Fantastic story about the starry sky. The stars that are in the sky...

The starry sky… Enchanting, alluring, flickering with thousands of lights, bottomless and endless, so close and at the same time so far away… Not the one that is illuminated by the night city or street lamps, but the one that is far from civilization, such that space darkness is visible . For this, it is not necessary to go to the mountains or to the steppe. It is enough to go ten kilometers from the settlement and retire, for example, in a river valley or in a clearing surrounded by forest at some distance.

First Most of the photos are clickable, to enlarge it, click on the picture:
1. Summer sky of the Astronomical City; 2. Starry sky in the mountains.

Starry sky for me from early childhood it was the most important mystery and at the same time the most sacred dream. I loved to lie for a long time on a haystack near my village house and admire this endless, shimmering beauty. And to dream… That it would be nice to have the ability of an astronaut and to fly into space with superluminal speed on a ship in order to be close by and touch the magic of the most unusual cosmic worlds. With these thoughts, while inside the visualized, vivid images of the space traveler, I often fell asleep in my bed. As a child, I found a map and learned all the constellations in the sky.

The most beloved and desired for me as a child were science fiction films on a space theme. During their show, I mentally disappeared from my space and was there, in the cosmic worlds, along with the heroes of the films. It is a pity that then (70s) these films were very rare on television (only a couple of times a year). I remember what a strong emotional outburst I received during the first viewing of color space fiction in the city cinema, when I became a university student. The library in the village school was weak, there were no books on the subject of space fantasy. I remember the emotional shock I received when, in the 9th grade, a teacher brought a voluminous collection of fantastic novels and short stories. I read until morning. The next book was "The Bull's Hour" by Ivan Efremov...

Among my classmates, school friends and children's environment, there was no one who was so fond of and admired the starry sky. It seemed strange to me then. Now it is clear why. After all, the cosmos is one of the channels here on Earth, which makes us ask questions - who am I, where am I from, where am I, why am I. And if a person is not ready to seek and receive answers to these questions due to the young age of the soul, or due to the lack of experience and knowledge recorded in his spiritual memory, then he does not have a strong craving and powerful delight from the contemplation of the starry distances. I will say more, after passing the “line” of spiritual transformation, when a person from speaking about love becomes spiritually loving, when answers to the above sacred questions are received, the delight and pleasure from being under the starry sky and contemplating the constellations only intensifies ...

Stars. About one star, the most important for us, - - I have already written in detail earlier. The Sun is a small, calm, single star of the spectral class G (G2V - "yellow dwarf"), one of 200 - 300 billion in our galaxy. An ordinary star, not distinguished by anything special. Most of them. Therefore, with regard to the structure of stars, their luminosity and life, then there is no point in repeating it.It is worth noting here what is characteristic of other stars and star systems, but is not characteristic of the Sun.

The photo is clickable, to enlarge it, click on the picture:
1. Pleiades; 2. Witch in the light of the stars.

With the naked eye, about 3,000 stars are visible in the sky in each hemisphere (northern and southern), about 6,000 in total. Powerful ground-based telescopes can increase this figure millions of times.

1. Star clusters in NGC 1313; 2. Star cluster M34; 3. M39 - open cluster in Cygnus; 4. Kemble Cascade.

There are so many stars in our galaxy that only about 0.01% of their number is listed in catalogs. The rest have not yet been identified and counted. Most famous stars- Polaris, Sirius, Vega, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Rigel, Mizar, Algol and others. According to the established tradition, supported by astronomers, only about 300 bright stars have proper names. There are no officially assigned names for the stars. As a result, star naming certificates issued by some organizations are a private initiative and are not recognized by the International Astronomical Union.

The first photo is clickable, to enlarge it, click on the picture:
1. Constellations Draco and Ursa Minor; 2. Constellation Ursa Major.

Even ancient people mentally connected the brightest stars with lines and received geometric figures or patterns - constellations- called names. For example, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Orion, Cassiopeia, Sagittarius, Lyra, Swan, Andromeda, Pegasus, etc. As a rule, the names of the constellations were consonant with the characters of myths and legends. Thus, constellations are rather large, conditionally delineated sections of the celestial sphere, each of which contains several bright stars that are clearly visible to the naked eye. Later, star atlases appeared, based on the constellations, accompanied by beautiful drawings of mythical characters. In them, the stars were designated by the letters of the Greek alphabet in descending order of their brightness: α is the brightest star in the constellation, β is the second brightest, and so on. The stars included in the constellation are not necessarily close to each other in space.

1. The constellation of Orion in the sky; 2. The constellation of Orion on a star map.

It seems that in the sky the stars are not far from each other. In fact distances between them, even by cosmic standards are huge. The closest star to Earth (other than the Sun) is Proxima Centauri. It is located 4.2 light years (or 39 trillion km = 3.9 × 10 13 km) from the solar system (1 light year is the distance that light travels in outer space in one year). The brightness of a star in the sky is related not only to its distance from the Earth, but also to the size of the star itself and its luminosity.

Stars differ from each other in many ways. First of all, by bloom. There are stars blue, white-blue, white, yellow-white, yellow, orange and red. The color of a star depends on the temperature of its surface. The hottest stars are blue (up to 60,000 Kelvin on the surface), the coldest are red (2000 - 3500 K). In general, it is very difficult to determine the color of faint stars with the naked eye, while in photographs it is easily distinguishable. The color of stars is much easier to determine when observing through a telescope. It should also be borne in mind that observers perceive color differently: some eyes are more sensitive to blue rays and have difficulty distinguishing red stars, or vice versa.

The second distinguishing feature is brightness star, which is estimated in stellar magnitudes. Thus, a star that is perceived by the eye as a star of the first magnitude is almost twice as bright as a star of the second magnitude, which, in turn, is as much brighter than a star of the third magnitude, and so on. Stars up to 6th magnitude are visible to the naked eye. A first magnitude star is exactly 100 times brighter than a sixth magnitude star. So it is accepted that the brightest stars have negative magnitudes.

1. The star Betelgeuse as seen through the Hubble telescope; 2. Spotted surface of the star Betelgeuse.

The third distinguishing feature is the size stars. Here the ratio between the smallest and largest reaches even larger values. The picture on the left shows the comparative size of the Sun (small dot on the left, bottom) with the blue star LBV 1906-20.

Another picture on the left, if you click on it, will open a large drawing that clearly shows the sizes of the stars in comparison. And below are two videos where this comparison of the Earth and the Sun with other stars is even more impressive.

These videos can be downloaded from YOUTUBE at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEa0RiU5aeU and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdUAus2-RXg

Masses stars change in a much more modest range and in the majority range from 0.07 to 100-150 solar masses. There are also heavier ones, but such massive stars are very rare. Stars vary greatly in density. Among them there are those whose cubic centimeter of substance outweighs a large loaded ocean ship. For example, the density of matter in a white dwarf is a million times higher than that of water. And in a neutron star, which is only a few kilometers in size, the density of matter is 280 trillion times that of water. The matter of other stars is so rarefied that its density in the surface layers is less than the density of the vacuum that is achievable under terrestrial laboratory conditions.

There are the following types of stars: brown dwarfs, white dwarfs, red giants, variables, Wolf-Rayet and T Tauri stars, novae, supernovae and neutron stars. More details about this can be found in the materials, links to which are given at the end of the text.

Photos are clickable, to enlarge them, click on the picture:
1. M13 - a huge globular star cluster; 2. Millions of stars in Omega Centauri.

By number of stars, connected in a group, single and multiple (double, triple and higher multiplicity) star systems are distinguished. If a system contains more than ten stars, it is called a star cluster. Our Sun is a single star. Double (multiple) stars are very common in the galaxy (more than 70% of the stars). For example, the brightest of the visually observed stars in the sky, Sirius, is a double (next to it, another white dwarf rotates around a single gravitational center).

Different types of stars go through different evolution. Its main stages are as follows: the birth, life on the main sequence, the final stage and the death of a star. Stars are born from gas and dust clouds when gravitational compression and heating of matter occurs to temperatures that trigger thermonuclear processes. Star-forming regions are usually revealed by the presence of massive hot and bright (young) stars. I end my life, depending on the class, ordinary stars either turn into white dwarfs, neutron stars or pulsars, or fade and become invisible ("black" dwarfs), or explode as supernovae, or turn into black holes.

Pleshakov had a good idea- create an atlas for children, by which it is easy to determine the stars and constellations. Our teachers picked up this idea and created their own key atlas, which is even more informative and visual.

What are constellations?

If you raise your eyes to the sky on a clear night, you can see a lot of sparkling lights of various sizes, which, like a scattering of diamonds, adorn the sky. These lights are called stars. Some of them seem to be collected in clusters and after a long examination they can be divided into certain groups. These groups are called "constellations". Some of them may resemble the shape of a bucket or the intricate outlines of animals, however, in many ways, this is just a figment of the imagination.

For many centuries, astronomers tried to study such clusters of stars and gave them mystical properties. People tried to systematize them and find a common pattern, and so the constellations appeared. For a long time, the constellations were carefully studied, some were broken into smaller ones, and they ceased to exist, and some were simply corrected after clarification. For example, the constellation Argo was divided into smaller constellations: Compass, Carina, Sail, Korma.

The history of the origin of the names of the constellations is also very interesting. To facilitate memorization, they were given names united by one element or a literary work. For example, it was noticed that during heavy rains the Sun rises from the side of certain constellations, which were given the following names: Capricorn, Whale, Aquarius, the constellation of Pisces.

In order to bring all the constellations to a certain classification, in 1930, at a meeting of the International Astronomical Union, a decision was made to officially register 88 constellations. According to decision constellations do not consist of groups of stars, but are sections of the starry sky.

What are the constellations?

Constellations differ in the number and brightness of the stars that make up its composition. Allocate 30 most noticeable groups of stars. The largest constellation in terms of area is Ursa Major. It consists of 7 bright and 118 stars visible to the naked eye.

The smallest constellation located in the southern hemisphere is called the Southern Cross and cannot be seen with the naked eye. It consists of 5 bright and 25 less visible stars.

The Little Horse is the smallest constellation in the northern hemisphere and consists of 10 faint stars that can be seen with the naked eye.

The most beautiful and brightest constellation is Orion. It consists of 120 stars visible to the naked eye and 7 of them are very bright.

All constellations are conventionally divided into those located in the southern or northern hemisphere. Those who live in the southern hemisphere of the Earth cannot see the clusters of stars located in the northern hemisphere and vice versa. Of the 88 constellations, 48 ​​are in the southern hemisphere and 31 are in the northern. The remaining 9 groups of stars are located in both hemispheres. The northern hemisphere is easy to identify by the North Star, which always shines very brightly in the sky. She is the extreme star on the handle of the Ursa Minor bucket.

Due to the fact that the Earth revolves around the Sun, which does not allow seeing some constellations, the seasons change and the position of this luminary in the sky changes. For example, in winter, the position of our planet in the circumsolar orbit is opposite to that in summer. Therefore, only certain constellations can be seen at any time of the year. For example, in the summer, a triangle formed by the stars Altair, Vega and Deneb can be seen in the night sky. In winter, there is an opportunity to admire the infinitely beautiful constellation Orion. Therefore, sometimes they say: autumn constellations, winter, summer or spring constellations.

The constellations are best seen in the summer and it is advisable to observe them in open space, outside the city. Some stars can be seen with the naked eye, while others may require a telescope. The constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, as well as Cassiopeia, are best seen. In autumn and winter, the constellations Taurus and Orion are clearly visible.

Bright constellations that are visible in Russia

The most beautiful constellations of the northern hemisphere visible in Russia include: Orion, Ursa Major, Taurus, Canis Major, Canis Minor.

If you peer into their location and give free rein to your imagination, you can see a hunting scene, which, like an ancient fresco, has been depicted in the sky for more than two thousand years. The brave hunter Orion is always depicted surrounded by animals. Taurus runs to his right, and the hunter swings a club at him. At the feet of Orion is the faithful Great and Lesser Dogs.

Constellation Orion

This is the largest and most colorful constellation. It is clearly visible in autumn and winter. Orion can be seen over the entire territory of Russia. The arrangement of its stars resembles the outlines of a person.

The history of the formation of this constellation originates from ancient Greek myths. According to them, Orion was a brave and strong hunter, the son of Poseidon and the nymph Emvriala. He often hunted with Artemis, but one day, for defeating her during a hunt, he was hit by an arrow of the goddess and died. After his death, he was turned into a constellation.

The brightest star in Orion is Rigel. It is 25 thousand times brighter than the Sun and 33 times its size. This star has a bluish-white glow and is considered supergiant. However, despite such an impressive size, it is much smaller than Betelgeuse.

Betelgeuse adorns Orion's right shoulder. It is 450 times the diameter of the Sun, and if you put it in the place of our luminary, then this star will take the place of four planets before Mars. Betelgeuse shines 14,000 times brighter than the Sun.

The constellation Orion also includes a nebula and asterisms.

Constellation Taurus

Another large and unimaginably beautiful constellation of the northern hemisphere is Taurus. It is located northwest of Orion and lies between the constellations Aries and Gemini. Not far from Taurus are such constellations as: Charioteer, Keith, Perseus, Eridanus.

This constellation in mid-latitudes can be observed throughout almost the entire year, with the exception of the second half of spring and early summer.

The history of the constellation goes back to ancient myths. They talk about Zeus, who turned into a calf in order to kidnap the goddess Europa and bring her to the island of Crete. This constellation was first described by Eudoxus, a mathematician who lived long before our era.

Aldebaran is the brightest star not only in this constellation, but also in other 12 groups of stars. It is located on the head of Taurus and used to be called the "eye". Aldebaran is 38 times the diameter of the Sun and 150 times brighter. This star is located at a distance of 62 light years from us.

The second brightest star in the constellation is Nat or El Nat (bull horns). It is located near the Auriga. It is 700 times brighter than the Sun and 4.5 times larger than it.

Within the constellation are two incredibly beautiful open clusters of stars Hyades and Pleiades.

The age of the Hyades is 650 million years. They can be easily found in the starry sky thanks to Aldebaran, which is perfectly visible among them. They include about 200 stars.

The Pleiades got their name from the nine parts. Seven of them are named after the seven sisters of Ancient Greece (Pleiades), and two more are named after their parents. The Pleiades are very visible in winter. They include about 1000 stellar bodies.

An equally interesting formation in the constellation of Taurus is the Crab Nebula. It was formed after a supernova explosion in 1054 and was discovered in 1731. The distance of the nebula from the Earth is 6500 light years, and its diameter is about 11 light years. years.

This constellation belongs to the Orion family and borders on the constellations Orion, Unicorn, Canis Minor, Hare.

The constellation Canis Major was first discovered by Ptolemy in the second century.

There is a myth that Big Dog used to be Lelap. It was a very fast dog that could catch up with any prey. Once he chased a fox, which was not inferior to him in speed. The outcome of the race was a foregone conclusion, and Zeus turned both animals to stone. He placed the dog in heaven.

Constellation big dog very visible in winter. The brightest star not only in this, but in all other constellations is Sirius. It has a bluish luster and is located quite close to Earth, at a distance of 8.6 light years. By brightness in our solar system it is surpassed by Jupiter, Venus, the Moon. The light from Sirius reaches the Earth after 9 years, and it is 24 times stronger than the sun. This star has a satellite called "Puppy".

Sirius is associated with the formation of such a thing as "Vacation". The fact is that this star appeared in the sky during the summer heat. Since Sirius in Greek is called "canis", the Greeks began to call this period holidays.

Constellation Canis Minor

Small Dog borders on such constellations as: Unicorn, Hydra, Cancer, Gemini. This constellation represents the animal, which, together with Big Dog follows the hunter Orion.

The history of the formation of this constellation, if you rely on myths, is very interesting. According to them, the Small Dog is Mera, the dog of Ikaria. This man was taught to make wine by Dionysus and this drink turned out to be very strong. One day his guests decided that Ikaria decided to poison them and killed him. The mayor was very sad for the owner and soon died. Zeus placed it in the form of a constellation in the starry sky.

This constellation is best observed in January and February.

The brightest stars in this constellation are Portion and Gomeisa. Portion is 11.4 light-years from Earth. It is somewhat brighter and hotter than the Sun, but physically differs little from it.

Gomeisa is visible to the naked eye and glows with a blue-white light.

Constellation Ursa Major

Ursa Major, shaped like a bucket, is one of the three largest constellations. It is mentioned in the writings of Homer and in the Bible. This constellation is very well studied and has great importance in many religions.

It borders on such constellations as: Waterfall, Leo, Hounds Dogs, Dragon, Lynx.

According to ancient Greek myths, Ursa Major is associated with Callisto, a beautiful nymph and beloved of Zeus. His wife Hera turned Callisto into a bear as punishment. One day, this bear stumbled upon Hera and their son, Arkas, with Zeus. To avoid tragedy, Zeus turned his son and nymph into constellations.

The big bucket is formed by seven stars. The most striking of them are three: Dubhe, Alkaid, Aliot.

Dubhe is a red giant and points to the North Star. It is located 120 light years from Earth.

Alkaid, the third brightest star in the constellation, expresses the end of the tail of Ursa Major. It is located at a distance of 100 light years from Earth.

Alioth is the brightest star in the constellation. She represents the tail. Because of its brightness, it is used in navigation. Alioth shines 108 times brighter than the Sun.

These constellations are the brightest and most beautiful in the northern hemisphere. They can be perfectly seen with the naked eye on an autumn or frosty winter night. The legends of their formation allow fantasy to roam and imagine how the mighty hunter Orion, along with his faithful dogs runs after prey, and Taurus and Ursa Major are watching him carefully.

Russia is located in the northern hemisphere, and in this part of the sky we manage to see only a few of all the constellations that exist in the sky. Depending on the season, only their position in the sky changes.

MOU Travninskaya secondary school Dovolensky district of the Novosibirsk region

Literary and poetic competition "Sunny Country"
Nomination: Real or fictional stories
Topic:Star

There were no children in one family. The couple lost all hope and resigned themselves to their fate. They understood that only a miracle could help them. But they were too old to believe in miracles.
Late one evening, the couple saw a shooting star in the sky. They had one desire for two - to become parents. They guessed it.
And soon our heroes heard a soul-rending cry of a child. It seemed that the child was crying right under the windows of the house. Opening the door, they saw a little girl. She impressed with her extraordinary beauty. The man took the girl in his arms and, feeling a surge of tenderness, entered the house. The woman looked around the yard, but saw no one and nothing. Entering the house, she beckoned the child to her. The girl looked up at her. The eyes were blue-blue, like the universe itself. A pretty face was framed by golden hair. Warmth emanated from the child. And our heroes were also struck by the fact that the girl seemed to emit a flickering light, like an asterisk. Well, how can you not fall in love with such a child?!
The couple fell in love with the girl at first sight and raised her as their own daughter. They named her Ariel. She grew up in affection and love. Every year, parents discovered more and more new abilities and opportunities for the child. But sometimes they noticed oddities behind her and considered it a quirk. Ariel spoke to the stars. She told her parents that the stars were calling her to them. She really wants to go to the stars, but she cannot leave the Earth until she grows up. The woman was very worried after such conversations with her daughter, and the man laughed. He was a very practical man and did not believe in any miracles. Although he admitted that the very appearance of a girl is a miracle. But he explained it in his own way: “For our long-suffering, we were rewarded by God or providence. But we deserve it. Our daughter is fine with us, why should she go somewhere?
Time passed, the girl grew up. But her desire to go into space only intensified over the years. When she thought about it, her skin glowed with a shimmering light. Once Ariel realized that the air for her, like water for the inhabitants of the water depths. She lightly kicked off the ground with her feet and soared high into the sky. The parents were stunned and scared. And they also realized that now nothing will keep their beloved girl on Earth, next to them. What a heavy heart for both of them. A man and a woman would not mind at all if their daughter remained the most ordinary person.
It's time for parting. Ariel got stronger, got used to the air, and the stars inexorably called to her. She promised her parents not to forget and to visit. And again, she easily pushed off the Earth with her feet and quickly flew up. Her golden hair fluttered like flames. Ariel quickly left earth's atmosphere and ended up in a vacuum. There, far away in space, she felt only a pleasant lightness. There was no habitual earthly breathing, but she lived! She was at home! And it seemed to her that the stars were whispering friendly words. From somewhere outside, a voice or something like a voice was heard, telling her that she was a Child of the Cosmos! This news gave strength. Ariel was overwhelmed with delight. She could move freely from star to star, from one galaxy to another. And when she got tired, she could sit down on some asteroid or meteorite flying by. Stars, planets, galaxies, nebulae, shimmering with pink, blue, green light, and even with all the colors of the rainbow, stunned and delighted the little but fearless girl. Only to the mysterious black "holes" Ariel did not approach. She knew there was danger!
Our little, fragile girl remembered that she was raised on the wonderful blue planet Earth. She used to consider the Earth as her home. Ariel often visited her parents, told them about what she saw and heard there, far from Earth. Parents love their daughter even more. We looked forward to her unexpected returns and were afraid of her unexpected departures.
One day, while walking far in space, Ariel met aliens. They were short, gray skin, covered with large folds. Huge green eyes looked at the girl angrily from under the brow ridges. They perfectly understood who they met on their way, they knew that the Cosmos gives the girl strength. So they asked her to join them. We shared our plans. And the most immediate plans were the destruction of the planet Earth. Ariel refused without hesitation. She decided to save her planet at all costs. The stars gave the fearless girl an unusually strong and beautiful star shield. The sun endowed her with fiery power.
There were countless aliens. They simultaneously turned towards the Earth. Green light streamed from their eyes, bringing death to the planet. Ariel created a star shield around herself and repelled the alien attack. Gathering a powerful fireball in her hand, the child of the Cosmos destroyed the uninvited evil "guests" with one blow.
The gray creatures were destroyed, and the small planet shone with blue light under the rays of the sun. The poor girl gave all her strength to save her home, her beloved and dear people, and turned into the brightest star in our entire Galaxy. She still shines brightly and provocatively in the mysterious night sky. With its radiance, the asterisk makes the souls of people purer and beckons to the starry distances.

Have you ever wondered how many stars are in the sky? Or would you like to count them? The starry sky is a big mystery that has long attracted adults and children with unusual bright lights and interesting phenomena. But it turns out that the way we see it is only a beautiful wrapper, but in fact there is a whole star world with their stories, adventures and other interesting events. What exactly? Our fairy tale about the Bear and the North Star will tell about this. So make yourself comfortable.

An unusual star world or a fairy tale about the North Star and her friends

Since ancient times, many small bright stars have been living in the sky, which are perhaps the most beautiful creatures in the whole world. Their shining clothes are a real opportunity for pride, because they even attract people - strange creatures living on one of the planets. Why strange? Yes, because the stars could not understand their way of life: they were always in a hurry somewhere, not even knowing the way, exposing themselves to the danger of getting lost, rarely thought about what the world really is and what their purpose is. Worries, worries and worries. And so their life passed on one of the most picturesque planets of the Universe.
It was completely incomprehensible to small bright stars how it was possible to live like this, because, unlike people, they never rushed anywhere, lived measuredly and constantly thought about the high - the meaning of life, heavenly harmony and the incredible beauty of the Universe. Most of all, they were interested and fascinated by the unusual laws that led their world, which was called the Cosmos. Comets, meteorites and entire systems of planets swept through it with incredible speed, while their routes were so accurate and harmonious that they did not collide with each other. This was the celestial harmony - a very thoughtful system of rules and laws, which all celestial bodies clearly adhered to.
In their free time, the stars rejoiced in their outfits, sang star songs and even led a star dance. True, it was very different from what people understood by dance. The reason for this is simple - the stars were forbidden to move from place to place, so their movements were extremely limited. This surprised the little beauties, but they never resented or protested, realizing that this is one of the rules of heavenly harmony. In general, the habit of being indignant is also inherent only to people.


Once, during such entertainment, the Polar Star, the brightest star in the sky, began to talk about people:
Look, they got lost again.
- Who? one of her friends asked.
Yes, sailors! They swam in the wrong direction. Well, how can you go on a journey without understanding the cardinal points at all?
“Indeed,” another celestial beauty picked up her conversation, “so the Chumaks got lost. For a long time they will have to look for salt, if they find it at all.
“And if they find them, they will get lost again on the way home,” the Polar Star laughed loudly and suddenly fell silent. It seemed wrong to her to laugh at the people who lived so far below. Good for them, the stars. From above, everything is really visible. But is it just as easy to live without pointers?
The North Star was not only the brightest, but also very kind and smart. So she instantly came up with an interesting idea:
“What if we become signposts for the people?” We will show them the way. We still cannot move away from each other, so it will be easy for people to remember our individual groups and navigate in space. And for a better understanding, we will now quickly draw a map of the starry sky.
- Great idea! one of her closest neighbors supported the Polar Star. - And I also propose to come up with names for our groups. For example, Mizar, Mirak and their friends look very much like a bear to me. Why shouldn't they be called that?
“Hmm, you look like a little bear cub to me!” Mizar laughed.


- Ursa Major and Ursa Minor! - summed up the North Star, - in my opinion, it sounds great. Tale of the North Star and Ursa Minor - good name for an exciting new story.
“Polar Star, maybe you’ll fantasize about your adventures later, and now let’s finish what we started?” Mizar interrupted her thoughts.
- Oh sure! You need to draw a map to help people.
This is how individual constellations were formed in the starry sky, and for a long time people have been accustomed to orient themselves by them. Therefore, if you do not know something, do not forget to raise your head to the sky from time to time. Little bright beauties are always ready to help.

We have created more than 300 costless fairy tales on the Dobranich website. It is pragmatic to remake the splendid contribution to sleep at the homeland ritual, the recurrence of turbot and heat.Would you like to support our project? Let's be vigilant, with new strength we will continue to write for you!

If you look up on a clear, cloudless night, then you will see a magnificent picture of the starry sky. Thousands of flickering multi-colored lights add up to bizarre figures, captivating the eye. In ancient times, people believed that it was lanterns burning, fixed on a crystal vault of heaven. Today we all know that these are not flashlights, but stars. What are stars? Why do they shine and how far are they from us? How are stars born and how long do they live? About this and much more - our story.

To understand what a star is, just look at our Sun. Yes, our Sun is a star! But how is it? - you ask. - After all, the Sun is big and hot, and the stars are so small and do not warm at all. The whole secret is in the distance. The sun is practically "close" - only some 150 million kilometers, and the stars are so far away that scientists do not even use the concept of "kilometers" to measure the distance to stars. They came up with a special unit of measurement called the "light year". We will talk about the light year a little later, but for now ...

Why are the stars colored? Hot and cold stars
The stars that we observe vary both in color and brightness. The brightness of a star depends on both its mass and its distance. And the color of the glow depends on the temperature on its surface. The coldest stars are red. And the hottest ones are a bluish tint. White and blue stars are the hottest, their temperature is higher than the temperature of the Sun. Our star the Sun belongs to the class of yellow stars.

How many stars are in the sky?
It is practically impossible to calculate even at least approximately the number of stars in the part of the Universe known to us. Scientists can only say that in our Galaxy, which is called the "Milky Way", there may be about 150 billion stars. But there are other galaxies too! But much more precisely, people know the number of stars that can be seen from the surface of the Earth with the naked eye. There are about 4.5 thousand such stars.

How are stars born?
If the stars are lit, does anyone need it? In the boundless outer space there are always molecules of the simplest substance in the Universe - hydrogen. Somewhere there is less hydrogen, somewhere more. Under the action of forces of mutual attraction, hydrogen molecules are attracted to each other. These processes of attraction can last for a very long time - millions and even billions of years. But sooner or later, hydrogen molecules are attracted so close to each other that a gas cloud is formed. With further attraction, the temperature in the center of such a cloud begins to rise. Millions of years more will pass, and the temperature in the gas cloud can rise so much that a thermonuclear fusion reaction will begin - hydrogen will begin to turn into helium and a new star will appear in the sky. Any star is a hot ball of gas.

The lifespan of stars varies greatly. Scientists have found that the greater the mass of a newborn star, the shorter its lifespan. The lifetime of a star can range from hundreds of millions of years to billions of years.

Light year
A light year is the distance that a ray of light travels in a year at a speed of 300,000 kilometers per second. And there are 31536000 seconds in a year! So, from the star closest to us called Proxima Centauri, a beam of light flies for more than four years (4.22 light years)! This star is 270 thousand times farther from us than the Sun. And the rest of the stars are much further away - tens, hundreds, thousands and even millions of light years from us. This is why stars appear so small to us. And even in the most powerful telescope, unlike the planets, they are always visible as points.

What is a "constellation"?
Since ancient times, people have looked at the stars and seen in the bizarre figures that form groups of bright stars, images of animals and mythical heroes. Such figures in the sky began to be called constellations. And, although in the sky the stars included by people in a particular constellation are visually next to each other, in outer space these stars can be at a considerable distance from each other. The most famous constellations are Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. The fact is that the North Star, which is indicated by the north pole of our planet Earth, enters the constellation Ursa Minor. And knowing how to find the North Star in the sky, any traveler and navigator will be able to determine where the north is and navigate the terrain.

supernovae
Some stars at the end of their lives suddenly begin to glow thousands and millions of times brighter than usual, and throw huge masses of matter into the surrounding space. It is customary to say that a supernova explosion occurs. The glow of a supernova gradually fades, and in the end, only a luminous cloud remains in the place of such a star. A similar supernova explosion was observed by ancient astronomers of the Near and Far East July 4, 1054. The decay of this supernova lasted 21 months. Now in the place of this star is the Crab Nebula, known to many astronomy lovers.

The birth, life and decay of stars is studied by the science of astronomy. Love astronomy, study it - and your life will be filled with new meaning!