How to find the stars in the sky. Constellations How to find a large constellation in the sky
Feng Shui masters say that the star of his birth has a huge influence on the fate of a person. It is easy to determine it, it corresponds to the Gua number, which is calculated according to the year of birth. This system is different from classical Western numerology, . In Feng Shui, the Gua number indicates the personal energy of a person.
The calculation of the Gua number is simple and straightforward, but requires some care and accuracy in execution. It is calculated according to the following formulas:
For a man born before 2000, you need to calculate the Gua number like this - first add the last two digits of the year of birth. If the result is a two-digit number, then add them up again to leave one number. Then subtract the result from 10.
For a woman, add the last two digits of her year of birth in the same way, reduce the result to one, and add the number 5.
For people born in 2000 and later, the calculation formula will be slightly different. So, for a girl, not 5, but 6 should be added to the final result. And for a boy, the result should be subtracted from 9. If he was born in 2009, then it is clear that the Gua number will be zero can not. And then it equals 9.
Important points:
Gua number 5 does not exist! When the final total is 5, then for a woman the Gua number is 8, and for a man it is 2.
Keep in mind that the year according to the solar Chinese calendar does not begin on January 1, as in the generally accepted one, but at the beginning of February. Therefore, if you were born between January 1 and February 4-5, then you need to carry out the calculations as if you were born in the previous year.
Add the last two digits of the year: 5 + 1 = 6
Add 5 + 6 = 11
Adding 1 + 1 = 2
So, the Gua number for her is 2
Number Gua 1 - Star Peacock
Number Gua 2 - Star Rigel
Number Gua 3 - Star Deneb
Number Gua 4 - Star Gamma
Number Gua 6 - Star Arcturus
Number Gua 7 - Star Capella
Gua Number 8 - Spica Star
Number Gua 9 - Star Vega
Star Peacock
Although you come across as a calm and unflappable person, you often experience anxiety inside. Despite the outward softness, you can be stubborn. Due to innate ambition, strive for power, try to subjugate other people. You are prone to secrecy, able to read other people's thoughts, you like the role of the "gray eminence". In financial matters, you are frugal and conservative, tending to slowly increase wealth rather than take risks.
Increased emotionality, excessive anxiety, addiction to sweets and drug abuse can lead to poor health. To avoid problems, you should maintain inner peace, control emotions.
Star Rigel
By nature, you are conservative and cautious, slow in making decisions. In relationships, loyal, honest, attentive and caring, strive to avoid conflicts. However, make sure that your support and care do not turn into painful bonds. Your huge plus is endurance and perseverance. When others prefer to step aside or surrender to the power of circumstances, you will grit your teeth and stubbornly move towards your intended goal.
You are not prone to financial risks and prefer to save money. Profit can be obtained from investing in real estate and
securities. You have an innate ability to work in industries related to food, real estate, medicine and finance.
If you want to have good health, avoid negative emotions and stress.
Star Deneb
You are optimistic, energetic and creative. Kind and friendly, but quick-tempered and anxious. In addition, you tend to act impromptu, and this can bring both benefit and irreparable harm. Be flexible, otherwise you will break under strong pressure. In order for long-term plans to bring the expected results, be patient.
In money matters, you tend to go to extremes. If you are not careful, your financial situation will resemble a roller coaster - ups and downs. Learn to control desires and save money.
To maintain health, one must learn to alternate periods of high activity with periods of rest.
Star Gamma
You are a workaholic with very diverse interests. It is difficult for you to keep up with everything, and therefore you constantly feel anxiety and from the outside look like an indecisive, confused person, whose mood changes too often. Your indecision often leads to the fact that you miss favorable opportunities. You're better off working for others instead of starting own business. The best option is a freelancer, and with work in different directions.
You should be especially careful in financial matters. Since you can easily spend everything that you have earned. Do not be naive and gullible, otherwise you may be drawn into a dishonest game that will lead to financial losses.
The key to good health is dietary restriction and an active lifestyle.
Star Arcturus
You are ambitious and determined to prove yourself right to the whole world. This is not to say that you are arrogant, but you are so convinced of your own merits and ability to manage people and situations that everyone inevitably notices this feature. Love to tell the truth, but your honesty sometimes borders on harshness. People who criticize you or give you advice annoy you. Listening is not one of your strengths. Your ambitions make you strive to win at any cost. In the struggle for dominance, you can make a lot of enemies for yourself.
Financial affairs develop more successfully in adulthood.
It must be remembered that excessive work, sullenness and anxiety can undermine health. So try to always stay in a good mood.
Star Capella
You have excellent manners and a great sense of humor. Thanks to this, you are able not only to charm people, but also to command them. With the help of flattery and cunning, you easily manipulate others and use their weaknesses for your own purposes. Be careful, one day your behind-the-scenes games will turn against you. Better use your observation and sharp mind for peaceful purposes. Learn to cooperate with other people, and then you will achieve incredible success.
In money matters you are lucky: you earn a lot, long periods you don't have money. Just beware of gambling.
To maintain your well-being at the proper level, limit your consumption of alcoholic beverages.
Spica Star
You have a strong will, you are an independent and independent person. Do not like to cooperate with others unless it gives you obvious advantages. Too suspicious and don't trust people. If you let your doubts drive your actions, you may miss out on many opportunities. There is one trap you should be aware of, and that is the possessive instinct. Deciding that the object of your desire is worthy of you, you can turn into a real jealous.
In money matters you are reputed successful person. You have excellent financial planning abilities and flair, you can make a fortune by investing your capital in various enterprises.
Star Vega
You love risk, so the phrase "don't play with fire" applies to you. When you play with dangerous things, you enjoy the feeling of risk more than the actual result. Often the result is not important, you just go ahead and do your thing. As soon as one game ends, you move on to the next and are ready to bet big again. The outer side of life is important to you. You love all the most expensive and tend to live beyond your means.
Because you can't manage your money wisely and spend everything you earn, it's hard for you to amass a fortune. However, if you listen to your intuition and not miss favorable opportunities, while at the same time restraining the impulses of extravagance, you can become a wealthy person.
To avoid health problems, you should consult a doctor at the first sign of malaise.
Margarita Fedulova, master of feng shui (Orakul newspaper).
It is generally accepted that during the day the stars are not visible. However, from the top of Mount Ararat (altitude 5,000 m), bright stars are clearly visible even at noon. The sky is dark blue. In a telescope with a lens diameter of 70 mm, bright stars can be seen even from flat terrain. But still, the stars are best observed at night, when the dazzling light of the Sun does not interfere.
The starry sky is one of the most beautiful sights that exist in nature. In the entire sky, about 6,000 stars can be seen with the naked eye.(simultaneously above the horizon about 3,000).
Since ancient times, people have mentally combined the most noticeable stars into figures and called them constellations. The constellations were associated with myths and legends. Today, a constellation is called a section of the starry sky with conditional boundaries., which includes not only stars, but also other objects - nebulae, galaxies, clusters. ABOUT objects that are part of a particular constellation are not connected with each other in any way, since they are, firstly, at different distances from the Earth, and secondly, the boundaries of the constellations are conditional, i.e. may be changed at any time.
Today on starry sky 88 constellations have been identified.
The Latin names of the constellations are also accepted. All atlases of the starry sky published abroad contain the Latin names of the constellations.
Constellations can be divided into three large groups: human (Aquarius, Cassiopeia, Orion...), animals (Hare, Swan, Whale...) and subject (Libra, Microscope, Shield...). For better memorization of the constellations, noticeable stars in them are usually connected by lines into polygons or bizarre figures. Below are: Ursa Major, Bootes, Virgo and Leo.
Since the constellations are areas, then they have an area. The areas of the constellations are different. The largest in area is the Hydra. In second place is Virgo. On the third - Ursa Major. The smallest constellation in terms of area is the Southern Cross (not visible in our latitudes).
Constellations differ in the number of bright stars. Most of the brightest stars are in Orion.
The bright stars of the constellations have their own names (usually invented by Arabic and Greek astronomers). For example, the brightest star in the constellation Lyra is Vega, in the constellation Cygnus is Deneb, in the constellation Aquila is Altair. Remember the names of the stars of the Ursa Major bucket:
The stars in the constellations also have designations. The letters of the Greek alphabet are used for designation:
α - alpha
β - beta
γ - gamma
δ - delta
ε - epsilon
ζ - zeta
η - this
etc. It is worth remembering the designation and pronunciation of at least the first seven Greek letters. This is how the stars of the Ursa Major bucket are designated:
Usually the brightest star in a constellation is denoted by the letter α (alpha). But not always. There are other systems for designating stars.
Since ancient times, star maps have been compiled. Usually they depicted not only stars, but also drawings of animals, people and objects with which the constellations were associated. Since there was no order in the name and number of constellations, star maps varied. It got to the point that various astronomers tried to introduce their own constellations (drawing the contours of the constellations in a new way). For example, in 1798 the astronomer Lalande proposed the constellation Balloon. In 1679, Halley introduced the constellation Oak Karla. There were many other exotic names (Poniatowski's Ox, Cat, Friedrich's Regalia, etc.). Only in 1922 were the conditional boundaries of the constellations finally drawn, their number and names were fixed.
For practical purposes, today they use a movable map of the starry sky, consisting of a map of the starry sky and an overlay circle with a carved oval. Here is the map:
Stars are indicated by circles of various sizes. The larger the circle, the brighter the star it depicts. On star charts double, variable stars, galaxies, nebulae, star clusters are also noted.
The starry sky slowly rotates. The reason is the rotation of the Earth around its axis. The earth rotates from west to east, and the starry sky, on the contrary, from east to west. Therefore, the stars, planets and luminaries ascend into east side horizon, and enter - in the western. This movement is called diurnal rotation. Note that the constellations daily rotation retain their relative position. The starry sky rotates as a whole, like a huge celestial sphere. The Earth makes one revolution around its axis in relation to the stars in 23 hours 56 minutes 04 seconds. This period is called sidereal days. Every 23 hours 56 minutes 04 seconds the view of the starry sky is repeated.
But this does not mean that if the Earth does not rotate around its axis, the sky will remain motionless. The appearance of the starry sky is influenced by the movement of the Earth around the Sun. If the Earth did not rotate, the appearance of the starry sky would still slowly change throughout the year. This phenomenon is called annual change in the appearance of the starry sky. We can observe that some constellations are best seen in autumn, others in winter, and so on.
Constellations can be divided according to the seasons of the year into autumn, winter, spring and summer. But this does not mean that only autumn constellations can be seen in autumn. On an early autumn evening, summer constellations dominate the sky. Over time, they tend to the west, the autumn constellations rise. In the morning, the winter constellations are perfectly visible.
The view of the starry sky also depends on the latitude of the place of observation. At the poles of the Earth, the starry sky rotates so that not a single star rises or sets. As you move towards the equator, the number of rising and setting stars increases. In the middle latitudes, there are both rising-setting stars, as well as not setting and never rising. For example,in the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere of the Earththe constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, Cassiopeia never sink below the horizon. But on the other hand, the constellations of the Southern Cross, the Crane, the Altar never ascend. At the earth's equator, all the stars rise and set. If daylight did not interfere, in one day one could see all 88 constellations.
The constellations help with orientation on the ground. It is especially useful to learn how to find the sides of the horizon using the North Star, since it hardly changes its position in the sky. The easiest way to find the North Star is by using the bucket from the constellation Ursa Major (to be precise, the line runs slightly to the left of the North Star):
The North Star always hangs over the north point. If you stand with your back to it, then the south will be in front, the east to the left, and the west to the right.
Some people think that the North Star is the brightest star in the sky. But it's not. The brightest is Sirius from the constellation Big Dog. Polaris is the main navigational star.
An angular measure is used to measure the apparent distances between stars and also the diameters of the disks of the planets, the Sun and the Moon, the apparent sizes of nebulae and galaxies. 1 degree of arc contains 60 arc minutes, and 1 arc minute contains 60 arc seconds. The diameters of the disks of the Sun and the Moon are approximately equal to 0.5º.
The night skies are always eye-catching, but most of all you want to keep your eyes on them when the sky is strewn with stars.
A large number of them are grouped into certain constellations that have their own names. Each of them got its name thanks to a fascinating legend.
To independently distinguish between star clusters, you can use a special astrological chart that will help you recognize the signs of the Zodiacs.
The list of constellations in alphabetical order will tell you how many popular groups of celestial bodies there are in the Universe.
Any large-scale event or adventure, as well as the origin of their names, is associated with myths and legends.
The names of celestial bodies are also inextricably linked with myths, according to which one can learn their history. The shapes of all the constellations gave rise to the name.
The way a person observes the stars does not mean at all that this is how they are located in the sky: each star is at a great distance from each other.
A few myths about the origin will help to understand their names:
- Cassiopeia. The story tells how the proud wife of Cepheus, the ruler of Ethiopia, boasted to the sea nymphs of her beauty and the beauty of her daughter.
In response, they asked Poseidon to punish her. Ethiopia was attacked - Poseidon sent a huge monster; Cepheus and Cassiopeia, not knowing how to save Ethiopia, sent their daughter to her death.
Andromeda was saved by Perseus, and they eventually got married. This is how Cassiopeia, Perseus, Andromeda, Cepheus, Pegasus and Kit were formed.
- Veronica's hair. The interesting name of the constellation in the sky was obtained due to an equally interesting myth.
Tales say that the Egyptian queen Veronica, sending her husband to war, swore to the gods that she would give up her beautiful hair.
And so she had to do when her husband returned home unharmed.
- Ursa Minor and Ursa Major. The story tells how the princess Callisto was fascinated by the beauty of Zeus.
His wife Hera found out about this and turned her into a clumsy Bear. The grown-up son of lovers Arkad, once met this bear in the forest, wanted to kill her.
However, Zeus stopped him. Then Arkad raised his mother to heaven, making her a constellation. For Ursa Minor, Arkad presented his beloved dog to his mother.
Such interesting legends surprise with their fabulousness: having found constellations in the sky from a photo, you can find confirmation of some myths.
List of constellations alphabetically and photo
Almost all names were given in honor of mythological heroes Ancient Greece, animals, significant objects of our time.
Astronomers often named clusters of celestial bodies by the shape they represent.
Note! The sky map is strewn with hundreds of stars, with the help of its photo you can easily find the required constellation if you go outside on a clear night.
Thanks to the names, modern scientists can better understand the way of life and the type of thinking of people who lived before us.
Consider a selection of names in alphabetical order with photographs:
Name | Total number of stars | The number of stars visible to man |
Andromeda | 54 | 3 |
Big Dipper | 71 | 6 |
Big Dog | 56 | 5 |
Bootes | 53 | 2 |
Crow | 11 | 0 |
Hercules | 85 | 0 |
Hydra | 71 | 1 |
Dolphin | 11 | 0 |
Unicorn | 36 | 0 |
Painter | 15 | 0 |
Ophiuchus | 55 | 2 |
Indian | 13 | 0 |
Swan | 79 | 3 |
Small Horse | 5 | 0 |
Pump | 9 | 0 |
Eagle | 47 | 1 |
Peacock | 28 | 1 |
Lynx | 31 | 0 |
Net | 11 | 0 |
Telescope | 17 | 0 |
Phoenix | 27 | 1 |
Chameleon | 13 | 0 |
Compass | 10 | 0 |
Bowl | 11 | 0 |
Shield | 9 | 0 |
Southern Triangle | 12 | 1 |
Lizard | 23 | 0 |
How to find the constellation of your zodiac sign on the sky map
Many children and adults are concerned about the question of how to find their own constellation in the sky? To do this, you can use a special map of the starry sky.
The space is conditionally divided into the southern and northern hemispheres, each of which contains certain clusters of stars:
- Aries of stars looks like a tick, symbolizing the creature's horns.
- Taurus is made up of 14 clearly visible stars: it looks like two separate constellations.
- Gemini really look like figures of two little men in the sky.
- The constellation Cancer resembles a triangle, from which a strip departs.
- Leo is considered the brightest constellation, the figurine really resembles the silhouette of an animal.
- Virgo is considered the largest sign, it resembles a disproportionate rectangle with 4 stripes.
- Scales look like a triangle with rays extending from it.
- Scorpio contains 17 stars, in the sky the constellation resembles a fork.
- 14 bright stars are shown in the sky of Sagittarius - it looks like a complex composition of celestial bodies.
- Winter Capricorn can be recognized by its characteristic heart-shaped cluster.
- Aquarius is a set of rays.
- At the point of the Pisces Zodiac on Earth, the day of the vernal equinox comes - it looks like an incomplete triangle.
To discover the most popular constellations on your own, go outside on a clear night and try to find the Big Dipper - you can try to identify other clusters of stars from it.
Important! In different regions of residence, you can detect the glow of stars in varying degrees of power.
The symbols of the Zodiacs used today in horoscopes do not correspond to their real shape in the sky.
Tales of the constellation Orion
The surrounding world is filled with a large number of mysteries, legends and tales. Many of them tell about the origin of clusters of stars.
One of the most interesting series of fairy tales are stories about the constellation Orion.
This group of stars represents one of the most beautiful constellations in the southern hemisphere of the sky.
There are several tales about this cluster of celestial bodies:
- Orion was the son of Poseidon in mythology: according to legend, he was able to defeat all the animals, for which Hera sent a Scorpio to him.
Orion died from the bite of a creature in an unequal struggle for the heart of Princess Merope.
According to legend, a person will never be able to see two constellations in the sky at the same time - Orion and Scorpio.
- South American Indians also have a favorite tale about Orion. It speaks of three brothers, two of whom were single.
One of the unmarried brothers was more beautiful than the other, it seemed to him that the relative was jealous.
Because of this, the handsome man killed his brother. His soul went to heaven and became the constellation of Orion.
Such fairy tales can be told to kids to acquaint them with the culture of different peoples. How many constellations, so many legends exist in the world.
To enjoy the beauty of the night sky, it is not necessary to know all the mythology for sure.
Useful video
stellarium- This planetarium program to explore the sky in real time and with the ability to control time. Free, fairly easy to use, highly customizable Stellarium, of course, is unlikely to surprise astronomy professionals, but it will be very useful in the first stages of studying the Universe by novice astronomers. And with its help, the townsfolk will be able to expand their horizons by familiarizing themselves with the basics of the structure of the sky.
Or at least just find out what kind of stars shine through the window at night. Below we will get acquainted with key features Stellarium in the program overview.
Free download program for OS Windows, linux, MacOS you can on the official website:
1. The main functionality of the program
Because the Stellarium is a real-time sky simulator, running the program during the day, we get the same picture as in reality - the sky illuminated by the mother star the Sun. But, unlike reality, the sky in the program window will not be covered with clouds. Stellarium should automatically determine the location within the country. All that remains to be done manually to set the desired angle is to rotate the image with the mouse, respectively, in the desired direction of the world. Landmark Button south, north, west or East on the pop-up bottom toolbar, also controlled by the Q key, is active in the program by default.
To see the sky dotted with stars from the earth during the day by the light of the Sun in real life, impossible. But this is possible in the Stellarium program. A dedicated button on the toolbar at the bottom and its function key A can do a trick that actually threatens most of the species of life on our planet - it's an atmosphere shutdown . With the atmosphere turned off at any time of the day, we can observe the sky the same as on a cloudless night far from the lanterns of civilization.
Using the mouse wheel, you can zoom in and out of objects in the sky. By clicking the right mouse button on the selected star, planet or other space object, astronomical information will appear. By clicking the left mouse button, the help is removed from the screen. In order for the selected object to always remain in the center of the program window when it is enlarged, you can use the center button on the toolbar at the bottom or the space bar.
For convenience when exploring the sky with the buttons on the toolbar at the bottom (or their hotkeys) You can turn filters on and off:
Lines, names and images of constellations, visibility of the earth's surface,
Equatorial and azimuthal grid,
planet names solar system, displaying exoplanets in the sky,
Displays of deep sky objects,
As well as other functions, including those added by including program plugins.
***
By default, the program is optimally configured so that the layman, who is not savvy in the field of astronomy, can satisfy his curiosity with the help of Stellarium without delving into technical details that are unnecessary for him. Unless absolutely beginners will first have to get acquainted with the classification of cosmic bodies and understand what their individual indicators mean. Connoisseurs in the field of astronomy can flexibly customize Stellarium to fit their needs, for example, by selecting certain star catalogs, selecting the desired cartographic projection, changing the pre-installed Western system of astronomical knowledge to the knowledge system of the Aztecs, Egyptians, Chinese, etc. At the same time, the layman will also find quite understandable and interesting things in the Stellarium settings, implemented in the pop-up sidebar on the left. Let's take a closer look at some of these settings.
2. Location
First sidebar button - location setting . If the checkbox for getting location from the network is inactive by default, you can set it here so that every time you start the program you do not manually set the country and locality to display the sky in real time. The main feature of this setting is the abundance of viewpoints from where you can observe the sky. As a viewpoint, Stellarium allows you to manually select any continent, any country, various settlements within countries. The sky in the program window will be as it is seen in the selected area in reality.
Moreover, in the program window you can look at the sky while being virtually on other planets, their satellites and even on the Sun. How majestic Jupiter is in the sky from the surface of its satellites, albeit through flawed graphics, but still can be seen by selecting in the column "Planet" such satellites of the gas giant as Europe , And about , Ganymede or Callisto .
And the handsome Saturn is most spectacular when viewed from the surface of the moon Mimas.
3. Date and time
You can move from the present to the past or future of space using the second sidebar setting − date and time setting tables.
Putting in it a significant date landing a man on the moon - July 24, 1969 , alas, we will not see in the Stellarium window flying up to the Earth's satellite Apollo 11. As well as, of course, even at the maximum approximation we will not be able to see Neil Armstrong, enthusiastically sticking into the soil of the moon American flag. Fireworks from the Jupiter impact of Comet Shoemaker - Levy 9 in 1994 can also be observed only in video chronicles on YouTube, but not in the Stellarium window. All space simulators available today are still very far from this level of software. The past and the future in the Stellarium program exist only for the placement of cosmic bodies in the sky.
The third sidebar button launches a window with settings for the sky, deep sky objects, star knowledge system, and landscape. The tab allows you to select a picture of the surface to the horizon. Among the possible pictures for customization - ocean, terrain on earth, mars, Moon, upper atmosphere of gas giants.
Simulating the surface of the planets is nothing more than an effect, and in order to concentrate only on the sky, you can choose a zero horizon as a landscape, which will simply color the surface in green color. The terrain is applied to all points from which the sky can be viewed by setting them in the location settings. We will drown in the upper layers of the gas of Jupiter and Saturn, considering the sky from the Earth, Mars, the Moon, and the landscapes of the latter will have to be seen, being on Uranus, Neptune and even on the Sun.
The drawing of the atmosphere is also the same for all planets. For example, on Venus, on the surface of which in reality nothing can be seen in the sky either day or night due to thick clouds of sulfuric acid, we will look at the stars in the Stellarium window as if from a cloudless paradise on Earth.
5. Search for space objects
The fourth button of the sidebar is the search for space objects by keyword, by their coordinates or within lists. Lists of space objects are a good tool for studying the Universe, if you do not initially know what to look for. In the tab of the Stellarium search window, we can find out the location in the sky and get help about individual space objects, such as: galaxies, constellations, quasars, blazars, star clusters, supernova remnants, etc. And you can even look at some of them.
Another tool for those who do not know where to start exploring the Universe is a tool.
The fifth button of the sidebar opens the program settings window. In the penultimate tab, scripts will be available that demonstrate to the user certain features of Stellarium. We can run scripts to view the lunar and solar eclipses, supernova explosions, the passage of Venus across the solar disk and other astronomical events. There are scripts in the format of tours to various corners of space.
Stellarium is installed with separate plug-ins active by default that extend the program's capabilities, such as, for example, exoplanet filter or telescope eyepiece . In the last settings tab, unused plugins can be removed so that they do not burden the program and do not distract attention. And the necessary plugins from among the inactive ones can, on the contrary, be turned on.
After checking the activation checkbox for a particular plug-in, the Stellarium program must be restarted. Plug-ins, such as the eyepiece, may have their own separate settings.
8. Saving and resetting the program settings
You should not be afraid to experiment with the Stellarium settings, at any time everything configured can be returned to its original state. In the settings tab "Main" button is present. Next to it is another button - "Save settings". You should not forget about it before exiting the program, otherwise the settings made will not be saved after the restart.
9. Accelerating the passage of time
The player buttons on the toolbar below are another opportunity to get into the virtual past or future, but not in an instant, as in the case of setting a specific date, but gradually and at a certain speed of reproducing events in the sky. Sunsets and sunrises on Earth and other planets of the solar system can be observed, as in a movie, accelerated forward or backward along the timeline. Player buttons can be used for the same purpose when viewing scenarios.
Summing up…
Stellarium is hard to name 3D universe simulator. From concept 3D-product by modern standards, the program is very far away. Stellarium is perhaps a good sky navigator, perhaps the program can be considered as a database of certain data on space objects, but this program clearly did not work as a simulator. The reason for this, independent of the developers of Stellarium, is that it is very difficult to implement in one software product everything that has stretched out in the Universe for billions of light years. But there are also moments that the creators of the program could have improved.
What is there to say about the quality of drawing the planets, if the program does not have images for all deep space objects. About quasars, blazars, individual galaxies and supernova remnants, as well as other space objects, we will get only a brief astronomical reference, but we will not see how they look. But okay, deep space objects, artificial satellites of the Earth could at least be drawn. To make the ISS look like the ISS, not like a star.
The disadvantage of Stellarium graphics has a downside, a positive side - the program can be installed on low-powered computers.
Constellations are sections of the starry sky. In order to better navigate the starry sky, ancient people began to distinguish groups of stars that could be connected into separate figures, similar objects, mythological characters and animals. Such a system allowed people to organize the night sky, making each part of it easily recognizable. This simplified the study of celestial bodies, helped to measure time, apply astronomical knowledge in agriculture and navigate by the stars. The stars that we see in our sky as if in one area, in fact, can be extremely far from each other. In one constellation there can be unrelated stars, both very close and very far from the Earth.
There are 88 official constellations in total. In 1922, 88 constellations were officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union, 48 of which were described by the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy in his Almagest star catalog around 150 BC. There were gaps in Ptolemy's maps, especially in the southern sky. Which is quite logical - the constellations described by Ptolemy covered that part of the night sky that is visible from the south of Europe. The rest of the gaps began to fill in during the great geographical discoveries. In the 14th century, the Dutch scientists Gerard Mercator, Peter Keyser and Frederick de Houtman added new constellations to the existing list, and the Polish astronomer Jan Hevelius and the French Nicolas Louis de Lacaille completed what Ptolemy had begun. On the territory of Russia, out of 88 constellations, about 54 can be observed.
Knowledge about the constellations came to us from ancient cultures. Ptolemy compiled a map of the starry sky, but people used knowledge of the constellations long before that. At least in the 8th century BC, when Homer mentioned Bootes, Orion and Ursa Major in his poems The Iliad and The Odyssey, people already grouped the sky into separate figures. It is believed that the bulk of the knowledge of the ancient Greeks about the constellations came to them from the Egyptians, who, in turn, inherited them from the inhabitants of Ancient Babylon, the Sumerians or Akkadians. About thirty constellations were already distinguished by the inhabitants of the late bronze age, in 1650−1050. BC, judging by the records on the clay tablets of Ancient Mesopotamia. Constellation references can also be found in Hebrew biblical texts. Perhaps the most remarkable constellation is the constellation of Orion: in almost every ancient culture it had its own name and was revered as special. Yes, in Ancient Egypt he was considered the incarnation of Osiris, and in ancient Babylon was called the "faithful shepherd of heaven." But the most amazing discovery was made in 1972: in Germany, a piece of mammoth ivory was found, more than 32 thousand years old, on which the constellation Orion was carved.
We see different constellations depending on the season. During the year, different parts of the sky (and different celestial bodies, respectively) appear to our gaze, because the Earth makes its annual journey around the Sun. The constellations we see at night are the ones behind the Earth on our side of the Sun. during the day, behind the bright rays of the sun, we are unable to see them.
To better understand how this works, imagine that you are riding a merry-go-round (this is the Earth) with a very bright, blinding light (the Sun) emanating from the center. You will not be able to see what is in front of you because of the light, but you will be able to distinguish only what is outside the carousel. In this case, the picture will constantly change as you ride in a circle. Which constellations you observe in the sky and at what time of the year they appear also depends on the geographic latitude of the viewer.
Constellations travel from east to west like the sun. As soon as it starts to get dark, at dusk, in the eastern part of the sky, the first constellations appear to pass through the entire sky and disappear at dawn in its western part. Due to the rotation of the Earth around its axis, it seems that the constellations, like the Sun, rise and set. The constellations that we just observed on the western horizon just after sunset will soon disappear from our field of view to be replaced by constellations that were higher at sunset just a few weeks ago.
Constellations emerging in the east have a diurnal shift of about 1 degree per day: completing a 360-degree trip around the Sun in 365 days gives about the same speed. Exactly one year later, at the same time, the stars will occupy exactly the same position in the sky.
The movement of the stars is an illusion and a matter of perspective. The direction in which the stars move across the night sky is due to the rotation of the Earth on its axis and really depends on the perspective and which way the observer is facing.
Looking north, the constellations appear to move counterclockwise around a fixed point in the night sky, the so-called north celestial pole, located near the North Star. This perception is due to the fact that the earth rotates from west to east, i.e. the earth under your feet moves to the right, and the stars, like the Sun, Moon and planets, above your head follow the east-west direction, i.e. to the right left. However, if you turn your face to the south, the stars will move as if clockwise, from left to right.
zodiac constellations are those through which the sun moves. The most famous constellations of the 88 existing ones are the zodiacal ones. These include those through which the center of the Sun passes in a year. It is generally accepted that there are 12 zodiac constellations in total, although in fact there are 13 of them: from November 30 to December 17, the Sun is in the constellation of Ophiuchus, but astrologers do not rank it among the zodiac. All zodiac constellations are located along the apparent annual path of the Sun among the stars, the ecliptic, at an inclination of 23.5 degrees to the equator.
Some constellations have families- These are groups of constellations located in the same region of the night sky. As a rule, they assign the names of the most significant constellation. The most "large" is the constellation Hercules, which has as many as 19 constellations. Other major families include Ursa Major (10 constellations), Perseus (9) and Orion (9).
Celebrity constellations. The largest constellation, Hydra, spans over 3% of the night sky, while the smallest constellation, the Southern Cross, occupies only 0.165% of the sky. Centaurus boasts the largest number visible stars: 101 stars are included in the famous constellation of the southern hemisphere of the sky. The constellation Canis Major includes the brightest star in our sky, Sirius, whose brightness is −1.46m. But the constellation with the name Table Mountain is considered the dimmest and does not contain stars brighter than the 5th magnitude. Recall that in the numerical characteristic of the brightness of celestial bodies than less value, the brighter the object (the brightness of the Sun, for example, is −26.7m).
Asterism is not a constellation. Asterism is a group of stars with a well-established name, for example, the Big Dipper, which is part of the constellation Ursa Major, or Orion's Belt - three stars encircling the figure of Orion in the constellation of the same name. In other words, these are fragments of constellations that have secured a separate name for themselves. The term itself is not strictly scientific, rather simply representing a tribute to tradition.