Star Maps - catcher incredibly attractive and fascinating, especially if it's a dark night sky.Against the background of the misty road stretches of the Milky Way is perfectly visible as bright and slightly hazy stars that make up the different constellations.One of these constellations, almost entirely located in the Milky Way, is a constellation of Perseus.
Legend constellation Perseus constellation Perseus
(origin legend is extraordinarily beautiful) - quite interesting from the standpoint of science.But now is not about that, but about love.Location stars of the constellation resembles a man in a high hat on his head.And there is a story about the constellation.According to ancient legend, Perseus was the illegitimate child of Zeus and the king's daughter.At the time, the governor opened the prophecy that he would die at the hands of the native grandson.Frightened prediction, the king closed the beautiful Danae in a tower.But Zeus fell in love with the earth girl snuck into the prison, turned into golden rain.Soon the princess gave birth to a son.And to get rid of an unwanted baby, the king ordered to imprison a mother with a baby in a barrel and throw into the sea.Young mother and baby survived and swam to the shore of the barrel of the island.
When Perseus was the handsome young man, I made a lot of feats.And during his adventurous youth he found his love - the beautiful Andromeda.As an adult, he took part in competitions in discus, where he accidentally killed the mother of his grandfather.That's such a beautiful story about the constellation with a bit of a sad ending.
history of the ancient constellation
constellation Perseus, located in the northern celestial hemisphere, it was revealed by the ancient astronomers.And best of all in the starry sky it can be seen in the period from November to March.The cloudless and moonless night is not difficult to discern ninety constellation of stars even to the naked eye, as a part of the constellation of the stars present the second and third magnitude.
scattered star clusters in the constellation Perseus were discovered by astronomers for a long time.In particular, in the late 19th century American astronomer discovered emission nebula.It's quite a beautiful phenomenon, which could be addressed through a modern telescope.Constellation Perseus (photos which you can see in the article) is mentioned in the catalog of the sky, dating back to the second century AD.
Location Perseus in the starry sky
Constellation is well seen on the entire territory of Russia.The most favorable conditions for visibility - in December.
constellation Andromeda and Perseus (considered by us sozdvezdie) are close by.And if you want to find Perseus in the sky, the first thing you need to find Andromeda.In the constellation Perseus lover is a straight line, made up of several stars.Then continue the line to the east, and it will point you to the star of Perseus.
Star neighbors
Like any other, the constellation Perseus in the sky has a neighbor.From the east it is bordered by Cassiopeia, in the west of contact with the Auriga.In the south-east of Perseus, you can easily find the constellation Taurus.In addition, the constellation of Andromeda and Perseus are very close - even here, love does not let their beauty.
Winking devil is in the constellation
True to its legendary image of Perseus on the celestial map is depicted as a warrior with the head of Medusa on the belt.
constellation Perseus, astronomers have observed in different countries, and drew them is a star cluster with its mystery and uniqueness.In the Middle Ages it was actively engaged in the study of the Arab astronomers.They first noticed that when we look at Medusa's head can be seen that one eye she remains fixed and the other from time to time as winks.And this star in the constellation Perseus was given the name "devil" or in Arabic - Algol.
European astronomers, the first to examine in depth the phenomenon of flashing Algol, was an Italian physicist, astronomer, who lived in the 17th century.However, it did not study him closer to understanding how a star is flashing regularity.Determine the astronomers succeeded only in the late 18th century, watching the star for each night.Thanks to this methodical work it was found that "winks" Algol a strict periodicity.
Two and a half days the star's brightness remains consistently bright.The next nine hours Brightness it begins to decline gradually, and then increases again to the initial value.The gap between the "winks" is about two days and twenty-one hours.
solving the mystery of Algol
This conclusion has enabled astronomers to suggest the existence of another celestial body that revolves around the twinkling stars.In the late 19th century, such an assumption was vindicated scientific fact.Scientists have confirmed their hunch detected in Algol satellite.It periodically eclipses the star, causing power fluctuations shine.
This star was the first celestial body, open astronomers with the characteristic of eclipsing variable stars.And even then the interest of scientists in the study of this celestial beauty is not lost.With this increased attention has managed to establish the presence of a satellite located at a greater distance than the first.Because of its remoteness sufficient twinkling star Algol, it does not cause, it does not cause the eclipse and the star itself.
sparkling swarm of stars in a part of the Perseus
This is one of the most beautiful clusters of stars, found by scientists in the constellation Perseus.The naked eye can be seen only a small speck of light.But if you look closely at it through a telescope, you can see the unforgettable beauty of the cluster stars.Hundreds of sparkling light give the impression of a small heavenly holiday.On top it has two condensation of the heavenly bodies.
these open clusters in the constellation have a different distance from the Earth and the different number of stars in its composition.The first cluster of more numerous than the latter.The difference in the amount of about a hundred celestial bodies.Astronomers are watching carefully for clusters, came to the conclusion that the stars in their structure are not random, gathered without any system.There is a hypothesis that they are formed from a single dozvёzdnoy forms of matter.
In addition, in the middle of the 20th century astronomer from Holland made another interesting discovery: the stars of the second cluster scatter in all directions from the central portion thereof.He also was able to calculate that the association of stars emerged relatively recently.
the whole star clusters Perseus interest to researchers because they are the most numerous.Interesting for researchers and also a diffuse nebula California, located in the constellation Perseus.It is, according to the observations of scientists, illuminated big enough star.The distance from Earth to this bright nebula is about 2,000 light-years.
second
variable star in the constellation Perseus, Algol in addition, there is another variable star.It also can be seen without a telescope.Time range of its flickering is not permanent as the star of the "devil" and fits into the gap from 33 to 55 days.This phenomenon of impermanence is not fully studied by astronomers, if not identified and the cause of flicker.
Watching this beautiful star of pleasure.But as scientists used to combine business with pleasure, it was found that this star also has a satellite.Moreover, its size is somewhat smaller size of the star itself.
Watching this couple in the telescope, astronomers call them "celestial diamond" because of the wonderful color combinations.The main star lit beautiful orange and her little companion is a mysterious bluish glow.
Meteor showers Perseus
Those who are actively interested in meteorites, astronomers offer a fascinating sight to see the meteor shower in the constellation Perseus.Shooting Stars have to saving time.This is about the middle of July to the last days of August.The peak of the rain falls in the middle of August.Astronomers call this an active Perseid meteor shower.
in the night sky you can see a huge number of great constellations, many of which require more careful study and consideration.This also applies to the constellation Perseus.Although many of the discoveries, study it still have many generations of people.What still remains far "behind the scenes" of modern astronomy, perhaps in a few decades will hit humanity scale to be discovered.
