The starry sky has always attracted man. Even being at a low stage of development, dressing in animal skins and using stone tools, a man was already raising his head and looking at mysterious points that mysteriously flickered in the depths of the vast firmament.
Stars have become one of the foundations of human mythology. According to ancient people, it was there that the gods lived. Stars have always been for man something sacred, unattainable for the ordinary mortal. One of the most ancient sciences of mankind was astrology, which studied the influence of celestial bodies on human life.
Today, stars remain the focus of our attention, but it is true that astronomers are more involved in their study, and science fiction writers come up with stories about the time when a person can reach the stars. An ordinary person often raises his head to admire the beautiful stars in the night sky, just like his distant ancestors did millions of years ago. We have compiled a list for you. the brightest stars in the sky.
10. Betelgeuse
Betelgeuse is in tenth place on our list, astronomers call it α Orion. This star represents a big mystery to astronomers: they still argue about its origin and cannot understand its periodic variability.
This star belongs to the class of red giants and its size is 500-800 times the size of our Sun. If we move it to our system, then its borders would extend to the orbit of Jupiter. Over the past 15 years, the size of this star has decreased by 15%. Scientists still do not understand the reason for this phenomenon.
Betelgeuse is located at a distance of 570 light years from the Sun, so a trip to it in the near future will definitely not take place.
9. Achernar or α Eridan
The first star in this constellation, it takes ninth place on our list the brightest stars in the night sky. Achernar is at the very end of the constellation of Eridanus. This star is ranked as a class of blue stars, it is eight times heavier than our Sun and exceeds it in brightness a thousand times.
Achernar is located 144 light-years from our solar system and a trip to it in the near future also seems unlikely. Another interesting feature of this star is that it rotates around its axis with great speed.
8. Procyon or Small Dog α
This star is the eighth in brightness in our firmament. The name of this star is translated from Greek as "in front of the dog." Procyon enters the winter triangle, along with the stars Sirius and Betelgeuse.
This star belongs to double stars. In the sky we can see a larger star from a pair, the second star is a small white dwarf star.
There is one legend associated with this star. The Canis Minor constellation symbolizes the dog of the first winemaker Icarius, who was killed by treacherous shepherds, having previously drunk him with his own wine. Faithful dog found the grave of the owner.
7. Crossbar or β Orion
This star is the seventh brightest in our sky. The main reason for the rather low place in our ranking is the very large distance between the Earth and this star. If Rigel was a little closer (at the distance of Sirius, for example), then in its brightness he would surpass many other luminaries.
The crossbar belongs to the class of white-blue supergiants. The size of this star is impressive: it is 74 times larger than our Sun. In fact, Rigel is not one star, but three: in addition to the giant, this star company includes two more small stars.
The crossbar is located at a distance of 870 light years from the Sun, which is a lot.
Translated from Arabic, the name of this star means "leg." People have known this star for a long time, it was included in the mythology of many peoples, starting with the ancient Egyptians. They considered Rigel the embodiment of Osiris, one of the most powerful gods in their pantheon.
6. The chapel or the charioteer α
One of the most beautiful stars of our sky. This is a double star, which in ancient times was an independent constellation and symbolized a goat with kids. The chapel is a double star that consists of two yellow giants that revolve around a common center. Each of these stars is 2.5 times heavier than our Sun and they are located at a distance of 42 light years from our planetary system. These stars are much brighter than our sun.
An ancient Greek legend is associated with the Chapel, according to which Zeus was fed by the goat Amalthea. Once Zeus inadvertently broke off one of the horns of an animal, and so the cornucopia appeared in the world.
5. Vega or α Lyra
One of the brightest and most beautiful stars in our sky. It is located at 25 light-years from our Sun (this is a rather small distance). Vega belongs to the constellation Lyra, the size of this star is almost three times the size of our Sun.
This star rotates around its axis at a frantic speed.
Vega can be called one of the most studied stars. It is located at a short distance and is very convenient for research.
Many myths of different peoples of our planet are associated with this star. In our latitudes Vega is one of the brightest stars in the sky and is second only to Sirius and Arcturus.
4. Arcturus or α Bootes
One of the brightest and most beautiful stars in the sky, which can be observed anywhere in the world. The reasons for this brightness are the large size of the star and the small distance from it to our planet.
Arcturus belongs to the class of red giants and has huge dimensions. The distance from our solar system to this star is “only” 36.7 light years. She is more than 25 times bigger than our star. Moreover, the brightness of Arcturus is 110 times higher than the Sun.
This star owes its name to the constellation Ursa Major. Translated from Greek, its name means "guard of the bear." Arcturus is very easy in the starry sky, all you need is to draw an imaginary arc through the handle of the Big Dipper bucket.
3. Toliman or α Centauri
In second place on our list is a triple star, which is attributed to the constellation Centaurus. This star system consists of three stars: two of them are close in size to our Sun and the third star, which is a red dwarf called Proxima Centauri.
Astronomers call the double star that we can see with the naked eye of Toliban. These stars are very close to our planetary system, and therefore they seem very bright to us. In fact, their brightness and size are quite modest. The distance from the Sun to these stars is only 4.36 light years. By astronomical standards, it is almost nearby. Proxima Centauri was discovered only in 1915, it behaves rather strangely, periodically its brightness changes.
2. Canopus or keel α
This is the second brightest star in our sky. But, unfortunately, we will not be able to see it, because Canopus is visible only in the southern hemisphere of our planet. In the northern part, it is visible only in tropical latitudes.
This is the brightest star in the southern hemisphere; in addition, it plays the same role in navigation as the North Star in the northern hemisphere.
Canopus is a huge star that is eight times larger than our star. This star belongs to the class of supergiants, and it is in second place in terms of brightness only because the distance to it is very large. The distance from the Sun to Canopus is about 319 light years. Canopus is the brightest star in a radius of 700 light-years.
There is no consensus on the origin of the name of the star. Most likely, it got its name in honor of the helmsman who was on the ship of Menelaus (this is the character of the Greek epic about the Trojan War).
1. Sirius or α Canis Major
The brightest star in our skyline, which belongs to the constellation Canis Major. This star can be called the most important for earthlings, of course, after our Sun. People from ancient times have been very reverent and respectful of this luminary. Numerous myths and legends are composed about him. The ancient Egyptians located their gods on Sirius. This star can be observed from anywhere in the world.
The ancient Sumerians watched Sirius and believed that the gods who created life on our planet are located on it. The Egyptians watched this star very closely, it was associated with their religious cults of Osiris and Isis. In addition, according to Sirius, they determined the time of the Nile flood, which was important for agriculture.
If we talk about Sirius in terms of astronomy, it should be noted that this is a binary star, which consists of a star of spectral class A1 and a white dwarf (Sirius B). You cannot see the second star with the naked eye. Both stars revolve around a single center with a period of 50 years. Sirius A is about twice the size of our Sun.
Sirius is 8.6 light years from us.
The ancient Greeks believed that Sirius is a dog of the star hunter Orion, who pursues his prey. There is an African Dogon tribe that worships Sirius. But this is not surprising. Africans, who did not know the written language, had information about the existence of Sirius B, which was discovered only in the middle of the XIX century with the help of fairly advanced telescopes. The Dogon calendar is based on the periods of rotation of Sirius B around Sirius A. And it is fairly accurate. Where the primitive African tribe got all this information is a mystery.