a star system of three components. Judging by the mass and brightness, the two stars will soon turn into supernovae.
To find AKRAS, look at the "bottom" of the southern Cross.

Altair
Star Altair - the second brightness of the top of a large summer triangle. From the vertices of the summer triangle Altair will also close the star and Alpha Constellation of the Eagle to Earth.
Neighboring top of the triangle - Star Denget, Alpha Lyra - seems to us paler Altair, but only because it is 214 times further from us. In the absolute star magnitude, the denbent seven thousand times is brighter Altair.

Beta Centauri (Agenya, Hadar)
The Triple Star Beta Constellation Constellation Constellation is historically one of the most important and most striking nightlife objects.
Prior to the invention, the compass, the navigaters determined the location of the south, connecting the imaginary line of beta centaution and akroks - the support points of the southern cross - an analogue of the polar star in a single hemisphere. Both the southern cross, and the Polar Star since ancient times played the role of the main and reliable reference point when navigating.

Bethelgeuse
Bethlege star is so huge that if you put it on the place of our Sun, it will absorb the ground with Venus and Mercury, and even Mars. This massive supergiant is distinguished among the objects of our list of the most volatile visible star magnitude. In addition, it can be observed almost everywhere from autumn to spring.
And Bethelgeuse is a chance for us, earthlings, see the explosion of a supernova for the first time after 1054.
Find Bethelgeuse in the sky is simple. Take a look at the bright red star, located perpendicular to Orion's belt.

Ahernar.
Ahernarnar is the biggest and the hottest heavenly body of those that we can observe the unarmed look.
Interestingly, due to the characteristics of the orbital trajectory, Ahernar escaped the attention of most of our predecessors, and even from the ancient Egyptian astronomers.
And the extremely high speed of rotation gives Ahernarna the least spherical shape among the bodies of the Milky Way.

PERSON
Promotion - the second brightest star in the Big Winter Triangle. In the sky, she looks reddish, especially at the end of winter.
The priest appears in the cultures of many nations, from the ancient Babylonians and Hawaiians to the Brazilian ethnos Kalapalo.
Eskimos call the SikuliarsiujuitTuQ probe - by the name of the fat man from the legend, which stoleed from his relatives, because it was too heavy for ice hunting. Other hunters convinced him to go to the newly formed ice, and the fat man drowned. The color of his blood Eskimos associated with the procation.

Star Rigel
Rigel is the brightest star in the Zodiacal Constellation of Orion. It is located opposite Orion's belt diagonally from Bethelgeuse.
Rigel is the most distant star from the ground in this selection, we are separated by 863 light years. Relatively reiglel is also a variable visible value, which is caused by its ripples - the result of the thermalide reactions of hydrogen synthesis.

Capella
Translated from Latin Capella means "little goat". For modern people, it sounds incomprehensible, but the Greeks, and for them and the Romans, very honored this star, because they associated her with a goat, who fed to God Zeus.
The visible stars of chapel is 0.07, and in brightness is the third star in the northern hemisphere. Inhabitants of latitudes north of 44 ° S.Sh. They can see the chapel as day and night.

Vega
Vega is one of the most important stars in heaven, some even consider it the second most important after the sun.
Located only 25 light years from the ground, Vega was our northern polar star 14000 years ago. And she will return this status about 13727, when changes in orbit will again make it brighter the current polar star.
Vega is also known as the first star after the sun, captured on the film.

Arctur.
Star of Arcturus is the brightest in the northern heavenly hemisphere.
It is probably that this orange giant helped the Polynesians so successfully cross the Pacific Ocean.
To find Arcturus in the night sky, follow the handle of the bucket of a big bear to the first bright star.

Alpha Centauri
Alpha Centauro is a double starry system from beta price.
At the absolute star magnitude, she is not very brighter than our Sun and is closest to the solar system (only 4.37 light years).
In addition, it is one of the supporting points of the Southern Cross, who helped Magellan and other navigators to lay the course on the ocean in the southern hemisphere.
Many astronomers believe that there is a planet in the orbit of this star system, and not even one.

Star Canopus.
Canopus - the second brightest star in the night sky, and in the time of dinosaurs, she would lead in the list of the brightest on the visible star magnitude.
Although now the championship after another star, whose name is immortalized in the name of the Garry Potter's godfather, canopus return to the top of the list at about 480 thousand, when he will again become the brightest star in the night sky.
For a naked view, Canopus looks white, but becomes a yellowish hue, if you look at it through a telescope.

Sirius
The brightest star of the night sky, Sirius, also referred to as the "dog star", since it is included in that part of the constellation, which is called "PsOV Orion".
The phrase "PSA days is over" (as, for example, in the song of the group Florence + The Machine) occurs just from Sirius.
By the location of Sirius in the sky, the ancient Greeks were determined when "Days of PSA" begin - the hottest period of the summer season.

Saturn
The first and most pale of the planets of the solar system visible to the unarmed look - Saturn. At the same time, Saturn is one of the most exciting space bodies for observation through the telescope.
Even small telescopes (with a minimum 30-fold increase) are able to distinguish the famous rings of Saturn - mostly consisting of wreckage of ice and stone.
And the largest moon of Saturn - Titan - can be seen even with strong binoculars.

Mercury
Since Mercury rotates around the Sun within the earth's orbit, it is visible from the surface of our planet only in the morning and evenings, and never in the middle of the night.
Like our moon, Mercury has a phase series, which can be shifted using a telescope.

Mars
Mars was the focus of professional astronomers and lovers for thousands of years. Easily distinguishable in the night sky due to the characteristic shade, the red planet has a visible value -2.91. Best of all Mars was visible from July to September 2003, especially in August, then Mars for earthlings was brighter than preceding 60 thousand years.

Jupiter
The largest planet of the solar system, Jupiter - a light target for finding and observation with a naked eye.
And with the help of a simple telescope, you can distinguish the famous cloud belts, enveloping the surface of Jupiter, and perhaps even the four of its largest moon.
If you choose the right time and a strong telescope - you will be able to admire the big red stain of Jupiter.

Venus
The brightest planet, which we can see the unarmed look, Venus played an important role in the culture of mankind not one millennium.
Singing poets as the morning and evening star, Venus appears after sunset, overtaking the earth in its annual rotation cycle, and before dawn, passing by the Earth.
Venus is so bright that it can be seen even at noon.

International Space Station
The only manual object on our list, the International Space Station, takes plenty of land 15 times a day, creating many possibilities for observation, although sometimes it is confused with a fast moving aircraft.

Moon
Our beloved moon is the most recognizable and most distinguished by the unarmed look of the night sky objects. Sometimes visible and in the light of the day, the moon always shows us only one of its side, because it rotates synchronously with the earth.
Last president George Bush offered a project to create a lunar base by 2024, but after the focus of attention of NASA shifted to send a person to the orbit of Mars in 2035.

The sun
It is worthwhile to be surprised that the donating-us-life star leads in the list of the brightest space objects.
But, although you can look at the sun with a naked eye, try to avoid it: perhaps, a few seconds of direct observation will not be blind, but for a few hours will do it certainly.
Star cards are disclosed. The most prominent stars of the night sky have gained their names and stories, experienced starmen checked their knowledge, and readers who are distant from astrophysics discovered a new unexplored world for themselves full of shining cosmic shigns.
In parallel and pocket universes, their star cards, and in this there are laws of quantum mechanics - the observers change the observed - and each of our eyes will swell something - invisibly and irreversibly.