1. ANDROMEDA (Andromeda) α Alferatz ar, Al Surrat al Faras - * the navel of the horse * Sirrah, Alpharet β Mirah γ Alamak 2. Gemini α Castor gr, the mythical name of one of the Dioscuri twins, after whom it was named the constellation itself β Pollux lat. gr. the mythical name of one of the Dioscuri twins, after whom the constellation γ Alchena sole was named? in. Algieba δ Vazad ε Mebsut ζ Mekbuda η Pass 3. BIG BEAR (Ursa Major) α Dubhe ar, * bear * β Merak ar, * loin * γ Fekda ar, * thigh * δ Megrets ar. * root * (beginning of tail) ε Aliot ar., the meaning is not clear ζ Mizar ar., * loincloth * η Benetash ar. * owner * Alkaid g (80) Alcor pers. * insignificant *, * forgotten * 4. BIG PES (Canis Major) α Sirius probably from gr. seirios - * bright burning *, possibly from Latin gr. * shimmering *, * sparkling * or from ar. Sirai - * sparkling * or al-Shira - * opening the door * among the ancient Greeks - a dog, among the Romans - a dog (canicula) name from the name of the constellation α (B) "Puppy" as modern astronomers called the companion of this bright star β Mirtsam in ... Mirzam δ Vezen ε Adara ζ Furud η Aludra 5. Libra α Zubenesh from ar. * Northern Claw * β Zuben spruce Genubi ar. Al Zuban al Yanubiyyah - * South Claw * 6. AQUARIUS (Aquarius) α Sadalmelik ar. Sa'ad al Malik - * the happiness of the ruler *, * the happiness of the kingdom * β Sadalsuud Ar. * the happiest of the happy * γ Sadakhbia ar. * the happiest of treasures * δ Skat Sheat Ar. * desire * ε Albali 7. APPEARANCE (Auriga) α Capella lat. * goat *, * little goat * are. El-Nat the Sumerians, Greeks and Arabs called it * the star of the goat * β Menkalinan ε and η Kids This is how the ancient Greeks called these stars Primacy. The star γ Charioteer is identical to β Taurus (Nat) 8. WOLF (Lupus) α Men 9. VOLOPAS (Bootes) α Arcturus gr. * guardian of the bear * β Nikkar γ Seguina ε Itzar Pincherima Pulcherrima - the name was given by the Russian astronomer V. Ya. Struve in 1835 η Mufrid 10. HAIR OF VERONICA (Coma Berenices) 11. RAVEN (Corvus) α Alshiba Ar. * tent * or from ar. Al-Minhar Al-Ghurab - * raven's beak * Jn. Alchiba β Kratz γ Hyena δ Algorab ε Minkar 12. Hercules α Ras Algeti Ar. * head of a kneeling [person] * β Korneforos γ δ Sarin 13. HYDRA (Hydra) α Alphard ar. * lonely *, or possibly from ar. Al Fakar Al Shuja - * snake ridge * in. modern The Heart of the Hydra or the Heart of the Big Serpent 14. DOVE (Columba) α Fact 15. PONY DOGS (Canes Venatici) α Hara c. * dear to the heart of the owner *, on behalf of one of the dogs, in whose honor the constellation Cor Karoli (Heart of Charles) was formed in the lane. from Cor Caroli, the name of the star was given by E. Halley in 1725. in honor of English king Charles II β Asterion c. * rich in stars * 16. VIRGO (Virgo) α Spica lat. * ear * β Alaraf γ Porrima δ Auva ε Vindemiatrix gr. * winemaker *, the name of the star has been mentioned since antique era ζ Heze 17. DOLPHIN (Delphinus) α Sialocin inverted Nikolaus, the name of the star was given by the astronomer of the Palermo Observatory Nikolay Venator β Rotanev 18. DRAGON (Draco) α Tuban ar. * dragon * β Rastaban γ Etamin δ Altais ι Ed Asikh? 19. UNICORN (Monoceros) 20. HUNTER (Ara) 21. PAINTER (Pictor) 22. GIRAFFE (Camelopardalis) 23. CRANE (Grus) α Alnair β γ Aldanab 24. HARE (Lepus) α Arneb ar. * Hare * β Nih 25. Ophiuchus α Ras Alhage ar. Ras al Hagge - * head of the snake charmer * β Kolb-ar-rai in. Celbalray η Sabik GL699 Flying Barnard It was named after the American astronomer, who discovered the fact of the unusually fast movement of this star among other stars. 26. SNAKE (Serpens) α Unuk al Hey ar. Unuk al Hayah - * snake neck * in. Unuk al Hai al. Cor Serpentis θ Alua 27. GOLDEN FISH (Dorado) 28. INDIAN (Indus) 29. Cassiopeia α Shedar ar. Al-Sadr - * chest * β Kaf γ Tsikh δ Rukba ε Segin η Akhir 30. KIL (Carina) α Canopus β Miaplacidus ε Avior 31. KIT (Cetus) α Menkar ar. Al Minhar - * nose *, * nostril * in. Menkab β Difda Deneb Keitos γ Kaffalidma ζ Baten Keitos in. Botain Keitos ι Deneb al Shemali ο Mira lat. * amazing * v Noyub? 32. CAPRICORN (Capricornus) α Algedi ar. Al Jadi - * forehead * in. Giedi β Dhabi in. Dabih γ Nashira δ Deneb Algedi 33. COMPASS (Pyxis) 34. FEED (Puppis) ζ Naos 35. SWAN (Cygnus) α Deneb ar. Al Dhanab al Dajadnah - * chicken tail * β Albireo γ Sadr ε Hyenah 36. LEO α Regul ar. * king *, lat. * prince * β Denebola ar. * Leo's tail * γ Algieba δ Zosma θ Zox 37. FLYING FISH (Volans) 38. LIRA (Lyra) α Vega ar. al-waki - * falling * or from ar. Wakki - * bird vulture * β Sheliak γ Sulafat 39. FOX (Vilpecula) 40. LITTLE BEAR (Ursa Minor) α Polar Rus. Dr. Kinosura. Arabs have * kid * β Kohab ar. * northern * γ Ferkad δ Yildun β and ε Khorevty gr. 41. SMALL HORSE (Equuleus) α Kitalfa are. al Kitah al Faras - * part of the horse * 42. LITTLE LION (Leo Minor) 43. LITTLE DOG (Canis Minor) α Procyon β Gomeisa 44. MICROSCOPE 45. FLY (Musca) 46. PUMP (Antila) 47. CORNER (Norma) 48. ARIES (Aries) α Gamal β Sheratan γ Mesarthim δ Botane 49. OCTANT 50. EAGLE (Aquila) α Altair β Alshain γ Tarazed 51. ORION (Orion) α Betelgeuse β Rigel γ Bellatrix δ Mintaka ε Alnilam ζ Alnitak κ Saif π3 Tabit 52. PAVLIN (Pavo) α Peacock 53. SAILS (Vela) γ Regor λ Al Suhail 54. Pegasus α Markab β Sheat γ Algenib ε Enif ζ Homam η Matar θ Baham μ Sadalbari 55. PERSEI (Perseus) ) α Mirfak β Algol κ Misam ο Atik ξ Menkib 56. LIVER (Fornax) 57. BIRD OF PARADISE (Apus) 58. CANCER (Cancer) α Akubens β Tarf 59. CUTTER (Caelum) 60. FISH (Pisces) α Alrisha 61. LYNX (Lynx) 62. NORTH CROWN (Corona Borealis) α Alfekka Gemma β Nusakan 63. SEXTANS 64. Reticulum 65. Scorpius α Antares β Acrab δ Jubba θ Sargas λ Shaula 66. SCULPTOR 67. TABLE MOUNTAIN (Mensa) 68 ) 69. SAGITTARIUS (Sagittarius) α Al-Rishi (Al-Rami, Rukbat) from ar. Rukbat alb Rami - * knee of the arrow * δ Kaus Meridionalis in. Acrab ε Caus Australis ζ Ascella (Ascella) λ Caus Borealis σ Nunki 70. TELESCOPE (Telescopium) 71. TAURUS (Taurus) α Aldebaran ar. Al Dabaran - * next, following * in. Ox Eye β Nat η Alcyone (Alcyone) - from the Pleiades of the Pleiades: q - Taygeta, 17 -Electra, 20 -Maya, 27- Atlas, 28 Pleiona, 21 Asteropa (Steropa), 23 Merope, Keleno. 7 pleiades, the remaining 2 were added (named) by J. Riccioli (1598-1671) in honor of the parents of the Pleiades Atlas and Pleione. Hyades: Feropa, Clay. Evdora, Feo - γ, δ, ε, σ Taurus. Their names are mentioned by Hesiod in the 7th century BC. 72. TRIANGLE (Triangulum) 73. TUKAN (Tucana) 74. PHOENIX (Phoenix) α Ankaa 75. CHAMELEON (Chamaeleon) 76. CENTAUR (Centaurus) α A Toliman (Wrigle Centaurus - ar. * Centaur's leg *) α B Proxima ( Nearest) β Hadar (Algena, Agena) θ Menkent 77. Cepheus α Alderamin ar. Dhira Al Amin - * right hand* β Alfirk (Alfekka) γ Alrai (Arlana) μ Erakis (Pomegranate) gave the name to W. Herschel 78. CIRCULE (Circinus) 79. CLOCK (Horologium) 80. CUP (Crater) α Alkes ar. * bowl * 81. SHIELD (Scutum) 82. ERIDAN (Eridanus) α Achernar ar. * end of the river * β Course in. Akar γ Zaurak in. Zaimak δ Rana θ Akamar in. Beid? 83. SOUTH HYDRA (Hudrus) 84. SOUTH CROWN (Corona Australis) 85. SOUTHERN FISH (Piscis Austrinus) α Fomalhaut ar. Foom Al Hut - * mouth of southern fish * 86. SOUTH CROSS (Crux) α Akrux β Bekrux in. Mimosa γ Gakruks in. Kostrix δ Vetrix 87. SOUTHERN TRIANGLE (Triangulum Australe) α Atria 88. LIZARD (Lacerta) According to the list here - 203 stars with names and also "second", "other" names of stars of other origin - 27 (without altering pronunciation). There are 230 names of stars in total.
To those attending lectures at the planetarium, who stretched their necks to see the stars projected over their heads, I used to repeat: “If you do not see the Big Dipper above your head, do not worry. sees".
Ancient people divided the sky into imaginary figures, such as the Ursa Major, Cygnus, Perseus, and Andromeda. Each figure corresponded to a certain configuration of stars. Although, to be honest, for most people, Andromeda does not at all resemble the silhouette of a chained girl or anything else like that (Fig. 1.2).
Rice. 1.2. Is Andromeda chained?
Today the sky is divided into 88 constellations, which include all visible stars. The International Astronomical Union, the highest governing body in astronomy, defines the boundaries of the constellations so that there is a clear division into which constellation each star belongs. Previously, sky maps were drawn by different astronomers who did not adhere to uniform standards. But it doesn't have to be that way. When you read that the Tarantula nebula is in the constellation Dorado (details in Chapter 12), you know that you need to look for it in the constellation Dorado, located in the Southern Hemisphere.
The largest constellation is Hydra and the smallest is Crux. In fact, there is also the Northern Cross, but you will not find it in the list of constellations, because it is an asterism in the constellation Cygnus. There is general agreement about the names of the constellations, but there is no agreement about what each name means. For example, some astronomers call the constellation Dora Pisces "Swordfish", but I am in favor of rejecting this name. And the constellation Serpens is divided into two unconnected parts, located on both sides of the constellation Ophiuchus - the Head of the Serpens (Serpens Caput) and the Tail of the Serpent (Serpens Cauda).
Individual stars in the constellation are usually not connected in any way, they just seem to be located nearby from Earth. Some stars can be relatively close to the Earth, while others - at much greater distances. But for an observer from Earth, they add up to a certain pattern.
As a rule, the ancient Greeks or astronomers of later times assigned some Greek letter to all the bright stars in the constellation. The most bright star any constellation is commonly referred to as "alpha" (the first letter of the Greek alphabet). The second brightest star is called "beta" (the second letter of the Greek alphabet), etc.
Therefore, Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky - which is located in the constellation Big Dog(Canis Major) - called Alpha Canis Majoris. (Astronomers add endings to names to get the Latin genitive case. What can you do, scientists have always loved Latin.) 1.1 is a list of the letters of the Greek alphabet in order - the names of the letters and the corresponding symbols.
But if you look at the constellations today, it becomes clear that the order of brightness of the stars does not always exactly correspond to the Greek letters indicated on star map... These exceptions are caused by the following.
The letters were assigned based on naked eye observations, which are not very accurate.
Many small constellations and constellations of the Southern Hemisphere were mapped out of time Ancient Greece, and much later, so the old rules were not always followed.
Many centuries after the ancient Greeks, the brightness of some stars changed.
An example is the constellation Vulpecula, in which only one star is assigned the Greek letter (alpha).
Astronomers don't have special names like Sirius for each star in the constellation Canis Major, so they just call them Greek letters or other symbols. In fact, there are constellations that do not have a single named star. (Do not "buy" an ad that offers to name a star for a certain amount of money. The International Astronomical Union does not recognize "bought" star names.) In other constellations, stars were assigned Greek letters, but they turned out to have more than 24 easily distinguishable stars. and the Greek letters were not enough. Therefore, astronomers assigned numbers and letters of the Latin alphabet to many stars: for example, 236 Cygni (236 Cygni), b Chanterelles (b Vulpeculae), HR 1516, etc. There are even stars called RU Lupi and SX Sex (honestly, I didn't make it up at all). But like any other stars, they can be determined not by their names, but by their position in the sky (indicated in astronomical tables), brightness, color and other characteristics.
If you look at the star atlas, you will see that individual stars in the constellation are not marked as D. like Alpha Canis Majoris, not even Cma; "Cma" is an abbreviation for Canis Majoris. Abbreviated designations of the constellations are given in table. 1.2.
Since alpha is not always the brightest star in the constellation, a different term is needed to describe the "high" status of the brightest star. This term - lucida(lucida). Lucida Big Dog - Sirius (in in this case- just 46 Little Leo (46 Leo Minoris).
Table 1.2 lists 88 constellations, their brightest stars and the latter's magnitudes. Magnitude is a measure of the brightness of a star. (We will talk about stellar magnitudes a little later in the section "Smaller is brighter: what is stellar magnitude.") If the constellation's lucida coincides with its alpha and it has a name, I just give it. For example, the brightest star of the constellation Auriga is Capella, it is
Identifying the stars would be much easier if they, like conference delegates, had little name tags that could be viewed through a telescope.
Among the countless number of stars, there are those with their own names. Many of them are well-known and most likely met at least once on the pages of newspapers and books - Sirius, Fomalhaut ... But what other names are there for stars, and what do they mean? Today we will learn more about the names of the stars.
Those interested in constellations and their history are aware of the beautiful and romantic names that stand behind their names. Heroes ancient greek myths, fabulous animals, legendary artifacts - they all found their place in the outlines of the stars of the night sky. It is logical that the stars should have meant something ... But everything turned out to be much more prosaic.
The fact is that in the period of antiquity - the ancient era when the foundations were laid modern sciences- only single stars were named. They shone brightest in the sacred constellations, or served as navigational ones - they pointed to the cardinal points or ascended in certain seasons. We will return to them later. However, most of the other stars remained unnamed, which over time began to annoy astronomers.
The situation with the names of the stars became critical in modern times, when new ones began to be added to the ancient 48 constellations - especially in the sky of the Southern Hemisphere, which for the time being was partially hidden from European scientists. In 1592, the first 3 new constellations were added, and by the end of the century their number increased by another 11. And thanks to the fact that astronomy became fashionable among monarchs and rulers, a real madness began to create new constellations in honor of the greats of this world. It got to the point that the court astrologers moved the "arms" and "legs" of antique figures in order to accommodate the beloved and rich king in heaven.
This lawlessness was stopped only in 1922, when international Conference astronomers divided the celestial sphere into 88 constellations, which cover entire zones of the sky. The rest, "illegitimate" constellations, which did not find a place in the main ones, began to be called asterisms.
Stars: Alpha to Omega
Bayer's Uranometrics page
The hero's name was Johannes Bayer, and he was a lawyer with a passion for the stars. His love bore fruit that remained forever in the history of astronomy: in 1603 he published the atlas "Uranometria", which became the first in the world full card starry sky. In addition, he also painted artistic images of the constellations, and gave each star a name corresponding to ... its brightness.
The solution turned out to be incredibly simple - the brightest star received the name of the first letter of the Greek alphabet α (Alpha), the next in brightness β (Beta), and so on to the dimmest, ω (Omega). The method won over with its clarity and simplicity: this way you can always define a specific star. With an increase in the power of telescopes, the number of visible stars in the constellation zones increased, and Latin letters were added to the Greek letters lower case and then uppercase. In the 18th century, a digital index also appeared, which denoted the right ascension of the star. For example, the final astronomical name for the brightest star in the sky was α 9 Canis Majoris (the Latin name for the constellation Canis Major).
However, the years passed, science developed, and the names assigned in 1603 did not stand still either. The constellations "changed" their outlines during the redistribution of the stars. The stars under the eyes of telescopes turned out to be brighter than visible with the naked eye, and the stars themselves changed their brilliance due to internal processes. So, the star Nat, the "butting" horn in Arabic, used to belong to another constellation,. It was not the brightest star among the "colleagues", and therefore bore the name Gamma, and was confined to the "leg" of the constellation. However, over time, she was transferred to Taurus, where she already became Beta. And some constellations were generally deprived of "letters" - in the constellation Chanterelle there is only one star, Alpha. Therefore, the brightest star in the constellation is also called Lucida, in order to avoid confusion with old and new reference systems.
Today, even letter names have faded into the background in professional astronomy. Starting in the seventeenth century, scientists have been compiling catalogs of the starry sky, which includes not only stars, but also other cosmic objects - nebulae, clusters, galaxies, black holes and others. The luminaries are designated in them by an alphabetic index indicating belonging to the catalog, and a number, which indicates the position of the star in it. For example, according to the catalog of Henry Draper, which contains data on 225 thousand luminaries, the brightest star in the sky, Sirius, is designated as HD 48915. There are as many designations as there are catalogs. Despite the apparent confusion, it is much more convenient than the classic names: catalogs not only indicate the location of the star, but also valuable information about it.
Famous stars
So, above we learned the harsh truth - most of stars has a technical name, depending on its various characteristics. And the astronomers themselves did not particularly strive for naming, more willingly paying attention to their movement and constellations in antiquity, and the cosmogonic aspect in modern times.
However, there are also those stars who are fortunate enough to have their own name. There are about 270 of them today. This number can be extended to 400-500 - thanks to the relay race of the scientific championship between the Europeans of Antiquity and the Arabs of the Middle Ages, many stars and constellations acquired several spellings at once. And yet, what are the secrets behind the names of the stars?
Trick names
Suddenly - the most beautiful and most mysterious names of the luminaries are of the same utilitarian character as modern ones. You may have already heard that many of the current names of stars are of Arab origin - when the Roman Empire, the beacon of ancient science, was destroyed by a stream of barbarian peoples, the Arabs continued its scientific and philosophical developments.
Religion and worldview did not allow them to develop Greek naming traditions tied to myths alien to the Arabs - and at the same time, astronomy as a science required precision. In order to identify the most important and brightest stars in the sky, the Arabs decided to give them names that would depend on the position of the star in its constellation. They managed to solve the problem of the namelessness of the luminaries, but the result was very prosaic.
Take, for example, the star Fomalhaut in the constellation Pisces South - its name translates simply as "the mouth of a fish." Betelgeuse, Alpha Orion, sounds even more uncomplicated - "the armpit of a giant", because it is located just at the heavenly hand. Such practical approach led to the fact that star names were often duplicated. As a result, there are more than a dozen stars bearing the name Deneb, which translates as "tail". Moreover, in some constellations with a long "tail" there may be several Denebs at once - as in the constellations of the Cetus or the Eagle.
Like the Greeks, the Arabs named the stars after their constellations. But when Greek names stars delimited clusters of stars, or revealed more fully their mythological history, the Arab simply repeated the name. The brightest star of the zodiacal constellation Capricorn, thanks to the Arabs, is today called Giedi, "the kid." The famous star Altair, the Eagle Lucida, did not go far either - her name means "flying eagle".
The days of Arab astronomy are long gone, but the stars are still given uncomplicated names. The red supergiant star μ Cephei is called Garnet with the light hand of William Herschel, who described its characteristic color in this way. The well-known (translated as "closest") Centauri is called so because it is the closest star to the Sun. And many more names were shattered - for example, the already mentioned star Giedi Capricorn found a "twin", and Giedi became two: Giedi Prima and Secunda.
Modern names
Some stars got their names by accident. NASA astronauts distinguished themselves in the field of "baptism" of stars. In astronautics, stars are used as a compass - they are stationary relative to the Sun and can serve as correct landmarks. Of the 36 stars on NASA's nautical charts, 33 had their own memorable names. The other three either had no name or had a repeating Arabic designation. Astronauts had to learn all the stars by heart - and to make their training easier, they came up with their own nicknames.
Virgil Ivan Grissom - " Godfather»Stars Navi
Gamma Sails, a bright star, began to be called "Regor" - a curved english word"Roger", denoting the name Roger and the phrase "Exactly!" Gamma Cassiopeia became "Navi" - the inverted name "Ivan", and Iota Big Dipper- in Dnokes, the twisted word “Second”, “second”. These names were at first unofficial, but were widely used by NASA astronauts, including in the legendary Apollo mission to the moon, and then in work reports. Gradually, Dnockes, Regor and Navi fell into astronomical use.
There is also another scientific tradition: to name various space objects after their discoverers, or simply in honor of outstanding scientists. This is especially evident on the Moon: craters there bear the names of Mendeleev, Pavlov, Copernicus ... The same thing happens with the stars. The first helium star, discovered in the 40s by Daniel Popper, has since been called the Popper's star by scientists. There are also stars of Barnard, Ksheminsky, Moiseev ... Usually such names are not recognized by the official scientific community, but they go "with a bang" in the press and popular science literature.
Legends of antiquity
Now that we have dealt with the scientific prose of astronomy, we can move on to the lyrics. After all, there are many beautiful luminaries, whose name is a thousand-year history.
The oldest star known to man- this is Sirius. Its name is translated from Greek as "brightest, hot", which perfectly reflects the two main properties of the star. In addition to being the brightest star in the sky, it appears only at the beginning of the warm season. The rise of Sirius in Egypt was a sign for the beginning of the sowing of crops - at the same time the Nile, the source of water and fertile lands of ancient civilization, was flooding.
Due to the fact that Sirius heads the Canis Major constellation, the Greeks called the luminary the Canis of Orion - the constellation is located very close to the celestial figure of the legendary hunter (the one in whose armpit the star Betelgeuse is located). In the Roman Empire, Sirius was called "Vacation", "little dog", and the hot period of summer that comes after its rise - "dog days". Hence the modern term "vacation". Now this word carries only pleasant associations, but earlier the "dog" heat was a threat to the economy of Ancient Rome - and in order to scare away the hot Sirius, the Romans sacrificed dogs to the gods. By the way, the first written mention of Sirius in the Russian language also has a "dog spirit" - in the 16th century the Slavs called the star Psitsa.
But not all stars were known for their brightness or their association with the seasons. An example of this are the stars-brothers Castor and Polydeuces, which serve as the brightest stars in the constellation Gemini. The very translation of the names ("beaver" and "a lot of sweets") means little - but the story of the two stellar brothers has been passed on for centuries from plot to plot. In Greek legends, they were also twins - only one son of a mortal, and another son of a god; one after death ascended to Olympus, and the other - into the darkness of the kingdom of the dead. Divided by nature, the brothers went through many trials together on Earth, and eventually reunited in the starry sky.
The history of the most expressive luminary of the constellation, Regulus, is also interesting. The Latin word means "king" and it seems logical that it refers to the royal nature of Leo. But this is just not so - Regulus is one of the few stars that were named before their constellation received a name. Its mentions are found in ancient Mesopotamia, and are similar to Sirius in character - Regulus served as a sign of the beginning and end of field work.
The stars have many names, but now they are a thing of the past - the International Union of Astronomers is increasingly bypassing the traditional names of the luminaries, preferring their letter designations in the constellations or numbers in catalogs. And this is especially true of those stellar names that are sold for money - they are fundamentally not recognized, even if the purchase is offered by reputable organizations like Roscosmos. The fact is that anyone can create a star catalog, where Sirius will be called the Cat, and the Pole Star - the South Star. But at the same time, such names remain only on paper, and have nothing to do with real astronomy.
Therefore, if you want to immortalize the names of relatives and friends, you should not trust their stars. They are too far away, and every year they fly away from us more and more - it is easier and more pleasant to make your name immortal with deeds on.
Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences E. LEVITAN.
- Maybe someone has questions? - asked the planetarium lecturer, completing his story about the stars. - I'm ready to answer.
Then one woman got up and, visibly embarrassed, said:
- You told a lot of interesting things about the stars, and everything was clear, but I can't even imagine one thing: how did astronomers know their names? ..
Part of the starry sky of the northern hemisphere. Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are clearly visible. Based on the painting by V. Krantz.
The North Star has at least a hundred names, and almost all of them are associated with the place of the star in the sky.
A diagram of the relative position of the main constellations and the brightest stars in the northern sky.
The image of the constellation Ursa Major in the old atlas.
Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are combined into the constellation Horse. (Based on old drawings.)
Summer-autumn star triangle.
Winter star triangle.
Starry spring triangle.
An old image of the constellation Leo and its two brightest stars: Regulus (Heart of Leo) and Denebola (Leo's Tail).
The Pleiades star cluster.
The constellations of Taurus and Orion in the Atlas by Jan Hevelius.
Scorpio is one of the constellations, the configuration of the stars of which to some extent corresponds to the name.
The most famous of the navigational stars in the southern sky is Canopus, the brightest star in the sky after Sirius.
Fomalhaut is the only double star in its constellation, which is located south of Aquarius and Capricorn.
In honor of Chiron, the wise centaur (half man, half horse), the constellation Centaurus (Centaur) is named.
Almost anecdote.
Aldebaran, Sirius, Vega, Antares, Canopus, Betelgeuse, Procyon, Fomalhaut ... These names of stars are literally mesmerizing, like some kind of incomprehensible mystery in them. Where are these names from? Who invented them and when? How did it come about? Similar questions are probably of interest to many astronomy lovers.
Of the six thousand stars that are accessible to observation with the naked eye (in both hemispheres of the Earth), only 275 now have their own names. They were given to the stars in different eras, in different countries... Not all have come down to us in their original form. It is not always possible to understand why this or that star is named this way. Sometimes it is difficult to understand the numerous names that were assigned to especially noticeable stars at different times and among different peoples. We will try to tell at least the most essential about the origin of star names and their semantic meaning.
Most stars appear to have younger names than the constellations they belong to. In the earliest drawings of constellations, bright stars were simply specially marked. Later, for example, in the famous catalog of Claudius Ptolemy, containing 48 constellations (see Science and Life, No. 10, 1999), the stars in the constellations are numbered or they are given a descriptive name associated with the image of the constellation. These are the designations of the stars of the Ursa Major bucket. For example: "On the back of a quadrilateral" (meaning α Ursa Major); "The one on his side" (β Ursa Major); "The first in the tail" (ε), etc. Descriptive names for the stars were given by medieval Arab astronomers (Biruni, Ulugbek, al-Sufi and others). Further, the relay of the names of the stars passed to the Europeans. Thus, the book "On Fixed Stars" by the Italian astronomer Alexandro Piccolomini (1508-1578) used great success and was reprinted 14 times. In the atlas of this astronomer, the designations of the stars in Greek and Latin letters first appeared (in alphabetical order, in decreasing brightness). This innovation was carried over into the famous atlas of the German astronomer Johann Bayer (1572-1625). English astronomer John Flemstid (1646-1719) added lettering to the stars serial numbers, for example 61 Swans. It is interesting that later this star received its own name - Flying Swan. But this was only later, when astronomers learned its features: a large own movement and the fact that she has her own solar system, which possibly includes satellites like Jupiter.
Having provided the stars with designations (or names), having determined their celestial coordinates, brightness (magnitudes), astronomers, as it were, gave the stars "passports", in which they then began to include data on distance and physical characteristics(luminosity, mass, temperature, spectral class). It is not yet possible to collect such data on all stars. But the coordinates and brightness of more than 15 million stars (up to the 15th magnitude) have already been determined. This is truly a colossal job.
But back to the proper names of the stars. First of all, let's talk about the brightest ones - the navigation ones. In ancient times, they were used for orientation at sea, and nowadays - at sea, in the air, and in space.
Let's start with the North Star (α Ursa Major). It has at least a hundred names, and almost all of them are associated with the place of the star in the firmament. It is located near North Pole the world and is practically motionless, like a stake or a nail driven into the sky. All other stars of the northern firmament, as if tied to this stake, make their eternal movement around it. This is why Polaris, far from the brightest (only 2nd magnitude), has become such an important star in our firmament. Among the guiding stars, it is called the most important landmark, the compass star.
The unusualness of this star was noticed in very ancient times and different nations... This was reflected in the names that were assigned to the star. The peoples of our country called it: Kol, Heavenly Kol, Joke, Joke-star, North Star. The Türkic name is Iron Kol, the Turkic and Mongolian is the Golden Kol, the Estonian is Pyhjanael (northern nail). In Yugoslavia, she is called Nekretnitsa (non-rotating). The immobility of the star is also noted in the Khakass name Khoskhar (tied horse), and in the Evenk name Buga sangarin (hole in the sky).
The stars α Ursa Major (Dubhe) and β Ursa Major (Merak, which means - the loin) are always called the main pointers of the Pole. Other stars of this constellation also have their own names, recall Mitsar (Horse) and Alkor (Horseman) - the stars by which the visual acuity of future warriors was once tested.
The summer-autumn triangle is formed by the stars Vega (αLyra), Altair (αOrla) and Deneb (αCywan). The main stars of the Eagle and Lyra were called by the Arabs - the Flying Eagle and the Falling Eagle. In the atlas of Biruni Vega is called the Most Bright. Deneb was called Bright or Chicken Tail by the Arabs.
Winter Star Triangle: Betelgeuse (α Orion), Sirius (α Canis Major) and Procyon (α Minor Dog). Every astronomy lover can easily find these navigation stars in the winter sky. Betelgeuse translated from Arabic means "the armpit of a giant." And the star Rigel (βOriona) means "leg". There is such a prosaic meaning behind beautiful sonorous names. This is because here the names of the stars do not mark some of their personal qualities, but indicate the place of the star in the figure of the constellation.
Sirius is the brightest star not only in the winter stellar triangle, but in general in the earth's sky (minus 1.6 magnitude). The Egyptians called Sirius the Radiant Star of the Nile, and Sothis, and the Tear of Isis, and the King of the Sun, and the Dog Star. Unlike the Egyptians, the Romans called this beautiful star very prosaically - Doggy (in Latin Canicula), sometimes Sultry Doggy. For them, its appearance coincided with the beginning of the unbearable summer heat, and many believed that this was not connected with the Sun, but with Sirius. I had to interrupt my work, arrange vacations that lasted almost two months.
Nowadays, holidays ("dog days"), whether in winter, spring or summer, invariably delight schoolchildren and students. And for the Roman farmers this was a great grief, they anxiously and impatiently awaited the end of the dry period. They tried to somehow appease the gods and even sacrificed red dogs to them.
Procyon (αLittle Dog) in translation from Arabic means "shedding tears", and from Greek - "one that is before the dog", because Procyon ascends before Sirius.
The stellar spring triangle is composed of Arcturus (α Bootes), Spica (α Virgo) and Denebola (β Lion). It is very simple to find Arcturus and Spica in the sky, they are located on a line curved downward (arc), continuing the handle of the Big Dipper's bucket.
Arcturus translated from Greek means "guardian" or "guardian of the bear" ("arktos" is a bear, one of the largest and most powerful animals living in the Arctic). In the myth of the beautiful Callisto, turned into a bear, Arcturus is identified with Arcade, the son of Callisto. He went to heaven in order to protect his mother there, whom, through ignorance, he almost killed on earth ...
Spica is the brightest star in the zodiacal constellation Virgo. Once this star was called Kolos. Therefore, the constellation Virgo is often depicted as a girl with ears of corn in her hands. This is explained, apparently, by the fact that when the Sun is in this constellation, it is time to harvest.
Denebola is just a "lion's tail", that is, here the name of the star is also associated with a part of the constellation in which it is located, and not with any myth.
The main star in the constellation Leo is Regulus, which means "king" in Latin. And the lion, as you know, is the king of beasts. You might think that the name of the constellation is repeated in the name of the star. But here, apparently, this is not the case. Many sources say that in this case the name of the star is more ancient than the name of the entire constellation. The "regal" name Regulus dates back to very ancient times. So this star was called not only by Ptolemy, but also by the Arab, and before them also by the Babylonian astronomers.
From the name of the star Regulus came the word regulate, which is also widely used in our language: regulate traffic, regularly brush your teeth or take medicine. If such a meaning was embedded in the name of the star, this indicates some of its special importance. There is an assumption that in the old days, with the help of this star, the Egyptians determined the timing of field work, that is, they regulated them.
This star also had another name - Lionheart. It only indicates the place that a bright star occupies in the figure of the constellation.
Now let's focus on the navigation stars. zodiac constellations Taurus, Gemini, Scorpio.
The main star of Taurus is Aldebaran, which is translated from Arabic as "following." This is because the star moves across the sky behind the Pleiades (the most beautiful open cluster of stars), as if catching up with them.
Α Taurus had other, now almost forgotten names - the Eye of the Bull, the Ox's Eye, the Eye of the Taurus. We have already spoken about the origin of this kind of names.
Gemini has two navigation stars: Castor (α) and Pollux (β). These are the names of brothers, sons of Zeus (Dioscuri) and Queen Leda. However, according to one of the versions of the legend, only Pollux was the son of Zeus, and he was destined to become immortal. And Castor - the son of Tsar Tyndareus (husband of Leda) - was a mere mortal prince. The brothers were inseparable and loved each other very much. Castor was famous for his ability to tame horses, and Pollux - for victories in fist fights. But then trouble came: Castor was killed by his cousin Idas. Having avenged Castor, Pollux began to ask Zeus to take away his immortality and give him the opportunity to humanly die. Zeus, having highly appreciated brotherly love, made the recently deceased Castor immortal. He lifted the brothers to heaven, turning them into a beautiful constellation. Dioscuri became a symbol of the change of life and death, light and darkness. And from time immemorial sailors have been able to navigate by the bright stars of Gemini and once even seriously believed that these stars are capable of taming the raging sea element ...
You may have noticed that in Gemini, β is brighter than α. This is not a mistake, it happens sometimes.
Antares - αScorpion - is also a navigational star of the first magnitude. She's almost as shiny as Pollux. Antares is sometimes called "the enemy of Mars", and even worse in astrological fabrications - "the vampire star". The name of the star Antares is very likely derived from the name of the planet Mars. Both celestial bodies are reddish in color and appear very similar to each other when they are "close" in the constellation of Scorpio. In appearance, they can even be confused. The words "Antares" and "Mars" seem to be completely different. But this is only at first glance. After all, the Greeks called the reddish planet Ares. The planet got its name Mars when its original name (Areus) was translated into Latin.
Scorpio is one of the constellations, the configuration of the stars of which to some extent corresponds to the name. Antares adorns the chest of this poisonous creature, so the star has another name - Scorpio Heart. Astrologers usually do not skimp on gloomy prophecies when certain planets appear in Scorpio. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Antares is not just a red supergiant, but a double star, and because of this, the nature of its brightness is constantly changing.
And Camille Flammarion, on the other hand, wrote about Antares with extreme enthusiasm: “This is a wonderful system for the planets hanging there, near these suns, on their double network of world gravity. a hot orange sun and another magnificent emerald luminary ... Our earthly island seems to be a completely miserable, completely destitute dwelling in the face of this radiant cosmic beauty! "
The most famous of the navigational stars in the southern sky is Canopus (α Carina), the brightest star in the sky after Sirius (about minus 0.8 magnitude). Mariners were guided by this star thousands of years before our era, and in our time, Canopus is becoming one of the main stars of space navigation. Once the constellation Carina was only a part of the huge constellation Ship Argo (remember the legendary voyage for the golden fleece). The star at that time bore the name Suheil, which means "the plane of the oar" in Arabic. The name was given for a location in the constellation.
And the now accepted name of the star - Canopus - the legend connects with the completion of the voyage of the Spartan fleet from Troy to the Egyptian shores near Alexandria. There, Canopus, the beloved captain of Tsar Menelaus, died from a snakebite. Then the city of Canopus (now Adu-Kir) was founded, and then the star was named. Her other names are also known: Alsahl (which in Arabic means "diamond"), Ptolemeon (in honor of the founder of the Egyptian dynasty of kings Ptolemy Ligos).
Among the stars of the southern sky, one cannot fail to mention at least two other magnificent bright luminaries. Fomalhaut (α of Southern Pisces) is a navigational star of the first magnitude. The name of the star is translated as "the mouth of a fish" or "the nose of a fish diving into the sky." Fomalhaut is the only double star in its constellation, which is located south of Aquarius and Capricorn. She was not always a "fish" star, thousands of years ago she was called the Hermit, the Tsar's star. Fomalhaut is located more than 22 light years from us. From such a distance, it is difficult to imagine that this star is almost twice the size of the Sun and about 14 times in luminosity.
In honor of Chiron, the wise centaur (half man, half horse), the constellation Centaurus (Centaur) is named. In this constellation is a star, the closest neighbor of the Sun. This is the α Centauri, it is called Toliman or Rigel Kentaurus, which means "the foot of the Centaur". The star is 4.3 light years away from us. A very beautiful double star (the orbital period of the companion star is about 80 years). At an angular distance of 2 о from this pair, a red dwarf (Proxima Centauri) was discovered - also a satellite of the α Centaurus. Here it is, strictly speaking, and is the sun closest to us (Proxima means "closest"). So the Centauri system turned out to be triple, and they call it in the old way - Rigel Kentaurus.
And, finally, one cannot but say a few words about one more star, which is by no means the most noticeable and brightest in our Galaxy, but extremely important and dear for us - about a star called the Sun. Her name is unusual, not at all like the names of other stars.
The Slavic word "sun" is derived from the ancient Indo-European root san - "to shine" and means "shining". Origin common word"star" is also the word "light".
A lot is devoted to the names of stars interesting books and articles to which we recommend to contact astronomy lovers and all those who are interested in the details of this topic.
Literature
Karpenko Yu. A. The names of the starry sky. - M .: Nauka, 1985.
Shcheglov P. V. Myths of the Earth Reflected in the Sky. - M .: Nauka, 1999.
The journal "Earth and Universe" (articles in the sections "Legends of the Starry Sky" and "History of Science").
Journal "Science and Life" No. 2, 1978; No. 4, 1980; No. 6, 1986; No. 1, 5, 1988; No. 9, 1990; No. 10, 1995; No. 4, 8, 1996
Many cosmonyms are of great antiquity. So, Yu. A. Karpenko, analyzing the names of the Big Dipper in different languages and regions of the world, comes to the conclusion that "the name of this constellation with the meaning of" bear "refers to the deepest antiquity, comparable to the time of the appearance of the language itself." Attribution to such a distant period is based on the fact that now this constellation is nothing like a "bear (bear)" - it looks like a bucket, a cart, some other objects, and in the past its configuration, as established by astronomers, resembled a bear. "The naming of the constellation" Bear "appeared, it can be assumed, in several places in the northern hemisphere independently of each other. The configuration of the seven bright stars of the constellation in distant antiquity resembled the figure of a bear, which is why the name arose. This similarity, - the author writes, - in connection with the relative movement of the stars disappeared about 80 thousand years ago. The name, therefore, could have arisen only before that time. The naming of the constellation "Carriage" is based on its modern configuration. The proliferation of this name shows that it originally originated somewhere in one place. Probably, in Indo-European languages it is a genetic heritage, and in other languages it is borrowed from Indo-Europeans. "
In Russian literary language(and from it in dialects) the names Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (as well as the words Arctic, Antarctica, Antarctica, etc.) go back to the Greek arktos - "bear". The Latin name for Ursa Major is Ursa Major, Ursa Minor is Ursa Minor. The overwhelming majority of the names of constellations, stars, planets and others accepted in Russian astronomical terminology space objects- Latin words or their literal translations (tracing papers).
Here is a list of constellations (skipping the constellations of the southern hemisphere, invisible in our geographic latitudes): Andromeda (abbreviated designation And) - the Russian name for Andromeda, Aquarius (Aqr) - Aquarius, Aquila - Eagle, Aries - Aries, Auriga - Aurigae, Bootes - Bootes, further we give only Russian correspondences: Giraffe, Cancer, Hounds Dogs, Big Dog, Small Dog, Capricorn, Keel, Cassiopeia, Centaurus, Cepheus, Whale, Dove, Veronica's Hair, South Crown, North Crown, Raven, Chalice, Swan, Dolphin, Dragon, Small Horse, Eridan, Oven, Gemini, Hercules, Hydra, Lizard, Lion, Little Lion, Hare, Libra, Wolf, Lynx, Lyra, Unicorn, Ophiuchus, Orion, Pegasus, Perseus, Pisces, Southern Fish, Poop, Arrow , Sagittarius, Scorpio, Shield, Snake, Sexton, Taurus, Triangle, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Virgo, Chanterelles. A total of 88 constellations are distinguished.
The path of the Sun in the celestial sphere during the year is called the "ecliptic". It runs along 12 constellations, which are called "zodiacal" (zodiac belt), since most of them got their names from animals (Greek zoon - "animal"). Their names in the order of the constellations are as follows: Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius. In the names we see a reflection of the history of mankind, in particular, traces of its ancient hunting and agricultural periods. Aquarius and Pisces - the time of flooding of rivers and fishing, Taurus and Aries - the period of pastures, the constellations of Virgo and Libra symbolize the time of harvesting and weighing the harvest.
Stars also have foreign-language, mainly Latin, names. So, the brightest star in the constellation Severioi Corona is Gemma ("pearl"), in the constellation Virgo - Spica ("ear"), in the constellation Lyra - Vega ("bird"), B scientific works in astronomy (books, atlases), the stars within the constellations receive letter designations (individualization). It's over reliable way designations, since not all stars have "verbal" names. In addition, an alphabet sequence of letters is used to indicate the degree of brightness of a star: usually the brightest star is indicated by Greek letter alpha is the first in the alphabet, the second in brightness is beta, the next is gamma, followed by delta, epsilon, zeta, this, etc. For example, the North Star is the alpha of Ursa Minor, the star Sirius is the alpha of Canis Major, Alpharet is the alpha of Andromeda, Alamak - the gamut of Andromeda, Rigel - the beta of Orion, Pollukus - the beta of Gemini, Aliot - epsilon of the Big Dipper, Al Suhail - lambda of Sails, etc. And all these names of stars arose from common nouns and phrases, for example: Deneb (alpha Swan) by -Russian means "tail", Denebola (in the constellation Leo) - "tail"; Aldebaran (alpha Taurus) - "the right eye of the bull", Betelgeuse (alpha Orion) - "the right shoulder of the giant."
All the names of the planets, except for the Earth, are foreign in scientific use and in the Russian literary language: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, as well as Neptune, Uranus and Pluto. The first five were already known in ancient times (they are visible to the naked eye). The Greeks at the time of Pythagoras (VI century BC) called them by "light", "fire", thinking that they "burn" and "shine" with their fire (only later it was established that these "luminaries" - dark and shine with sunlight). Mercury among the Greeks - "sparkling, sparkling", Venus - " light carrier bringing the morning ", Mars -" fiery, fiery ", Jupiter -" shining, radiant ", Saturn -" shining ". When the Greeks learned that the Babylonians call these planets (and they were already familiar with them 2 thousand years BC!) By the names of the gods, they also decided to “christen” them, giving the names of their own Greek gods. Aristotle (384-322 BC) already named them like this: Hermes (Mercury), Aphrodite (Venus), Areus (Mars), Zeus (Jupiter), Cronus, Kronos (Saturn). The Greek names were not accidental: “Mercury is the fastest of the planets, and the messenger of the gods, the god of merchants and travelers, Hermes was very fast, he even had wings on his feet. The red color of blood, characteristic of Mars, was easily associated with the god of war Ares. The supreme god Zeus was allocated the brightest (when Venus is not visible) planet Jupiter. Immediately behind Jupiter, the planet Saturn was placed. Therefore, it was quite logical to name her by the name of Kronos, the father of Zeus. Evening and morning Star Venus received the name of the goddess of love Aphrodite by the same logic by which the moon is called the sun of lovers. " The Romans, whose divine pantheon largely corresponded to the Greek, “translated” the Greek names of the planets into the names of their gods, so the generally accepted names Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn appeared. V Ancient Russia first came the Greek names of the planets. So, in the "Izbornik Svyatoslav" of 1037 we read: "The seventh planit are the names of behold: slantse, lone, zeus, ermis, aris, aphrodite, kronos" (here the Sun and the Moon are mistakenly included in the number of planets). Latin names planets have become known in our country since late XVI century, and finally took root in the XVIII century. during the time of Peter I.
For a long time, the Earth was not considered a planet (from it came the "countdown" - geocentric system), its planetary status was proved in the 16th century. N. Copernicus, who "transferred" the reference point from the Earth to the Sun ( heliocentric system). Among the Russians and Slavic peoples related to them, it has long been called the Earth. This name (Earth) was left behind our planet (the sixth in the order of discovery).
The seventh planet was discovered in 1781 and was named in Greek Uranus (after his father Greek god Crohn), the eighth - in 1846, she was given the name of the brother of Zeus (Jupiter) - Neptune, the Roman god of the seas. The last, ninth planet was discovered in 1930 according to its mathematical "discovery" made by the American astronomer Percival Lovell (1855-1916). Paying tribute to tradition (naming planets by mythological characters), as well as its discoverer, she was named Pluto (after the Greek god of the underworld, as well as L (ersival) L (ovella), taking initial letters his name and surname). Pluto fit well into the mythological context, he was the brother of Poseidon (Neptune) and Zeus (Jupiter).
Bondaletov V.L.Russian Onomastics - M., 1983
