Constellation Bootes: legend, photo

For the convenience of orientation on the terrain, as well as exploring the sky, all the stars from time immemorial have been divided into groups that form the silhouette of certain objects or mythical characters. Over time, the nature of some groups changed, their number increased. However, most of the constellations retained their names and configuration as they were in the second century AD, when they created their catalog of Claudius Ptolemy. Among them is the constellation Bootas, which in ancient Greece also bore the name Arctophylax (translated "guard of the bear").

Location in the sky

Bootes in the northern hemisphere can be observed all summer. Find it simple. It is enough to find the Big Dipper first: the constellation Bootes is located to the left of the bucket handle. Heavenly drawing is familiar to many by the most noticeable point - Arcturus. This star is by brightness the fourth, following Sirius, Canopus and Alpha Centauri.

Orange giant

Arcturus is not only the brightest star in the constellation Bootes, he leads in this parameter throughout the northern hemisphere. On the territory of our country, it is particularly noticeable in the spring. Up to the middle of summer, Arcturus is located quite high above the horizon in the southern part of the sky. In the autumn period, it moves to the west, closer to the horizon line.

The brightest star in the constellation Bootes is the orange giant, luminous in excess of the Sun 110 times. Due to the constant ripple of the surface of the star, its brightness changes by 0.04 magnitude every eight and a few days. Similar properties allow us to classify Arcturus as a variable star.

Guest from another galaxy

Presumably, the age of Arcturus is just over seven billion years. It is referred to the number of stars that make up the so-called Arcturus stream, 52 luminaries moving at almost the same speed in one direction. Some parameters of these cosmic bodies lead scientists to the conclusion that once upon a long time they were part of another galaxy absorbed by the Milky Way. It turns out that an observer studying Arcturus from the Earth sees simultaneously one of the oldest stars and an alien from another galactic system.

Legends of the Ancients

One of the myths associated with Arcturus is explaining how the constellation Bootas appeared. Legend has it that in the star Zeus Arkad, his son, was transformed to save him from imminent death. In different versions, the hero was placed in the sky either as a specific star, or as an entire constellation. His mother was Callisto, the maid of the goddess Artemis or daughter of the king of Lycaon. Zeus, wishing to save her beloved from the revenge of her angry wife, Hera, according to another version, from Artemis herself, whom all her maids had vowed to celibate, turned Callisto into a bear. Arkad grew up an excellent hunter and, without recognizing his mother in the beast, nearly shot her. The arrow that was released was taken by Zeus. After that, he decided to permanently rid Callisto and Arkada of persecution, turning the hero into a constellation Bootes, and his mother into the Big Dipper. The second name of the star pattern, Arctophilax, comes from the same legend: The arcade in the sky constantly guards the bear, holding the Great Dogs and protecting it from other misfortunes.

The constellation Bootes for children can be interesting just like its connection with neighboring heavenly drawings. The legend makes it easy to remember the location of several figures at once.

Double systems

The diagram of the constellation Bootes includes 149 stars visible to the naked eye, and Arcturus is not the only object worthy of attention among them. In terms of brightness, Izar (epsilon), Mufrid (this) and Segnius (gamma) are also distinguished. And all of them are double stars.

Isar or Izzar (from the Arabian "loincloth") is a system that includes a bright orange giant and a white star of the main sequence. The distance between them is 185 astronomical units, and the period of circulation exceeds a thousand years.

Mouffrid is a close neighbor of Arcturus (the diagram of the constellation Bootes is given below). One of the components of this system color and surface temperature is similar to the Sun, but does not belong to the yellow giants. The life stage that he has overcome is characterized as an intermediate stage on the way to becoming a red giant. His companion is less impressive in its parameters. This is a red dwarf, related to the objects of the main sequence.

The segnus is located on the shoulder of Bootes and also consists of two luminaries. Refers to variable stars such as the Delta Shield, which has a glitter that changes every few hours due to surface ripples.

Zeta

Constellation Bootes can boast of the presence of triple stars. These include Zeta. The first two of its components (A and B) are almost identical in stellar magnitude. The luminosity of each is more than the analogous parameter of the Sun 38 times. At the same time , the Zeta Vopósa star system is a rather dim cosmic object and, perhaps, therefore, has no other historical name.

The third component is still one of the mysteries of the universe. It is known only that it rotates around the named pair, as it always does in ternary systems, and has a stellar magnitude of +10.9.

44 Boots

In the constellation there is another interesting triple object. This is the 44 Boots. The close pair in the system consists of two stars that are so close to each other that their surfaces come into contact. 44 Boots B and 44 Boots C are turned around each other in just three hours, the distance between them is just over one million kilometers. For space, such values are negligible. Stars constantly exchange material and make up an unstable system, often generating powerful explosions.

Component B of the system is similar in mass to the Sun, its radius is also close to the corresponding parameter of our luminary. It belongs to class G2 V. 44 Boots C has been studied rather poorly. It is inferior to component B in luminosity and mass, and 40% smaller in diameter than the Sun. Belongs to the class of yellow dwarfs.

44 Boots A much like our star. Its radius and luminosity practically coincide with the corresponding parameters of the Sun. The distance from this component of the triple system to the pair of aircraft is constantly changing, since the orbit of motion has the shape of an elongated oval. Its average value is 48.5 astronomical units.

Satellites of our galaxy

Volopas is noteworthy and another object located on its "territory". In 2006, there was discovered a dwarf galaxy, also called the Bootes. Such systems are among the satellites of the Milky Way, being with him in gravitational relationships, like the connection of the Earth and the Moon. Bootes (constellation), a photo of which not once did telescopes, was identified as the owner of a dwarf galaxy by careful calculations and calculations. Such a dull space object can not be fixed in any picture. The discovery of such galaxies plays an important role in refining the theory of the formation of the Milky Way and the entire universe.

Bootes, a beautiful and conspicuous constellation, conceals many secrets and does not hasten to disclose them to curious astronomers. Not all of its stars have been studied. Periodically, messages are flashing about new objects discovered near Bootes. We can safely hope that this constellation, like the whole of outer space, will give us many more discoveries.