No matter where in Russia you live, in any case you can, looking up to the sky, see a constellation called Crater (lat.), Or the Chalice. Astronomy enthusiasts, often exploring the celestial sphere, know that March is the best time to explore this constellation. If you observe the Chalice while in the Southern Hemisphere, you can make sure that with the onset of April this constellation occupies the highest position above the horizon. It is not the largest of those that we have the opportunity to observe with the naked eye: it is only in 53rd place out of the 88 available. Not far from the Chalice constellation (if, of course, such a concept applies to cosmic distances), the constellations of Hydra and Raven are located, with which the mythical story of Apollo is connected ...
Punished Trick
Once, the god of light Apollo erected a grandiose altar in honor of his father Zeus the Thunderer. To perform the rite, Phoebe prepared everything that was required, except for water, the absence of which was revealed at the last moment. There was no reservoir near the altar, and therefore the god of light handed his cup with silver feathers to the raven and sent it for water to the key that beats on top of the mountain, which is within sight.
Raven flew to fulfill the assignment. However, on the way he caught sight of a palm tree, all strewn with dates. The silver bird could not resist the temptation and turned off the road to eat fruit. However, she was disappointed: the dates were immature, their taste was astringent. But the anticipated pleasure of the sweet fruit was irresistible, so the raven allowed himself to postpone the execution of Apollo's assignment until the dates ripen. Time passed, the fruits ripened in their own way, and the silver messenger was waiting.
Finally, he was rewarded for his patience. Well, after the pleasure received, it was time for heavy reflection: how to justify ourselves before the god of light? It was pointless to go for water, but without a plausible explanation, the return did not bode well. The cunning invented: he stuck his claws into the nearby hydra and headed for Apollo.
Submissively presenting himself to the god of light, a silver messenger told him about an insurmountable obstacle that arose on the way of fulfilling the assignment: the hydra guarding the water was to blame. As evidence, the raven laid a hydra in front of Phoebe.
The God of light was not just outraged, but angry, but not against the hydra, but against a liar who dared to lie to the all-seeing Apollo. The raven was cursed, making his beautiful silver feathers turn black.
In addition, as a warning to his descendants, Apollo forever left all the defendants of history in heaven. So the constellation Bowl and the constellations of Raven and Hydra appeared.
Second version
The second legend is also told: the constellation Chalice is connected with the ruler of Chersonesos of Thracian Demophont. The story began with an epidemic that destroyed the inhabitants of the city. The physician Apollo transmitted through the oracle: people can be saved if they sacrifice one virgin each. The demophone ordered a list be made in which sacrifices were made according to the lot. However, the daughters of the ruler were not on the list. Nevertheless, the sacrifices were performed according to the order, until Mastusius, whose daughter was also on the list, turned to the inhabitants of the city. The people began to be indignant, but the ruler, in order to stop the reproaches from the discontented, out of turn, sacrificed his daughter Mastusia.
The instigator of unrest accepted the accomplished lawlessness with humility, which was so convincing that the ruler brought him closer to himself. But all is not what it seems. Mastusius organized a holiday in his house, inviting Demofont and his whole family, including daughters, to it. However, the trick arranged so that the ruler was detained by urgent matters, so his daughter first came to visit. When Demofont appeared, the hospitable owner presented him a cup with a drink consisting of wine and blood of the king's daughters.
Epilogue: the ruler, together with the cup, was thrown into the sea, named in honor of this event, the Mastusian. But the image of the cup was forever reflected in the night sky, becoming a constellation.
Constellation stars collection
The constellation is located within 282 square degrees of heaven. With the naked eye, the observer can see 20 stars entering the Chalice constellation.
- They do not differ in brightness, and only one of them boasts a fourth magnitude: it is the Delta of the Chalice, or Labrum (lip). Its visible luster reaches 3.56 m. And if you want to reach this orange giant, you will have to spend 195 years on this, of course, light. The spectral class assigned to the star is G8 III-IV. Its other name is Upper Lip, which is related to the theme of the Holy Grail.
- The next brightest star is located next to the Delta Bowls, in the very center of the figure. This is the Gamma of the Chalice: its magnitude is 4.06 m. She is a couple: a dwarf star and a small satellite, accompanying her. This double luminary is somewhat closer to Earth: it will take just 89 light years to get there.
- The third star of the Chalice, called Alpha, is an orange star, flying at a speed much greater than its constellation neighbors. Arabs call this star Alkes, it is known that it contains a sufficiently large amount of metal, and to reach it, it will take 174 light years. Alpha can be observed without a telescope, since its magnitude is 4.08 m and it is 80 times brighter than the Sun.
- The fourth star is Beta Chalice, the status of a "sub-giant" with a white glow and a brightness of 4.46 m. The distance to Earth is about 265 light years. The Arabic name is Al Sharasif, which translates as "ribs." The name is identical to Nude of the constellation Hydra.
- The fifth star - Gamma Chalice consists of two elements: a white dwarf with a magnitude of 4.06 m and its satellite with a magnitude of 9.6. This star is the second largest in the constellation Chalice.
Variable stars
The constellation Chalice consists of both single stars and variables, the brightness of which undergoes changes over time in the course of physical properties within their fields, which become clearly noticeable to researchers.
- Sixth Star - SZ Bowls has the status of a variable and is a binary binary star system. Its distance from us is 42.9 light years. Magnitude ranges from 8.61 m to 11.0 m. The age of the star is about 200 million years.
- Seventh Star - R Bowl is also variable and is of type SRb. Its spectral class is M7, and the magnitude is from 9.8 m to 11.2 m.
Now you can imagine what the constellation Chalas looks like, and you can recognize it in the sky.
Other details
The collection of stars, called the Chalice, was included in the list of constellations Ptolemy, astronomer, astrologer, mathematician who lived in Roman Egypt in the second century. It is distinguished by poor visibility of objects, and the two spiral galaxies in the Chalice have a magnitude of twelve or lower.
A photo of the constellation Chalice can turn out well if you take them in the winter, at about 4 a.m., and in the spring after midnight.