Interesting about the constellation Ursa Minor. Task one. We are looking for Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, Cassiopeia and Dragon. "Alpha and Omega" constellation Ursa Minor in the northern hemisphere

Ursa Minor – small constellation Northern Hemisphere, containing 25 visible stars. The seven largest of them form a scoop pattern in the sky, the handle of which is completed by the North Star. Ursa Minor does not go beyond the horizon, so the small dipper, using some landmarks, can be seen at night even with the naked eye.

How to find Ursa Minor - choosing the right environment

To make stargazing successful, remember these tips:

• look for the stars on a clear night so that there are no clouds or stratus clouds in the sky;
• go outside the city, where there are no burning street lamps and glowing windows of houses, but there is a huge dark sky on which you can easily find the Little Dipper;
• When starting your observation, stand so that tall trees or buildings do not block your horizon. Most best option when there are no obstacles at all, that is, the horizon is clear.

How to find Ursa Minor by the North Star

This famous star is not the brightest in the sky, so it is better to look for it by Ursa Major, the outline of which looks like a giant ladle. The constellation is visible in the sky at night in good weather - in autumn and winter it hangs in the northern part of the sky, in spring it stands in the east in a vertical position - with its handle down, in summer - in the west, with its handle up.

• Using our recommendations, find the Big Dipper in the sky. Mentally connect all the stars with a line - you get a bucket with a handle.
• Pay attention to the bowl consisting of 4 stars. The outermost of them are indicator stars - Dubhe and Merak, which determine the location of the North Star.
• Connect Merak and Dubhe with an imaginary beam. Extend it up and a little to the right, to a distance five times greater than the segment between these stars. At the end of the line you will see the North Star - the end point of the handle of the small dipper.

If even after such research you cannot fully imagine the Little Dipper, use the following hint.

How to find Ursa Minor - additional landmark

Have you found the North Star, but the small dipper does not appear? In this case, the giant stars of the frontal rim of the Ursa Minor bowl - Kohab and Ferkad - will help.

• Turn your gaze to the left side of the Polar Star and notice a light circle in an orange halo - this is Kohab, above it, forming the upper corner of the scoop - Ferkad. These stars circle the North Star and are called the Guardians of the Pole.
• Take a closer look and you will see 2 more stars making up the inner corners of the bowl. Connect them with lines and in front of you is a ladle without a handle.
• Look for two dimly glowing star points between the bowl and the North Star. Close the remaining gaps with straight sections and a small ladle with a handle will come out, facing in the opposite direction from the handle of the Big Dipper.

Although Ursa Minor can be found at any time, it is best seen in the winter sky before sunrise or in the first hour of spring sunset.

If time permits, go to nature to take a break from the bustle of the city, admire the starry scattering of the night sky, and think about distant unknown worlds, the light from which does not reach our planet.

Even people far from astronomy can find the Big Dipper in the sky. Due to its proximity to the north pole of the world, in the middle latitudes of our country, Ursa Major is a non-setting constellation, so it can be found in the sky at any time from sunset to dawn throughout the year. However, the position of the bucket relative to the horizon changes throughout the day, as well as throughout the year. For example, short summer nights The Big Dipper dipper slowly descends from west to northwest, with the handle of the dipper turned upward. And on dark August nights, the seven bright bucket stars can be found very low in the north. In autumn, the bucket begins to rise above the northeastern horizon closer to dawn, and its handle seems to point to the point of sunrise. In early December evenings, Ursa Major is visible low in the north, but during the long winter night it manages to rise high above the horizon by morning and can be found almost overhead. At the end of the calendar winter, with the onset of darkness, the Big Dipper's bucket is visible in the northeast with its handle down, and by morning it moves to the northwest, with its handle up. It is quite logical that due to such great recognition and favorable visibility on any clear evening (or night), the Ursa Major bucket becomes the starting point for searching for other constellations, including Ursa Minor with, perhaps, the most famous star in the northern hemisphere - Polaris. Despite its fame, few people unfamiliar with the mysteries of the starry sky have seen this star with their own eyes. So, in terms of brilliance, it is similar to the stars of the Ursa Major bucket, but all the other stars of the “small dipper” of Ursa Minor, with the exception of one more - in the southern part of the constellation - are much fainter and may not be visible in the brightly lit city sky. Therefore, to get acquainted with the starry sky, it is better to choose observation platform outside large cities, or in forested areas.

So, let's begin our acquaintance with the starry sky. Today we will get acquainted with the four constellations of the northern sky: Ursa Major, Ursa Minor (with the famous North Star), Draco and Cassiopeia. All these constellations, due to their proximity to North Pole peace on European territory former USSR are non-setting. Those. they can be found in the starry sky on any day and at any time. The first steps should begin with the Ursa Major bucket, known to everyone. Did you find it in the sky? If not, then to find it, remember that on summer evenings the bucket is located in the northwest, in the fall - in the north, in winter - in the northeast, in spring - directly overhead. Now pay attention to the two outermost stars of this bucket (see figure). If you mentally draw a straight line through these two stars, then the first star, the brightness of which is comparable to the brightness of the stars of the Ursa Major bucket, will be the North Star, which belongs to the constellation Ursa Minor. Using the map presented in the figure, try to find the remaining stars of this constellation. If you are observing in an urban environment, then it will be difficult to see the stars of the “small dipper” (this is how the constellation Ursa Minor is unofficially called): they are not as bright as the stars of the “big dipper”, i.e. Ursa Major. For this it is better to have binoculars on hand. When you see the constellation Ursa Minor, you can try to find the constellation Cassiopeia. I don’t know about you, but for me it was initially associated with another “bucket”. It’s more like a “coffee pot.” So, look at the second from the end star of the handle of the Big Dipper. This is the star next to which there is an asterisk barely visible to the naked eye. The bright star is named Mizar, and the one next to it is Alcor (here is the range of iconic Soviet telescopes for astronomy enthusiasts produced by the Novosibirsk Instrument-Making Plant (Refinery)). They say that if translated from Arabic, Mizar is a horse, and Alcor is a rider.
So, Mizar has been found. Now draw a mental line from Mizar through the North Star and further to approximately the same distance. And you will probably see a rather bright constellation in the form Latin letter W (see picture). This is Cassiopeia. It still looks a bit like a “coffee pot,” doesn’t it?
After Cassiopeia, we try to find the constellation Draco. As can be seen from the picture at the top of the page, it seems to extend between the buckets of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, going further towards Cepheus, Lyra, Hercules and Cygnus. We will talk about these constellations a little later, and, having gained basic experience in orienting in the starry sky, try to find the entire Draco constellation using the mentioned picture.

Now you should be able to find the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, Cassiopeia, and Draco in the sky. By repeating observations of these constellations every clear evening, you will begin to distinguish them very quickly and without much difficulty from the rest of the starry sky, and the task of finding other constellations will no longer seem so difficult to you!

For those novice observers who intend to continue studying the treasures of the starry sky even after all the constellations have been assimilated, in the first stages of observing constellations, we recommend acquiring observation log, in which it is necessary to enter the date and time of observations, as well as sketch the position of the constellations relative to the horizon. Also try to reproduce, as accurately as possible, the location of the bright stars of the constellations relative to each other on the celestial sphere, and also try to plot even the faintest stars on such homemade “star maps”. When you master the ABCs of the starry sky and pick up a telescope (or binoculars) to observe other objects in the starry sky, these sketching skills will be very useful to you. And just looking through an old observation log is always nice. After all, how many pleasant memories come to life in your memory!

Questions for the first task:
1. In what area of ​​the sky was the constellation Cassiopeia located during your observations?
2. In what area of ​​the sky was the Big Dipper's bucket located?
3. Were you able to see Alcor with the naked eye?
4. Keep an observation log (for example, in the form of a regular general notebook), in which mark the position of the constellations familiar to you from the first task above the horizon in the evening, at night and in the morning. Thus, you can see with your own eyes the daily rotation celestial sphere. Try to reproduce the appearance of the constellations in your journals as accurately as possible, and include even the faintest stars. Don't limit yourself to familiar constellations. Also draw those areas of the starry sky that are not yet familiar to you.

Ursa Minor is the constellation most popular among night sky lovers. The universe is full of surprises and unexpected discoveries. There is so much unknown in it!

The luminaries that are visible in the sky turn out to be a huge accumulation of gases, and the pattern of constellations takes on bizarre shapes. Is there anything similar or are they all unique?

It will be interesting for children and their parents to watch the night sky, and before that learn a lot about the secrets of the world.

What does the constellation Ursa Minor look like?

The Little Dipper is located next to the Big Dipper and forms a small bucket. By connecting all the stars included in it with a line, you get the same vessel familiar from childhood.

The cluster of celestial bodies itself is quite dim, and it is easier to find it in a dark sky.

To see this constellation with the naked eye, you need to find the North Star, which, due to its size and brightness, will be the first to catch your eye.

The brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor

The brightest point in the sky appears so only to human eyes. In fact, there are many brighter objects. However, the North Star shines more spectacularly than the others. It is a supergiant and has two satellites.

The star itself is central, and its brightness exceeds the capabilities of the Sun by 2000 times. The existence of a second satellite became known not so long ago due to its size. The dwarf satellite has not been visible to the photographic lenses of telescopes from Earth for many years.

Names of stars in the constellation Ursa Minor

The constellation is formed from several parts. In terms of their brightness, they are inferior to their neighbors from the Big Dipper, however, they are clearly visible on clear sky.

Four of them have their own names, the rest are named by letters of the Greek alphabet:

1. Alpha. The first in the constellation, also called Polaris. The brightest in the night sky.
2. Beta. Another name is Kohab. The second brightest in a cluster of stars. It has a satellite and is an orange giant.
3. Gamma is Ferkad. Beta and Gamma constellations are translated from Arabic as “two calves.”
4. Delta, Epsilon, Zita and Ita do not have special names.

All of them are more than 400 light years away from Earth.

How to find Ursa Minor from Ursa Major

Here's a little instruction:

1. Choose a night with cloudless weather. In a clear sky it is much easier to find the dim lights of Ursa Minor. It is better to choose a place without artificial lighting. IN big cities This is difficult to find, so you can drive further to the outskirts.
2. Find the Big Dipper in the sky. It is difficult to confuse it with something else, since due to its relatively close distance to Earth, the stars in this constellation shine brighter than others. It is shaped like a trapezoid with a long handle.
3. Find the North Star. It is located further north than Ursa Major, and is the extreme point in Ursa Minor.
4. This is what we were looking for. From the handle of the bucket, mentally move your gaze to the bucket itself and the entire constellation will be before your eyes.

How to find the North Star in the sky

The easiest way to locate the North Star is by Ursa Major. The brightly burning parts of this constellation can be seen all year round on the territory of Russia and a number of other countries in the northern hemisphere. They are a big bucket.

From extreme points When drawing his image, you need to mentally draw a line that is five times the length between this segment.

Another way to find a Cepheid is to use a compass. The North Star is a guiding star for travelers. She directed them to the North Pole.

Observing the luminary, you can see that it is the only one that does not change position. As the night progresses, all the constellations move across the night sky, and it freezes motionless over the North Pole.

Why were the constellations called Ursa?

The appearance of the constellations does not even remotely resemble either a brown or a white animal. Then why weren’t they called “ladles”? It is believed that the name came from the Greeks, who knew about its close location to the North Pole.

A map was a great luxury, so we navigated by the sky. Their assumption, even in 545 BC, turned out to be true.

Who is the main inhabitant of the North Pole? Of course, a bear. This is where the name of two constellations located near the northernmost point of the planet came from.

Myths and legends about Ursa Major and Ursa Minor

The existence of constellations has been known for a very long time. Even before our era, they were guides for travelers. However, to the ancient Greeks they were more than just bright spots in the sky.

According to myths, the thunder god Zeus once had a secret lover. The story goes that she was famous for her unearthly beauty and attracted the gaze of all men. Her name was Callisto.

One day a girl broke the rules, her little mistake cost her dearly. She was turned into a terrible bear. Zeus, deciding to protect the beauty, threw her into the sky, and tried so hard that he stretched her tail. That is why it is now so long at the Big Dipper.

The girl's faithful companion was her dog, which was turned into a bear cub that followed her to heaven. The tale was common among the ancient Greeks.

The expanses of the starry sky can show many unusual things. You can even learn a lot of interesting things about the familiar bears. How many more unknown constellations are hidden in the vastness of space? Knowledge opens a window to a person into the world of our Universe.

(lat. Ursa Minor) is a circumpolar constellation in the northern hemisphere of the sky. It occupies an area of ​​255.9 square degrees in the sky and contains 40 stars visible to the naked eye.

Ursa Minor currently houses the North Celestial Pole, at a distance of about 1° from the North Star. The constellation was probably identified by the Phoenicians as useful for navigation.

click on the image to enlarge it

Stars

The brightest stars of the constellation:

• Polaris (αUMi). Magnitude 2.02m.
• Kohab (βUMi). Apparent magnitude 2.08m. In the period from approximately 2000 BC. e. to 500 AD e. Kohab was the bright star closest to the North Pole and played the role of the polar star, which is reflected in its Arabic name Kohab el Shemali(Star of the North).
• Ferkad (γ UMi). Magnitude 3.05m.

Asterisms

Asterism Small Bucket forms a characteristic, memorable figure in the sky. Includes seven stars - α (Polar), β (Kokhab), γ (Ferkad), δ, ε, ζ and η Ursa Minor. The Small Dipper resembles the shape of the Big Dipper asterism, located nearby in the constellation Ursa Major.

The pair of extreme stars of the Bucket (Kokhab and Ferkad) represent an asterism Guardians of the Pole.

Searching the sky

The constellation is visible all year round. To find the North Star (α Ursa Minor), you need to mentally extend the segment between Merak (β Ursa Major) and Dubhe (α Ursa Major) to a distance 5 times its length.

Story

According to Gigin in ancient astronomy this constellation was introduced by Thales of Miletus, included in the catalog starry sky"Almagest".

The legend about the birth of Zeus is also associated with Ursa Minor. To save her son from father Cronus, who was eating his children, the goddess Rhea took Zeus to the top of Mount Ida, in a sacred cave, and left him in the care of the nymphs and their mother Melissa (or two nymphs Melissa and Kinosura). In gratitude, Zeus later ascended to heaven Melissa in the form of Ursa Major and Kinosura in the form of Ursa Minor; on ancient maps, Ursa Minor (or just the North Star) is sometimes called Kinosura (“ dog's tail"). Note that in early versions of the myth, Melissa and Kinosura are bears, who later transformed into nymphs.

The Phoenicians, the best navigators of early antiquity, used the constellation for navigational purposes, unlike the Greeks, who navigated by the Big Dipper, which is obviously less accurate.

The peoples of Kazakhstan called the North Star an “iron nail” ( Temir-Kazyk), driven into the sky, and in the remaining stars of Ursa Minor they saw a lasso tied to this nail, worn around the neck of the Horse (constellation Ursa Major). The Arabs mistook the stars of Ursa Minor for horsemen, and the Persians saw in it the Seven Fruits of the Date Palm.

Constellation Ursa Minor from the Atlas "Uranographia" by John Hevelius (1690)

click on the image to enlarge it

> Ursa Minor

How to find constellation Ursa Minor in the northern hemisphere: description with photos, diagram and map of the starry sky, facts, myth, asterism Small Dipper and Polar Star.

Ursa Minor - constellation, which is located in the northern sky and from Latin “Ursa Minor” means “lesser bear”.

The constellation Ursa Minor appeared in the sky in the second century thanks to Ptolemy. It is easy to find by its famous asterism or location at the north celestial pole. At the end of the bucket handle you can see the North Star.

Although Ptolemy wrote it down, the authorship of the creation is given to Thales from Miletus (lived between 625 and 545 BC). He was called one of the 7 Greek sages. But there is an option that he simply discovered it to the Greeks, and it was also found by the Phoenicians, who used the ladle for navigation. The Greeks even called it Phoenician until it became the Little Dipper (previously also called the Tail of the Dog).

Facts, position and map of the constellation Ursa Minor

With an area of ​​256 square degrees, the constellation Ursa Minor is the 56th largest constellation. Covers the third quadrant in the northern hemisphere (NQ3). It can be found in latitudes from +90° to -10°. Adjacent to , and .

Ursa Minor
Lat. Name	Ursa Minor
Reduction	UMi
Symbol	Teddy Bear
Right ascension	from 0 h 00 m to 24 h 00 m
Declension	from +66° to +90°
Square	256 sq. degrees (56th place)
Brightest stars (value< 3 m )	Polaris (α UMi) - 2.02 m Kohab (β UMi) - 2.08 m
Meteor showers	Ursids
Neighboring constellations	Dragon Giraffe Cepheus
The constellation is visible at latitudes from +90° to −0°. The best time to observe is all year round.

Contains a star with a planet and not a single Messier object. The brightest star is Polaris (Alpha Ursa Minor), whose apparent visual magnitude reaches 1.97. There is a meteor shower - the Ursids. Included in the Ursa Major group along with, and. Consider the diagram of the constellation Ursa Minor on a star chart.

Myth about the constellation Ursa Minor

About Ursa Minor there are two folded different stories. In the first we're talking about about Ida. This is the nymph who raised Zeus when he was small on the island of Crete. His mother Rhea had to hide him from Kronos (father), who killed all his children because of the prophecy. As soon as Zeus was born, she placed a stone in his place and deceived her husband. The prophecy came true. The son overthrew his father and freed his brothers and sisters, who became Olympian gods.

Another story tells about Arcas. This is the son of Zeus and Callisto (nymph). She was devoted to Artemis and refused relationships with men. But she could not resist Zeus. When Hera found out about the betrayal, she turned the girl into a bear in a rage. Callisto had to wander through the forest for 15 years until she saw the adult Arkas. He got scared and took out his spear. Zeus made it in time and sent a whirlwind that lifted both of them to the heavens. Callisto became Ursa Major, and Arcas became Ursa Minor. But most often he is still attributed to Bootes.

There are even more ancient myth, according to which 7 stars reflected the Hesperides - the daughters of Atlas, guarding the apples in the garden of Hera.

Asterism

The Small Dipper is created by the stars: Polaris, Yildun, Epsilon, Eta, Zeta, Gamma and Beta.

The main stars of the constellation Ursa Minor

Explore closely the bright stars of the Ursa Minor constellation in the northern hemisphere with detailed description, photos and characteristics.

North Star(Alpha Ursa Minor) is a multiple star (F7:Ib-II) with an apparent magnitude of 1.985 and a distance of 434 light years. This is the closest bright star north celestial pole since the Middle Ages and the brightest in Ursa Minor.

To find it, you need to follow Dubhe and Merak (the two brightest ones at the end of the Ursa Major asterism).

Presented bright object A, two smaller companion stars B and Ab, and two distant stars C and D.

The brightest body is a giant (II) or supergiant (Ib) with spectral class F8. Its mass is 6 times greater than that of the sun. In 1780, William Herschel found B to be a main sequence star (F3) and Ab to be a dwarf in a very close orbit.

Polaris is a population variable of I Cephei. In 1911, its variability was confirmed by the Danish astronomer Einar Hertzsprung. At the time of Ptolemy's observations, it was a 3rd magnitude star, but today it is 2nd magnitude. Because of its brightness and proximity to the pole, it is an essential tool in celestial navigation.

Kohab(Beta Ursa Minor) is a giant (K4 III) with a visual magnitude of 2.08 (the brightest in the bowl) and a distance of 130.9 light years. Beta and Gamma are sometimes called the Guardians of the Pole because they appear to orbit the North Star.

From 1500 BC to 500 AD they were twin stars, being the closest bright stars to the north celestial pole. Kohab 130 times brighter than the sun and 2.2 times more in mass.

The traditional name comes from the Arabic al-kawkab - “star” and is an abbreviation for al-kawkab al-šamāliyy - “north star”.

Ferkad(Gamma Ursa Minor) is a type A star with an apparent magnitude of 3.05 and a distance of 487 light years. It is classified as A3 lab, and the rotation speed reaches 180 km/s. The radius is 15 times larger than the sun and 1,100 times brighter.

It is an envelope star that has a disk of gas at its equator, which causes changes in magnitude.

The name means "calf" in Arabic.

Yildun(Delta Ursa Minor) is a main sequence (A1V) white dwarf with a visual magnitude of 4.35 and a distance of 183 light years. The traditional name is translated from Turkish as “star”.

Zeta Ursa Minor– a main sequence dwarf (A3Vn) with a visual magnitude of 4.32 and a distance of 380 light years. In fact, it is on the verge of becoming a giant: 3.4 times greater than the solar mass, 200 times brighter. Surface temperature - 8700 K. This is a suspected Delta Scuti variable.

From Arabic aḫfa al-farqadayn means "leading two calves."

This Ursa Minor– a yellow-white main sequence dwarf (F5 V) with a visual magnitude of 4.95 and a distance of 97.3 light years. It can be found without the use of technology.

Translated from Arabic as “brighter than two calves.”

Epsilon Ursa Minor- a triple star system located 347 light years away. Shown is A, a yellow G-type giant (eclipsing spectroscopic double star) and B, an 11th magnitude star at a distance of 77 arcseconds.

Epsilon A is also a Canes Venatici RS variable. The brightness of the binary system changes due to the fact that one object periodically covers the second. The overall brightness varies from magnitude 4.19 to 4.23 with a period of 39.48 days.

Celestial objects of the constellation Ursa Minor

Ursa Minor(PGC 54074, UGC 9749) is a dwarf elliptical galaxy with an apparent magnitude of 11.9 and a distance of 200,000 light years. This is a satellite galaxy Milky Way. Most stars are old and there is virtually no visible star formation.