If you look deep into the centuries, among manyA fairly important position is occupied by the constellation of the Little Bear. All the facts indicate that the ancient navigation relied on the position of the stars in it. Although the Phoenicians sometimes used the Big Dipper for orientation, despite its great brightness, it gave considerable inaccuracies in determining the path.
Obviously, most of you will easily findA big bear. It is quite expressive and bright. Knowing that both constellations are near, no doubt, it becomes clear how to find the Little Ursa by the Big Dipper. To do this, you will need to mentally connect the two last stars of the Big Dipper: from Merak (β Big Dipper) to Dubha (α Big Dipper)), continuing this line up a distance of 5 times the distance between them. This is how you find the Alpha (Polar Star) constellation of the Ursa Minor.
Before asking how to findconstellation of the Little Ursa, knowing only the location of Polar, you need to understand what shape the stars form, and how the asterisk is located relative to the Big Dipper.
Examine the star map before you start the search, thisyou will facilitate the search for an asterisk. Afterwards you will make sure of the simplicity of finding the star group you are looking for. And if someone asks you how to find the Little Ursa by the Big Dipper, you with full knowledge can clearly explain how to find it.
Well, now we know how to find the constellationThe Little Dipper. Let's talk about the Polar Star, thanks to which travelers and seafarers of the past made a long and hard journey. Although this is not the brightest star in the night sky, but it is closest to the north of the world, the error does not exceed 1 °. After only 145 years, the position error will exceed one degree.
The polar star does not change its position,regardless of the daily circulation of the Earth around its axis and the annual orbit around the Sun. The brightness of the guiding star is variable and varies intensity with a periodicity of 4 days, within 2.02 ± 2%. Earlier, the amplitude of luminosity was higher, today it has stabilized. The overall brightness of the Polar Star is constantly growing and over the last hundred years has increased by almost 15%.
The nature of pulsation is associated with the property of the light, this is how the cepheids behave. The lodestar is one of the brightest cepheids in the night sky.
Small Ursa occupies an area of about 255.9 square degrees in the sky. Her immediate neighbors are the Dragon, Cepheus.
The constellation of the Small Dipper consists of seven brightobjects. Of all the stars of the Little Bear, only three of the brightest are clearly visible. This is Ferhad and Kokhab, forming the wall of the bucket, and crowns the handle of the constellation Pole Star. Over the tail of the Big Dipper are the last two stars.
Small Dipper is slightly different from the othersconstellations. He does not change the location in the sky, like the Big Dipper and most other asterisk that are seasonal. They can be observed in a certain season, and they are mobile in the sky throughout the year. The Little Dipper also changes its location, revolving around its Alpha.
Alpha (Polaris) of the Little Ursais located at a distance from Earth 431 light-years. With an apparent value of 2.02. As it became known, this is not one, but three stars, united in a single system. The brightest among them, almost 2,000 times greater than the brightness of the Sun. The second star of the Ursa Minor has a mass equal to 1.39 solar.
Kochab is an orange giant, in translation fromArabian "Star of the North". The second brightest star, it is beta, in the constellation of the Small Bucket with a magnitude of 2.8 and is removed from the Earth by 126 light years.
Ferhad is the scale of the Little Dipper, with a magnitude of 3.6, the distance to it is 480 light years. This object is considered a hot giant with a temperature of 8600 K and relates to a variable type of stars.
The Delta of the Small Bucket, or Yildun - is a white dwarf, which is located at a distance of 183 light years.
Zeta - another dwarf, white and located at a distance of 380 light years from Earth. The intensity of its glow is 200 times higher than that of the Sun. He is on the path of education in a giant star.
Perhaps, all this will not be remembered, but allyour knowledge has become more extensive. And if suddenly you get lost in the forest, and there is no mobile connection, try to remember how to find the Little Ursa by the Big Dipper. You will certainly find the North Star and orient yourself in which direction the north is.
Even without a telescope, simply turning your gaze to the night lights, you will see how diverse our large universe is.
But is the universe in reality?This thought stirs the minds of great scientists. They construct hypotheses, explore, argue and try to understand, is this so? Some experts say that the universe is infinite, others - that there is a Multiverse.
And it may very well be that one of them hasthe same planet, the country and a copy of you. Everything is possible, science constantly pushes the veil of the unknown and hidden from our gaze, proving invariably: what seems to be a fantasy today, is embodied in reality tomorrow.
