Starry sky in February. Big UniverseStarry sky of February What constellations are visible in February

Many of our readers have probably paid attention to an unusually bright luminary shining in the southwestern part of the sky on these January evenings and looking like a very bright yellowish star. Meet - in front of you is the planet Venus, which, due to its brilliance, is the third brightest luminary in the earth's sky (after the Sun and the Moon). As you probably know, the planets are visible in the sky due to the sunlight reflected from them. But the reflectivity of the cloudy atmosphere of Venus is so great that this planet surpasses in its brightness all other bright planets in the solar system, including the giant Jupiter, as well as Mars during the Great Oppositions. By the way, in the Martian sky, Venus is also among the leaders in brightness among the planets, including such neighbors as Earth and Jupiter. But back to Earth.

The orbit of Venus is located inside the orbit of the Earth, therefore, along with Mercury, Venus belongs to inner planets. And this means that it is visible either in the evenings in the western half of the sky, or in the mornings in the eastern half. Like a giant pendulum, Venus moves away from the Sun in the sky at an angle of up to 46 ... 48 ° either to the east or to the west. If Venus moves away on the celestial sphere to the maximum angle east of the Sun, then east elongation, when Venus is clearly visible in the evenings in the western part of the sky, becoming the "evening star". When Venus moves away from the Sun to the west, western elongation, while the planet is visible in the morning in the east ("morning star").

In the current period of evening visibility, Venus reached its greatest eastern elongation (47 °) on January 12, 2017. The field of this angular distance between Venus and the Sun began to decrease, and by March 25, 2017, Venus will completely hide in the bright rays of the sun (it will be in conjunction with the Sun). After that, Venus will begin to move away from the Sun to the west and will soon appear in the morning sky at dawn. On June 3, 2017, Venus will reach its greatest western elongation, moving west of the Sun at an angle of almost 46°. After that, it will again begin to approach in the sky with a bright daylight, but will be in conjunction with the Sun only on January 8, 2018. Thus, the best time for observations of Venus in 2017 will be the rest of its evening visibility - until about mid-March.

Given the date of preparation of this review (January 20, 2017), we will talk about the conditions for the visibility of Venus, starting from the last ten days of January. So, being in the constellation of Aquarius, Venus sets more than four hours after sunset, shining in the sky until almost nine o'clock in the evening as a very bright yellowish star -4.5 magnitude. And to the left and above Venus you can find bright, but much inferior in brilliance to Venus, reddish Mars. Its apparent brilliance is “only” +1.0 magnitude, which, nevertheless, corresponds to the brightest stars in the night starry sky.

Venus and Mars in the evening sky January 20, 2017

On January 24, Venus will move into the constellation Pisces. And on the evening of January 31, a bright golden crescent of the Moon will pass south of Venus - and it will look very beautiful in the sky.

In February 2017, Venus will reach its maximum brightness - minus 4.6 magnitude. On February 28, a thin crescent of the Moon will again pass south of Venus.

With the beginning of the calendar spring, the visibility conditions of Venus will begin to deteriorate rapidly. Already by the beginning of March, the duration of the visibility of the planet after sunset will noticeably decrease and will be less than 3 hours. The planet will continue to move through the constellation of Pisces, into which the bright Sun is about to enter, as if trying to absorb the evening beauty Venus with its bright rays.

On March 17 - 20, Mercury will pass near Venus (about 10 ° to the southeast), the brightness of which will be -1.2 magnitude. In the form of a bright, slightly orange star, it can be found to the left of Venus against the background of the evening dawn low in the western part of the sky. The brilliance of Venus itself will weaken somewhat by this time to -4.1 magnitude. In this case, the planet will set below the horizon about an hour after sunset. It is worth noting that the declination of Venus in March will be greater than that of the Sun, so the planet will also appear in the morning sky shortly before the appearance of a daytime star above the horizon. Thus, there will be a short period of double visibility of Venus - evening and morning.

As noted above, on March 25, 2017, Venus will enter into inferior conjunction with the Sun (i.e., it will be between the Earth and the Sun), so the planet will disappear in the bright rays of the evening (and morning) dawn. In the following days, Venus, moving westward in the constellation Pisces, will rise, shortly before sunrise, low in the east against the background of the dawn. The period of its morning visibility will begin, which will last almost until the end of 2017. But at the very beginning, this period of visibility will not be the most favorable, because the declination of the Sun in the first months of the morning visibility of Venus will remain more northerly than that of the heroine of our review, which, taking into account the angle of inclination of the ecliptic to the horizon, will affect the shorter time between sunrises of both luminaries and on the low height of Venus above the horizon, to which she will have time to rise before the first rays of the sun.

April-June will be especially unfavorable for observations of Venus, when the planet, despite the fact that June 3 will be at its greatest western elongation, will rise shortly before sunrise. But why not try to find Venus in the daytime sky? Yes, yes, the brightness of Venus is such that it is visible even in the daytime sky! You just need to know where to look for it. And then, looking closely, you can find a tiny bright white “dot” in the blue daytime sky. An excellent assistant in this matter is the Moon on those days when it passes on the celestial sphere next to Venus. For example, on April 24, the crescent of the "aging" Moon will pass south of Venus. Thus, Venus can be found above the upper "horn" of the crescent moon.

The next conjunction of Venus and the Moon will occur on the morning of May 22 and 23, when the Moon will also pass south of the planet.

Having stayed since January 24 in the constellation of Pisces, by June 10, Venus will leave the boundaries of this constellation and will be on the border of the constellations of Aries and Whale. Its brilliance will be -4.3 stars. At dawn on June 21, a waning crescent of the Moon will again pass a little south of Venus. This will happen in the southern part of the constellation Aries. And on June 29, Venus will move into the constellation Taurus. By this time the planet will rise two hours before sunrise and gradually the conditions of its morning visibility will begin to improve.

In the first days of July, Venus will pass south of the Pleiades open star cluster in the constellation Taurus, and by July 12 will be about 4 ° north of Aldebaran (α Taurus, magnitude +0.9 magnitude). On the morning of July 20 and 21, the Moon will again pass south of Venus.

On July 30, Venus will enter the constellation of Orion (in its northernmost part), but on August 1 it will cross the border of Gemini, in which it will stay until August 25. And in the morning sky on August 19 it will be possible to observe a rather close conjunction of Venus and the Moon.

From August 25, Venus will begin to move through the constellation of Cancer. In this case, the planet will rise three hours before sunrise, that is, still in the dark sky and will shine like a bright star of -4.0 magnitude. in the eastern sky.

Remaining in the morning sky, on September 11, Venus will move into the next zodiac constellation - the constellation Leo, in which there will be two more bright planets - Mercury and Mars. At the same time, on the morning of September 18 and 19, the Moon will join them in the sky, so we will witness a mini-parade of planets with a bright crescent of the Moon! Don't miss this beautiful sight.

Parade of planets in the morning sky September 18, 2017

On September 20, Venus will pass half a degree north of the bright star Regulus (α Leo, magnitude +1.4 mag.), and on October 5-6 at an even smaller angular distance north of Mars. But its brightness will be rather weak - only 1.8 magnitudes, so it will look like an ordinary reddish star very close to the very bright Venus, the brightness of which, however, will weaken to -3.9 magnitudes.

On October 9, Venus will move into the constellation Virgo. Against the background of the same constellation at dawn on October 18, a thin crescent of the Moon will pass a little north of Venus. In early November, Venus will pass north of Spica (α Virgo, magnitude +1.0 magnitude), and at dawn on November 13 will be slightly north (about a quarter of a degree) from bright yellow Jupiter, whose magnitude will be -1, 7 stars And it will be a very beautiful pair of bright planets in the sky, located at an angular distance of about half the apparent diameter of the moon! However, already a day later, Venus will move into the constellation Libra and begin to move away in the sky from Jupiter further to the east. At the same time, the conditions of its visibility will deteriorate rapidly. On December 4, Venus will enter the constellation of Scorpio, but by this time it will have practically disappeared in the bright rays of the morning dawn. From December 8, the planet will move along the southern part of the constellation Ophiuchus, getting closer and closer to the Sun in the sky. But only on January 8 it will be in upper conjunction with the daylight.

A new favorable period of evening visibility of Venus will come in February 2018 and will last almost until the end of October of the same year.

The following websites and software were used in preparing the review:

We decided to create this section on the basis of your questions received by e-mail, as well as the search queries of visitors.

General questions about finding stars and constellations

Question: How to find the North Star in the starry sky?

Answer: We all know the Big Dipper bucket, which is the “calling card” of the northern starry sky, because due to its proximity to the north pole of the world throughout the former USSR, it is the most memorable group of rather bright stars visible at any dark time of the day and year . Of course, the position of the Big Dipper bucket above the horizon varies depending on the time of year and time of day. But, in any case, it is very easy to find it, except that on spring evenings it rises to the zenith and is visible overhead, which may seem to someone not a very convenient position for observations.

Considering the recognition of the Big Dipper bucket, it is necessary to start your acquaintance with the starry sky with it. And the first step will be to find the North Star. Firstly, this has a practical meaning, because. The polar star points to the north, which will help you quickly navigate to the cardinal points. Secondly, we get directions to search for other circumpolar constellations, thereby expanding our knowledge of the starry sky. So, looking at the picture on the left, let's draw a mental line through the two extreme stars of the Ursa Major bucket, denoted by the Greek letters α and β. Like other bucket stars, they have their own names: Dubge and Merak. The first star similar in brightness to the stars of the Ursa Major bucket on your path will be the Polaris. Print (or redraw) the drawing and, depending on the position of the Ursa Major bucket in the sky, rotate it so that you know which way to draw a mental line to search for the North Star.

More detailed information on searching for constellations can be found in the section.

February 2012

Question: Two bright stars in the sky. The brightest star in the sky in February.

Panorama: Venus (center), Jupiter (to the left and above) and the constellation of Orion (on the left side of the image) on the evening of February 18, 2012.

Answer: Most likely, our readers have in mind two bright luminaries visible in the evenings in the southwestern part of the sky and similar to two bright stars. Moreover, one of them is so bright that in its brightness it exceeds by many times all the stars visible in the sky. But these are not very bright stars at all, but planets. And the brightest of them is Venus, the second planet from the Sun in the solar system. In the earth's sky, it is so bright that in terms of its brightness it reliably occupies the third place after the Sun and the Moon among the brightest luminaries. It can even be found with the naked eye in the daytime sky! Remarkably, even in the sky of Mars, Venus looks brighter than neighboring Earth! The reason for such a bright shine of Venus is the high reflectivity (albedo) of the dense cloud cover of the planet. When observing Venus with a small telescope, its phases are noticeable, similar to the phases of the moon. Phases less than 30 - 40%, when the planet is visible in the telescope in the form of a sickle, are also visible in 7x binoculars. Venus will take on the appearance of a crescent from the second half of April this year, so if you have binoculars at hand, be sure to observe the planet in the second half of spring 2012. Just make sure that the binoculars are fixed in place, because hand trembling is unlikely to make it possible to clearly see the phase of Venus.

As for the second brightest "star" visible next to Venus, this is the planet Jupiter, which occupies the fourth brightest place in the earth's sky. And if in February Jupiter is visible to the left and above Venus, then on March 12-14, 2012, Venus in the celestial sphere will pass a few degrees north of Jupiter, after which they seem to “swap” in the sky. Jupiter is also interesting for observations with binoculars, since even 7x binoculars can show from one to four of the largest and brightest moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo: Io, Europa, Callisto and Ganymede. For successful observations, you also need to take care of the immobility of the binoculars. Then next to the bright Jupiter you will see tiny "stars" of its main satellites.

Moon, Venus and Jupiter in the starry sky February 24 - 29, 2012. View to the southwest. Early evening.

The crescent-shaped moon will pass near Venus on the evening of February 25, 2012, and on February 26-27 - near Jupiter. In March, the Moon will pass first near Jupiter on the evening of the 25th, and on the 26th - near Venus.

Question: How to find Mars in the sky? Mars in the starry sky in February 2012.

Mars in the eastern sky at 22.45 Moscow time on February 22, 2012

Answer: In February 2012, it's very simple: around 11 p.m. local time, look east. Mars is visible as the brightest star in this side of the sky. However, its color is slightly reddish. The moon on the celestial sphere will approach the planet on March 7 and will be to the right of Mars in the evening. The next time near Mars, the Moon will be on the evening of April 3rd. Note that at the beginning of March 2012, on the 4th, the opposition of Mars will occur. But in order to see at least some details of the surface of the planet, you need a small telescope. With binoculars, any details of the surface of Mars are not visible from Earth.

Search map of the spring constellations with the positions of the Moon, Mars and Saturn in March 2012

March 2012

Question: Two bright stars in the sky. The brightest star in the sky in March.

Moon, Jupiter and Venus in the evening sky March 24, 2012

In March, Venus still attracts special attention, shining in the evenings as a very bright yellow star in the western part of the sky. Jupiter, next to which she passed at the beginning of the second decade of the month, every evening is seen further and further from the bright Venus. Venus itself in the sky is gradually approaching a compact group of faint stars, forming a figure that looks like a tiny bucket. This is the Pleiades open star cluster, against which Venus will pass at the very beginning of April.

April - May 2012

Question: What is the brightest star visible in the western sky in April - May of this year?

In fact, this is not a star at all, but the neighbor of the Earth in the solar system - Venus. Due to the high reflectivity of its atmosphere, covered with dense clouds, this planet is the third brightest luminary in the earth's sky after the Sun and the Moon. Venus shone in the evenings in the western part of the sky throughout the past winter and during the first two spring months, and by the end of May this period of evening visibility of Venus will gradually end. Read about the conditions for the visibility of the planet. And on June 6, 2012, a very rare astronomical phenomenon will occur - after which it will appear already in the east at dawn, becoming the "morning star".
Pictured: Venus in the evening sky on April 30, 2012.

July - August 2012

Question: Two bright stars at sunrise in July? What are the two bright stars in the morning over Moscow?

In July - August, the period of morning visibility of two bright planets - Jupiter and Venus - continues, which attract the attention of observers with their bright brilliance. And this is not surprising, because Venus occupies the third place in brightness in the earth's sky after the Sun and the Moon! And Jupiter is the fourth brightest, only occasionally giving way to Mars in brilliance for a short time when it is in Great Opposition.
So, in the morning sky of July and August 2012, we observe Jupiter (the bright planet above) and Venus (the one below and brighter). It is worth noting that before that, in the spring of 2012, these planets could be observed in the evening sky after sunset. They were also close to each other. It just so happened that after disappearing into the rays of the evening dawn, both planets appeared not far from each other in the morning sky at the very end of June. However, in August and in the following months, the angular distance between Jupiter and Venus will rapidly increase. Venus will remain a morning star, while in autumn Jupiter will begin to rise in the evenings in the eastern part of the sky. You can find out more about the conditions for the visibility of both planets in August 2012.
In the photo: Venus and Jupiter in the predawn sky on July 25, 2012.

Question: How to find the constellation Perseus in the sky?

Answer: A search map, as well as a description of the objects of the starry sky visible in the constellation Perseus, can be found

Question: When will there be two moons in the sky in August?

Answer: In fact, no two moons in the sky, fortunately, are not expected. All this is a kind of Internet canard, originating from a journalistic mistake made back in 2003. In August 2003, or to be more precise - on August 28, the Great (or rather, the greatest) opposition of Mars took place. Enthusiastic journalists were so carried away in their reports by describing the spectacularity of this phenomenon that they announced that Mars would approach the Earth so close that in the sky it would seem like a small (second) Moon, and on its surface it would be possible to distinguish some details, as well as on face of our natural satellite! Journalists forgot to say one thing: Mars will look like a "small moon" only through telescopes, and the observer's eye must be sufficiently trained to see details on the planet's disk even during the Great Opposition.
But time erases the details, and Internet users are still trying to find out about the two moons in August. We hope that after reading this comment, our readers will stop waiting in heaven for something that is not destined to happen.
But the next Great Opposition of Mars is “destined” to occur on July 27, 2018.

February 2015

Question: What kind of bright yellow star shines in the evening in the eastern part of the sky, and in the early morning - low in the west?

June - July 2015

Q: What are the two very bright yellow stars visible in the evenings in the western sky in June and early July 2015?

September - November 2015

Question: What is the bright star seen in the east in the morning?

This is Venus - the brightest planet in the solar system in the earth's sky, the third brightest luminary after the Sun and the Moon. In the autumn of 2015, the period of its morning visibility fell, so the planet is clearly visible in the morning in the eastern part of the sky. But the main planetary events will come in October, when four bright planets approach in the morning sky: Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter. We will talk about this in our October review.

Question: What is the constellation of 6 stars seen in the late evening in the east?

If we mean a compact group consisting of 6 stars (see photo), then this is not a constellation, but a part of the constellation Taurus.

In February 2017, 5 planets, 22 asteroids brighter than +12 magnitude* and four comets will be available for observation. This month will be very rich in astronomical events. About them - in this article.

moon On February 4, it enters the phase of the first quarter, on the 11th - the full moon, and on the 18th - the last quarter and on the 26th the new moon will come. On February 3, the Moon will cover the dwarf planet Ceres, this phenomenon is not visible in the Novgorod region. On February 5, there will be a conjunction of the Moon and Aldebaran, the brightest star in the constellation Taurus. February 11 after midnight there will be a penumbral lunar eclipse. This phenomenon is almost imperceptible due to a small drop in the brightness of the lunar disk.

Mercury not visible due to low position above the horizon.

Venus is visible in the evenings just after sunset as a very bright white star in the south-southwest in the constellation Pisces for 4 hours after sunset. The whole month next to Venus will be Mars (see photo). Gloss -4.5. The phase of the planet gradually decreases, and the apparent diameter increases. At the end of the month, even through binoculars, Venus will look like a small, thin sickle.

Mars visible low in the south-southwest for more than four hours after sunset as a not very bright orange star. The planet moves through the constellation Pisces. Venus will be next to Mars for the whole month (see photo), and on February 26 the planet will connect with Uranus (the distance between the planets will be less than 1 °). Shine of the planet +1.2.

Jupiter can be observed after midnight and in the morning in the east as a bright yellow star in the constellation Virgo. The period of visibility of the planet is increasing every day. Already through binoculars next to Jupiter, the Galilean satellites are visible: Ganymede, Callisto, Europa and Io. Gloss -2.3.

Saturn visible in the morning in the southeast as a fairly bright star in the constellation Ophiuchus. The brightness of the planet is +0.5.

Uranus visible in the evenings in the constellation Pisces as a star of +5.9 magnitude. To find a planet, you need a star map and at least binoculars. At the end of the month, the planet will pass near Mars and it can be used as a guide to find it.

Neptune not visible due to proximity to the sun.

In February, 22 asteroids have a brightness greater than +12, the brightest will be Vesta(constellation Cancer and Gemini, +6.6), Ceres(constellation Cetus and Pisces, +8.9), Irena(constellation Leo, +9.3) and Metis(constellation Leo, +9.4). To find all the asteroids you need binoculars, more often a telescope and a star map. Any asteroid in a telescope looks like an ordinary star, which moves among the stars day by day.

Comets available for observation will be: Encke(brilliance +6, constellation Pisces, near Uranus, Mars, after Venus), Honda-Mrkos-Paidusakova(shine +8), Johnson(brilliance +10, the constellations of Bootes and Hercules) and Tuttla-Giacobini-Cresac(shine +10, constellations Cancer and Leo). To find all the comets mentioned, you need a telescope and a star chart. Comets are visible through a telescope as gray hazy spots of varying brightness and size. The presence of a tail is optional.

In the photo: Venus (bright star on the right) and Mars (to the left and above) in the evening sky on January 21. Photo of the author.

* The "brilliance" or "magnitude" of a celestial object is the measure of its brightness. The smaller the brightness value, the brighter the celestial object. Accordingly, if we say "brilliance increases", then its numerical value decreases. So, the Sun has a brightness of -26, the full Moon is -12, the stars of the Ursa Major bucket are on average +2. A person in urban conditions sees stars up to +4 magnitude, in rural areas up to +6. The limit of binoculars (in the absence of sky illumination) +8...+10, a small telescope (in the absence of sky illumination) +12..+13.

February is the middle of winter. February 1 (2454 133rd Julian day) The sun rises in Moscow at 7:55 a.m., sets at 4:33 p.m. 17:03 At the end of the month, February 28 (2454160 Julian day), the first stars (taking into account the duration of twilight) will appear already at 18:41, and disappear at 6:56. In February, the Sun moves first in the constellation of Capricorn, and after February 17 - in the constellation of Aquarius. If we follow the movement of the Sun along the signs of the zodiac, which have a length of 30 ° along the ecliptic, starting from the vernal equinox, then in the first two decades of February the Sun is in the sign of Aquarius, and after February 20 it moves in the sign of Pisces.

The February evening sky amazes with bright stars that outline the contours of the most prominent constellations. At 19-20 hours from the southeast, the three most prominent constellations approach the upper climax: Charioteer with a bright Capella, below it Taurus with bright orange Aldebaran, and a little to the east - Orion with a bright topaz-yellow hue of Betelgeuse.

A group of nine bright stars in the constellation Orion occupies almost the entire field of view. Three oblique stars represent Orion's Belt. Through them passes the celestial equator - an important line on the celestial sphere, dividing it into the northern and southern hemispheres. This line also passes through the east and west points on the horizon. Try to trace the equator using these landmarks. In ancient times, the three stars in Orion's Belt were called Three Kings, they are all about the second magnitude and are called (from left to right) Zeta (), Epsilon () and Delta ().

Constellations over the southern part of the horizon (at the latitude of Moscow)

Above Orion's Belt, on the left, bright Betelgeuse () is visible. This is a variable pulsating star, its period is about 2070 days. and not very clear. Direct measurements of its dimensions using the Michelson stellar interferometer showed that during pulsations its radius varies from 700 to 1000 solar radii. If this star were in place of the Sun, all our planets up to Jupiter would be inside it. Using the method of speckle interferometry, for the first time we also obtained a photograph of the surface of a star with spots - the same as on our Sun (although their dimensions are comparable to the distance from the Earth to the Sun). This supergiant star is located at a distance of about 200 pc from us, the surface temperature is about 3000 K, and the luminosity is almost 15,000 higher than the solar one. Betelgeuse has almost completely exhausted its hydrogen fuel, its life is nearing its end. Usually stars with such a mass (about 15 solar masses) live for about 10 million years and before death they swell to gigantic sizes, turning into red supergiants. But, what is most interesting, such a star, dying, explodes like a supernova. We cannot say exactly when Betelgeuse will explode, whether we will witness a catastrophic explosion - it could happen tomorrow, or maybe in tens of thousands of years. No wonder astronomers study this star so carefully, because the consequences of the explosion are not difficult to imagine. It is believed that a similar supernova explosion, which occurred as a result of a star explosion near the Sun about 60 million years ago, led, according to one version, to the extinction of dinosaurs, but also to the emergence of new species of living beings - mammals, and later - man.

To the right of Betelgeuse is Bel-latrix (, 2 m). Between these stars, a little higher, you can distinguish the third (, 3 m), which, at first glance, seems to be a hazy speck. This impression is reinforced by the fact that under it there are two more faint stars (5 m). Under the Three Kings, on the right, a very bright (1 m) the star Rigel (Orion). To the left of Rigel is a star (2 m). The drawing of the constellation is completed by an elongated foggy spot under the belt, indicating the place of the suspended sword. The oblique line of the Three Kings, with its continuation to the southeast, points to the brightest star in our sky - Sirius (Canis Major). The constellation of Orion has been repeatedly sung in ancient legends and myths of different peoples. The ancient Jews saw in him Nimrod, the first hunter on Earth. He was even called Kezil, i.e. impermanence, which was associated with bad autumn weather and the dangers that lay in wait for sailors at that time. Ancient historians attribute the loss of the Roman fleet in the First Punic War to the illiteracy of the consuls, who did not take into account age-old signs and insisted on the sailing of the fleet at the dangerous time of the rise of Orion. The Arabs called Orion Al Jabar or Al Jawza (giant,giant).

The name Orion () is one of the oldest proper names, the name of the heavenly hunter himself. The Greek word (similar to the Russian time) means season, year And hour. Some see the relationship of this word with the name of the musician Arion, who enchanted even dolphins with his playing and was saved by them when he drowned in the sea. As a reward for his art, he was placed in heaven.

The names of the main stars are taken from Arabic: Betelgeuse - from ibt al-jawza (giant's shoulder), Rigel - ridge al-jawza (giant's foot). Bellatrix - from Latin bellatrix (warrior). This female name is associated with astrological ideas: it was believed that women born under the influence of this star are usually happy, though they love to gossip.

Already in a small telescope in the area of ​​​​the Sword of Orion, you can see a faintly luminous nebula. This is a giant gas and dust complex, inside which there are many young, newly formed hot, so-called O-stars. It is their powerful UV radiation that excites the glow of the surrounding gas, which we perceive as a diffuse nebula.

There are many double stars in this constellation. This is Rigel, whose duality can already be detected in a telescope with a lens diameter of about 5 cm; Betelgeuse with satellite 9 m bluish color, located at a distance of 2.5 " ; the top star in Orion's Belt Delta, available for observation in the weakest telescope: one star 2.5 m, other 7 m, the distance between them is 53 " . In the Orion Nebula, you can see the famous six-fold system of young stars, the so-called Trapezium of Orion (Orion's star). Try to see this amazing system.

Under the "knees" of Orion, low above the horizon, there is a small irregular quadrangle of stars - the constellation Hare. It is clearly visible in the southern regions of Russia.

Above Orion is the constellation Taurus. Orange Aldebaran () - the eye of an angry bull - stared at the hunter waving his club. To the northwest, the most beautiful cluster of young and hot stars of the Pleiades culminates, and near Aldebaran - a small V-shaped cluster of Hyades.

The Pleiades is a very visible cluster, and it is not surprising that our ancestors paid attention to it. The ancient peoples, long before they knew the length of the solar year, were guided by the stars when constructing the calendar, and their year usually began with the morning appearance of the Pleiades in the spring before sunrise, and the winter was counted from the time when the Pleiades began to rise in the evening (autumn). Although only six stars are now visible to the naked eye, in ancient times there were seven of them in this cluster, and each was given its own name.

Near the zenith is the constellation Perseus, to the east of it is the Charioteer, and closer to the horizon are Gemini with bright Castor () and Pollux (). To the west of Perseus, the constellations Andromeda and Pegasus are visible. Under Andromeda is the constellation Triangulum, in the southwest the constellation Aries descends.

In the northwest, near the zenith, the constellation Cassiopeia is visible. In this constellation is an unusual-looking gaseous nebula Bubble (NGC7635). The picture was taken with a very long exposure, through a narrow filter that transmits light emitted by a hydrogen atom in the line ( =
= 6563 ). Thanks to this, in the picture we see the distribution of hydrogen atoms in the form of a bubble. Despite the clear and thin outlines, the bubble has a diameter of about 10 sv. years, and its form is determined by the grandiose processes taking place in the center. This bubble was blown out by a powerful stellar wind from a star located in its center (it is not visible in the photo due to the large extinction). Another bright, hot star, above the center of the bubble, is immersed in a cloud of dust that reflects its light. A powerful stellar wind and a stream of light from this star, with their pressure, pushed out an elongated structure of luminous gas, which crashed into the dense substance of the molecular cloud surrounding the bubble with great speed. This elongated structure of a mixture of gas and dust is clearly visible in the image. The mass of the brightest star is estimated at 10–20 solar masses. The bubble is at a distance of 11,000 sv from us. years. It is interesting to note that our Sun is also a source of stellar (solar) wind. Although the solar wind is very weak, it also formed a bubble at a distance of about 80-100 AU. It was up to such a small, in terms of cosmic scale, distance that the solar wind was able to move the interstellar medium apart. Right now, the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space stations are just approaching the edge of the bubble and will attempt to relay information about the conditions at the boundary between the interstellar medium and the solar wind shaped medium.

Constellations over the northern part of the horizon (at the latitude of Moscow)

If we look at the northern side of the horizon, then we will see the non-setting constellations Draco and M. Ursa at the lower culmination, as well as the lower part of the torso of the constellation Hercules. Bolshaya Medveditsa rises to the east, which passed the lower climax a few hours ago. In the northeast, the constellation Leo is rising, in which Saturn is now, but it can be observed later, best around midnight, when it will be in the upper climax. It is clearly visible in a school telescope, but in the photograph we see much more unusual details. This is not surprising, since the picture was taken from the Cassini automatic interplanetary station, which is now exploring this planet and its satellites. The photo was taken when Cassini was in the shadow of this giant planet for almost 12 hours, and the disk of the planet covered the bright Sun. It can be seen that the night side of Saturn is partially illuminated by the light of the Sun reflected from the rings. In addition, the rings against the background of the planet are quite dark, and away from Saturn, they are so bright that this allowed the discovery of several new unknown rings (although they are barely visible in this picture). The E ring can be seen in sufficient detail, as well as the ring formed by the recently discovered moon Enceladus by gushing ice. The outermost ring of Saturn is clearly visible. If you look closely, then on the left, immediately above the bright main ring, you can see a faint dot - this is our planet Earth.

View of Saturn during its solar eclipse from the Cassini spacecraft (http://antwrp.gsfcnasa.gov/apod/ap061016.html)

Another interesting phenomenon is also associated with Saturn, which can be observed on the night of February 2-3 - the occultation of Saturn by the Moon. On this night, the full moon, moving among the stars in an easterly direction with an angular velocity of about 32 arc. min / h, will close Saturn from us for almost 40 minutes (in Moscow). This coverage can be observed in the European part of Russia and in Western Siberia. The table below shows the moments of universal time (UT) of the beginning and end of the occultation of Saturn. Winter time in this point of Russia T related to world time by the formula: T=UT+ n+ 3, where n– time zone number. So, Tyumen is in the 4th time zone ( n= 4), therefore, according to the local winter time of Tyumen, the coverage there will begin at the moment T= 23h 21m 16s + 4h + 3h = 6h 21m 16s.

Saturn occultation circumstances

City	Start time			end time
	h	m	from	h	m	from
Moscow	23	16	18	23	53	47
Kazan	23	17	31	00	12	33
S.-Pb.	23	03	27	23	40	14
Tyumen	23	21	16	00	23	55

Coverage circumstances in other cities can be found in astronomical calendars and the book O.S.Ugolnikova“The sky of the beginning of the century. 2001–2012” (M.: Selyanov A.D., 2000).

PLANETS

Mercury makes a direct movement in the constellation Aquarius. On February 7, the maximum eastern elongation of the planet occurs, when it moves to an angular distance of 18 ° east of the Sun. Mercury is clearly visible for almost an hour in the rays of the evening dawn, low above the horizon, until the middle of the month. The brightness of the planet varies from -0.9 m at the beginning to +0.8 m in the middle of the month. With a telescope magnification of 20 times in the second decade of the month, you can see the narrow crescent of the planet.

Venus makes a direct movement through the constellations of Aquarius and Pisces. Its brilliance will be -3.8 m, it is visible for a month, about 3 hours in the rays of the evening dawn. At the beginning of the month, Venus is just to the east of Mercury, and the two planets are visible at the same time, justifying their name of the evening stars.

Mars moves along the constellation Sagittarius and is above the horizon during the daytime, so it cannot be observed.

Jupiter moves along the constellation Ophiuchus, its brightness is almost -2 m, and the angular diameter is about 36 " , so that in a school telescope with a small increase you can see interesting details of its surface and four Galilean satellites. Jupiter is visible over 3.5 hours before sunrise.

Saturn moving backwards in the constellation Leo, at opposition on February 10, its brightness will be 0 m, it is visible all night. Saturn is best observed around midnight, when it is highest above the horizon. Its apparent diameter will be about 20 " , therefore, in a school telescope with a magnification of more than 10 times, you can consider its rings and even try to see the Cassini dip in the ring.

Uranus makes a direct movement in the constellation of Aquarius, being next to Mercury. Even though its brilliance is +5.9 m and it is above the horizon for about 1.5 hours, it is very difficult to observe it, because he is lost in the rays of the evening dawn.

Neptune moving in the constellation Capricorn. On February 8, it will be in conjunction with the Sun, so it will be inaccessible to observations.

METEOR

Aurigids (February): active from February 8 to February 12 with a maximum on February 9 (up to 5 met./h). It is convenient to observe the flow in the evening, when the constellation Auriga is high above the horizon.

Virginides active from February 13 to February 21 without a pronounced maximum period (up to 5 mph). Meteors are clearly visible in the second half of the night.

hydrides active from 21 to 23 February without a pronounced maximum (up to 4 m/h). The best observation time is the second half of the night.

Prof. V.M. CHARUGIN,
MSGU, Moscow

Ivanov, to the blackboard!

- At the exam in astronomy at the 5th year of the Physics Department of the Pedagogical Institute: "What are sunspots?" Minute confusion and the answer: "A sunspot is a recess on the Sun, the shadow from the walls of which falls to the bottom." The examiner came to his senses only after a few seconds.

V.V. PORFIRIEV

Astronomy is the study of airless space in general.

– Even after his death, Ptolemy believed that the spherical Earth is at the center of the world.

– Copernicus believed that the Sun is at the center of the universe, and various creatures move around it.

A constellation is a group of stars representing mythological images. This is a part of the sky, surrounded by certain edges.

- The color of the stars are white and bright white.

An atom consists of a large nucleus surrounded by small, positively charged nuclei.

- Internal energy is the energy that is inside the body.

“Sometimes the energy disappears.

- When the ball falls, it converts into internal energy.

Newton's third law is called the law of reciprocity.

- A heat engine is a device that produces gas that promotes the movement of cars.

- "Can the Kalashnikov assault rifle be attributed to heat engines?"
but) No, because the engine should work, and the machine - “boom!” - and that's it; b) no, because the gunpowder will start to ignite, and the machine gun may break into pieces; in) no, because no coal is thrown at it!

- The harm from the internal combustion engine is the contamination of nature and other living beings.

- Vacuum is an air shell.

- If you rub an ebony wand with a woolen cloth, the wand will receive a woolen charge.

- How many pluses the core has, the same number of minuses.

“Since electrons conduct electricity well, they can be used to make wires.

- Calculate the resistance of the specific weight of the conductor.

- The softest - alkali - metals are usually cut with a knife.

– Under normal conditions, neither air oxygen, nor sea water, nor even Tsarskaya vodka, affects titanium.

Various metals are used to make aluminum.

- Electrical phenomena must be studied in order not to suffer just in case.

Perhaps one of the most famous stars in the entire sky. In ancient Egypt, she was considered the personification of the supreme god Osiris, and the Romans chastised her for the beginning of the holidays - the hottest days of the year. In modern times, in the time of Herschel, Kant and Lambert, the star Sirius began to play the role of a pillar stone in determining the scale of the universe.

Of course, Sirius gained his fame due to his extraordinary brilliance. It is the brightest star in the Earth's night sky! And you can see this for yourself on February evenings, when Sirius sparkles over the southern horizon. How to find Sirius at the end of winter?

To do this, we will use the help of the brightest constellation of winter, Orion, since the figure of the mythical hunter dominates the February evening sky.

The constellation Orion is well known for its characteristic figure of 7 bright stars. Picture: Stellarium

It is easy to recognize the constellation of Orion by the characteristic pattern of 7 stars, visible even in the sky of a large city. bright red Betelgeuse and blue star Bellatrix form the shoulders of the hunter, three bright white stars located at the same distance from each other - Orion's belt, two stars below - bluish Rigel and star Saif- Hero's legs.

Found? In February, the constellation of Orion appears in the sky at dusk in the southeast quite high in the sky. Late evening Orion culminates in the south and at midnight already slopes towards the horizon in the southwest. We repeat, the constellation is so bright that it is noticeable even in the illuminated sky of megacities (the main thing is that the horizon in the south direction is open).

Now Sirius is easy to find: the three stars of Orion's Belt point to the star. Connect the Belt stars with an imaginary line and then extend it to the left (and down). The first bright star to appear on this line will be Sirius.

Three stars in Orion's Belt point to Sirius. Picture: Stellarium

In mid-latitudes, Sirius does not rise high above the horizon, so north of St. Petersburg, it can be quite problematic to see a star in the city because of the surrounding houses. But the further south the observer is, the higher Sirius is above the horizon, the easier it is to see it.

The low position of Sirius in the sky gives rise to several curious effects. Refraction and atmospheric currents near the horizon cause the star, as a rule, to twinkle strongly and shimmer with all the colors of the rainbow. It is often difficult to tell what the real color of Sirius is! (The star is white!) This makes Sirius look like a sparkling tiny diamond. In addition, in the dusty city air, the brightness of a star can sometimes be seriously weakened, because of which Sirius may seem almost the same brilliance as Rigel or Betelgeuse.

But most likely, one quick glance at the star will be enough for you to be convinced of its brightness! Look around: you will not find a single rival anywhere around!

However, sometimes a surprise can await you: for example, in the evening sky of February 2017, you will surely find an object in the west that is absolutely incredible in brightness - a large, yellowish-white star. It's certainly not a star, but planet Venus but. Venus is much brighter than Sirius, as is the planet Jupiter, as well as Mars at moments near oppositions. The presence of a bright planet in the winter sky allows you to compare its brilliance with Sirius and other bright stars and remember its "appearance" - brightness, color, "behavior" (for example, planets, unlike stars, almost do not flicker). In the future, you will learn to immediately distinguish planets from stars.