What are the constellations in the southern hemisphere? Small constellation southern cross

Stéphane Guisard is an optical engineer at the European Southern Observatory. IN professional activity he has to deal with one of the largest optical telescopes ever built by man, the 8-meter Very Large Telescope (VLT). This, however, does not prevent Stefan from engaging in amateur astronomy during his vacation.

Stefan's favorite hobby is astrophotography and time-lapse videos. Thanks to his work, Guizar has a slight advantage over other astrophotographers, because he has access to the very dark and transparent skies of the Andes - perhaps the most favorable skies on Earth for astronomical observations.

However, Guizar is not limited to the Andes alone. He traveled all over South and Central America, photographing mountain landscapes, ruins of Mayan cities and, of course, the starry sky. And last summer, Stefan Guizar visited Easter Island, where he photographed total solar eclipse against the backdrop of Moai statues.

Today, in the “City and Stars” section, we published his wonderful film The Night Sky of Atacama. Here we present to your attention some of his photographs. It’s strange, unusual to look at unfamiliar drawings of the southern constellations and realize that you are still on Earth.

1. Night over Easter Island. A dramatic picture of the southern night sky spreads over the silhouettes of ancient Moai statues. The bright nebula is the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The galaxy, made up of 10 billion stars, is located 160,000 light-years from Earth. This means that we see it as it was in prehistoric times. Photo: Stephane Guisard - Astrosurf.com

2. Dawn over Patagonia. The planet Saturn (left) and the star Arcturus (right) shine in the twilight sky above the Cuernos Mountains in Patagonia. Photo: Stephane Guisard - Astrosurf.com

3. The most dark sky. The quality of the sky is very important to astronomers. Twilight, city light, the moon, auroras and even planets often do not allow for subtle observations of distant galaxies or pale, almost ephemeral nebulae. Where is the darkest sky? Stefan Guizar believes that in the Atacama Desert in Chile, where the Paranal Observatory is located. This photo shows a panorama of the area near the observatory (telescope towers jutting out from the sky at lower right) and a dark midnight sky. On this night, the Moon did not interfere with the shooting (it was a new moon), and yet flare was noticeable along the horizon. But these are not city lights. This is the Milky Way, the light coming from the disk of our own Galaxy. Two nebulous spots - Magellanic clouds. The bright star is the planet Jupiter. And an elongated pale spot on either side of Jupiter is all that remains of the zodiacal light by midnight. Photo: Stephane Guisard - Astrosurf.com

4. Where was this photo taken? Of course, on the equator! In this long-exposure image, the stars stretch out into luminous arcs, revealing the daily rotation of the starry sky. We see that the stars rotate around the celestial pole located on the horizon. But only at the equator the Earth's rotation axis is on the horizon. Accordingly, only at the equator during the year can you see all the stars, both northern and southern hemisphere land. This wonderful photo, taken in Ecuador, also included a bright fireball. Photo: Stephane Guisard - Astrosurf.com

5. Stéphane Guizar prepares for a full-length shoot solar eclipse July 11, 2010 on Easter Island. Silent Moai statues stand in the sun, but the Moon is already approaching the Sun... Photo: Stephane Guisard - Astrosurf.com

6. And here is the result of careful preparation: a total solar eclipse over Easter Island. This remarkable photo of the July 11, 2010 solar eclipse was published on the Astronomy Picture of the Day website. At this eerie moment, only ancient idols guard the peace of the isolated island. Photo: Stephane Guisard - Astrosurf.com

7. Constellation Orion and Sirius, brightest star night sky over Guatemala. The Milky Way is almost invisible on this moonlit night. The filming location is remarkable. This is the famous Square of the Seven Temples in Tikal, one of the largest archaeological sites in the world. Tikal was the capital of the pre-Columbian kingdom of Mutul. Photo: Stephane Guisard - Astrosurf.com

8. Starry night at the equator. The magnificent arc of the Milky Way curves over the Cotopaxi volcano. Directly above the top of the mountain you can see a huge black hole in the Milky Way. This is the dark Coalsack Nebula. To the right of it we see another nebula, but this time bright red, the famous Carina Nebula (or Carina Nebula). And even further to the right, Canopus shines above the horizon, the second brightest star in the night sky after Sirius. Photo: Stephane Guisard - Astrosurf.com

9. Sunset over the Atacama Desert. This photo is dedicated to World Day environment, which takes place under the auspices of the UN since 1972 every June 5th. What did Guizar want to say with this photograph? Use renewable energy sources! Notice the serene expanse below. It's not the ocean, it's the clouds. Photo: Stephane Guisard - Astrosurf.com

10. Milky Way Above an extinct volcano Chimborazo in Ecuador. The height of the volcano is 6267 meters, and up to early XIX century Chimborazo was considered the most high mountain on Earth. To a certain extent, this is still true today, because despite the fact that Everest is more than 2 km higher than Chimborazo, the top of the Ecuadorian volcano is the most distant point on the surface from the center of the Earth (do not forget that the Earth is slightly flattened towards the equator). Or you can say it another way: the top of Chimborazo is the closest place to the stars. Photo: Stephane Guisard - Astrosurf.com

11. Meteor in the sky over the Cuernos mountains, Patagonia. During the shooting, Guizar was lucky and managed to catch a fireball, a very bright meteor that drew a bright streak not far from Sirius through the Milky Way. Photo: Stephane Guisard - Astrosurf.com

12. And here is another photograph of the same area, also taken at night, but with a very long shutter speed. The stars, in their movement across the sky, left long trails in the sky. The ancients believed that the stars actually revolved around the Earth, which rested at the center of the universe. The fact that the daily movement of stars reflects the rotation of the Earth became known relatively recently, some 350-400 years ago.

In 1922, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) defined all visible constellations located in the celestial sphere. Everything was systematized and a catalog of the Northern and Southern hemispheres of the starry sky was created. In total, there are currently 88 constellations, and only 47 of them are the most ancient, the existence of which is determined by time periods of several thousand years. A separate list marks the 12 zodiac constellations through which the Sun passes during the year.

Almost all constellations of the Southern Hemisphere, as well as asterisms, have proper names, the source of which is mythology Ancient Greece. For example, the myth of how the goddess of the hunt Artemis killed young Orion and, in a fit of repentance, placed him among the stars. This is how the constellation Orion appeared. A constellation Canis Major, located at the feet of Orion, is nothing more than a hunting dog that followed its master to heaven. in each constellation forms an approximately conditional contour mythological creature, Taurus or Scorpio, Virgo or Centaur.

The star map of the Southern Hemisphere contains many of the famous constellations. Among them there are so-called useful asterisms. Similar to the Ursa Major, located in and pointing to the North Star, in the South there is the constellation Southern Cross, with which you can trace the direction to the south pole. Both constellations of the Southern Hemisphere are of great importance for sea navigation, when the captain of a ship must plot a course at night. The stars provide significant assistance in navigation and lead ocean ships on the right path.

Stars can be bright or faint. The degree of glow depends on several factors. The constellations of the Southern Hemisphere include stars of both intense and subdued luminosity. The brightest star in the night sky is Sirius, which is part of the constellation Canis Major. Its age is about 235 million years, and Sirius is twice as massive as the Sun. The star has always been an idol in the night sky for people; they worshiped it, made sacrifices and expected auspiciousness, a good harvest and help in worldly affairs from Sirius. Many other stars of the Southern Hemisphere were marked with the deity’s halo; people believed in the miraculous abilities of the night luminaries. And some constellations are even described in church books.

The zodiacal constellation of the southern hemisphere of the sky is located between Aries and Gemini. Taurus includes a bright star - Aldebaran, but the location of two star clusters - the Pleiades and Hyades - is especially noteworthy. The Pleiades consists of more than 500 stars, and the Hyades has 130. Taurus is one of the constellations rich in astrophysical processes throughout its history. In the 11th century AD. Taurus constellation rocked by explosion supernova, resulting in the formation of the so-called Crab Nebula with a pulsar, which is the source of the most powerful x-ray radiation and sends radiomagnetic pulses. Many Southern Hemisphere constellations have the potential for stellar transformations. As a result, cosmic upheavals are inevitable.

Another constellation of the Southern Hemisphere is Pisces, located between Aries and Aquarius. Pisces is notable for the fact that the point passes through it. The constellation includes two large asterisms, Northern Pisces, consisting of three stars, and the Crown of seven stars. also contains story from ancient greek mythology. When the mythical monster Typhon drove the frightened gods from Olympus to Egypt, Aphrodite, fleeing horror, turned into a fish, and then her son, Eros, also turned into a fish.

Big dog

In the Southern Hemisphere, the appearance of the starry sky changes to opposite, when compared with the North. The movement of the stars here occurs from right to left, and although the Sun rises in the east, the point of the east itself is located on the right, in the place of the west.

Canis Major is one of the brightest, albeit small, constellations located in the southern hemisphere of the sky. The constellation contains the brightest star (after the Sun) - blue-white Sirius, whose magnitude is -1.43.

Translated from Greek, seirios means “brightly burning.” The brightness of the star can be explained by two factors: firstly, the small distance to the star (only 8.6 light years) and its luminosity, which is 23 times greater than that of the Sun.

Wolf

Wolf is a constellation of the Southern Hemisphere, lying on the edge of the Milky Way. On a clear and moonless night, about 70 stars can be seen with the naked eye in the constellation, but only ten of them are brighter than fourth magnitude. Two of them are visible from Russian territory.

Crow

Raven - small and very beautiful constellation southern hemisphere sky. Its stars form an irregular quadrangle southwest of Virgo. However, in this figure it is quite difficult to see the bird, which was depicted in ancient atlases at the site of this constellation. In total, on a clear moonless night, about 30 stars can be seen with the naked eye in Raven.

Hydra

Hydra is one of the longest constellations located in the southern hemisphere of the sky. The brightest star is Alphard (alpha Hydrae), has a magnitude of 2.0. This variable star red color is 30 parsecs away from the Earth. Another variable is the long-period star R Hydrae; located next to the star near Hydra. It resembles the star Mira Ceti: its maximum brightness reaches 3.0", minimum - 10.9", which makes this star invisible to the naked eye. The period of change in its brightness is more than a year - almost 390 days.

Pigeon

The Dove is a small constellation in the southern hemisphere of the sky. At good conditions visibility on a clear and moonless night you can see in the constellation naked eye about 40 stars. Of these, the two brightest stars have magnitude 3 and two have magnitude 4. The rest are at the limit of visibility with the naked eye. The stars of the Dove do not form any characteristic geometric figure.

Unicorn

Monoceros is the equatorial constellation of the southern hemisphere. On a clear and moonless night, up to 85 stars can be seen in the constellation with the naked eye, but these are mostly faint stars. Only the five brightest ones have magnitudes 4 and 5. The Unicorn stars do not form any characteristic geometric figure and do not have their own names. A very interesting star is T Monoceros, which is a long-period Cepheid. Its gloss changes from 5.6 to 6.6 in 27 days.

The Southern Cross is the smallest constellation in terms of area, but at the same time it has incredible beauty.

Young, small, but incredibly beautiful

Looking even with the naked eye at the southern hemisphere of the starry sky, you can easily detect about three dozen stars forming this constellation, but for the most part these are all faintly luminous stars. Of these, only the four brightest stars - α, β and γ Southern Cross (the first in stellar magnitude) and δ (the second in stellar magnitude) - form a clearly visible cross-shaped figure in the sky.

The Southern Cross constellation is relatively young by astronomical standards; the first information about it in astronomical practice appeared thanks to the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century. However, the generally accepted name for this constellation came into use long before this, even during the time of Magellan trip around the world and was used by navigators to distinguish it from the “Northern Cross”, which in the Middle Ages was often called the constellation Cygnus.

"Coal Sack" and "Box of Diamonds"

Dark Coalsack Nebula

The Southern Cross constellation, in whose vastness the “Coalsack” is located, is one of the dark nebulae closest to planet Earth. The distance to it is 490 light years. "Coal bag" represents a cloud cosmic dust high density, which absorbs light emitted by distant stars and appears clearly visible to the naked eye dark spot on the brighter Milky Way. Clusters of cosmic dust, such as the aforementioned “Coal Sack,” have the property of not only scattering and absorbing radiation passing through them, but also polarizing them.

NGC 4755 or Diamond Box

To the east, the constellation is bordered by the open cluster NGC4755, commonly known as the “Box of Diamonds,” a small group of stars of completely different colors that sparkle brightly in the night sky. The total brilliance of all the stars in the “Box of Diamonds” is 5.2 magnitudes. The “Box” is located at a distance of more than 7,500 light years from planet Earth. This cluster of stars was discovered by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1751-1752, who was engaged in astronomical observations in southern Africa.

Location on the starry sky

The Southern Cross is a constellation that is absolutely invisible on Russian territory because... its location is far from the celestial equator, in the south. From the east, north and west, the “Cross” is surrounded by the stars of Centaurus (Centaur), and on the southern side it is adjacent to the “Fly”. Finding this constellation is very easy, because... it represents a bright, distinct figure. Help in the search for the “Cross” can also be provided by a pair of fairly bright Centauri stars, the star Rigil Centaurus (a Centauri) and Hadar (b Centauri), located slightly east of the “Southern Cross”. If you draw an imaginary straight line to the west through these stars, it will definitely point directly to the “Southern Cross”.

List of constellations in the spring sky
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Stéphane Guisard is an optical engineer at the European Southern Observatory.

In his professional work, he works with one of the largest optical telescopes ever built by man, the 8-meter Very Large Telescope (VLT). This, however, does not prevent Stefan from engaging in amateur astronomy during his vacation.

Stefan's favorite hobby is astrophotography and time-lapse video. Thanks to his work, Guizar has a slight advantage over other astrophotographers, because he has access to the very dark and transparent skies of the Andes - perhaps the most favorable skies on Earth for astronomical observations.

However, Guizar is not limited to the Andes alone. He traveled all over South and Central America, photographing mountain landscapes, ruins of Mayan cities and, of course, the starry sky.

The galaxy, made up of 10 billion stars, is located 160,000 light-years from Earth. This means that we see it as it was in prehistoric times.

Dawn over Patagonia. The planet Saturn (left) and the star Arcturus (right) shine in the twilight sky above the Cuernos Mountains in Patagonia.

The darkest sky. The quality of the sky is very important to astronomers. Twilight, city light, the moon, auroras and even planets often do not allow for subtle observations of distant galaxies or pale, almost ephemeral nebulae.

Where is the darkest sky? Stefan Guizar believes that in the Atacama Desert in Chile, where the Paranal Observatory is located. This photo shows a panorama of the area near the observatory (telescope towers jutting out from the sky at lower right) and a dark midnight sky. On this night, the Moon did not interfere with the shooting (it was a new moon), and yet flare was noticeable along the horizon. But these are not city lights.

This is light coming from the disk of our own Galaxy. Two hazy spots - Magellanic clouds. The bright star is the planet Jupiter. And an elongated pale spot on either side of Jupiter is all that remains of the zodiacal light by midnight.

Where was this photo taken? Of course, on the equator! In this long-exposure image, the stars stretch out into luminous arcs, revealing the daily rotation of the starry sky. We see that the stars rotate around the celestial pole located on the horizon. N

Only at the equator is the Earth's axis of rotation located on the horizon. Accordingly, only at the equator during the year can you see all the stars in both the northern and southern hemispheres of the earth. This wonderful photo, taken in Ecuador, also included a bright fireball.

Stéphane Guizar prepares to photograph the total solar eclipse on July 11, 2010 on Easter Island. Silent Moai statues stand in the sun, but the Moon is already approaching the Sun...

And here is the result of careful preparation: a total solar eclipse over Easter Island. This remarkable photo of the July 11, 2010 solar eclipse was published on the Astronomy Picture of the Day website. At this eerie moment, only ancient idols guard the peace of the isolated island.

The constellation Orion and Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, over Guatemala. The Milky Way is almost invisible on this moonlit night. The filming location is remarkable.

This is the famous Square of the Seven Temples in Tikal, one of the largest archaeological sites in the world. Tikal was the capital of the pre-Columbian kingdom of Mutul.

Starry night at the equator. The magnificent arc of the Milky Way curves over the Cotopaxi volcano. Just above the top of the mountain you can see a huge black hole in the Milky Way. This is the dark Coalsack Nebula.

To the right of it we see another nebula, but this time bright red, the famous Carina Nebula (or Carina Nebula). And even further to the right, Canopus shines above the horizon, the second brightest star in the night sky after Sirius.

Sunset over the Atacama Desert. This photo is dedicated to World Environment Day, which takes place under the auspices of the UN every June 5th since 1972.

What did Guizar want to say with this photograph? Use renewable energy sources! Notice the serene expanse below. It's not the ocean, it's the clouds.

The Milky Way over the extinct Chimborazo volcano in Ecuador. The height of the volcano is 6267 meters, and until the beginning of the 19th century, Chimborazo was considered the highest mountain on Earth.

To a certain extent, this is still true today, because despite the fact that Everest is more than 2 km higher than Chimborazo, the top of the Ecuadorian volcano is the most distant point on the surface from the center of the Earth (do not forget that the Earth is slightly flattened towards the equator). Or you can say it another way: the top of Chimborazo is the closest place to the stars.

Meteor in the sky over the Cuernos Mountains, Patagonia. During the shooting, Guizar was lucky and managed to catch a fireball, a very bright meteor that drew a bright streak not far from Sirius through the Milky Way.

And here is another photograph of the same area, also taken at night, but with a very long exposure. The stars, in their movement across the sky, left long trails in the sky.

The ancients believed that the stars actually revolved around the Earth, which rested at the center of the universe. The fact that the daily movement of stars reflects the rotation of the Earth became known relatively recently, some 350-400 years ago.