The night sky strikes with countless stars. Particularly attractive is the fact that they are all located in a certain place, as if someone had specially placed them so as to draw patterns in the sky. Since ancient times, observers have tried to explain the nature of the origin of constellations, galaxies, individual stars, give beautiful names to the planets. In ancient times, the constellations and planets were given the names of mythical heroes, animals, various characters from legends and legends.
Types of stars and planets
A star is a celestial body that emits a lot of light and heat. Most often it consists of helium and hydrogen. Celestial bodies are in equilibrium due to their own gravity and the internal pressure of the body itself.
Depending on the life cycle and structure, the following types of stars are distinguished:
- Brown dwarf. This includes all objects with a small mass and low temperature.
- White dwarf. This type includes all stars at the end of their life paths. At this moment, the star contracts, then cools and goes out.
- Red giant.
- New star.
- Supernova.
- Blue variables.
- Hypernova.
- Neutron
- Unique.
- X-ray stars. They emit a huge amount of radiation.
Depending on the spectrum, stars are blue, red, yellow, white, orange and other tones.
For each planet there is a letter classification.
- Class A or geothermal planets. This group includes all young celestial bodies on which violent volcanism proceeds. If the planet has an atmosphere, then it is liquefied and very thin.
- Class B. These are also young planets, but more massive than A.
- Class C. Often such planets are covered with ice.
- Class D. These include asteroids and dwarf planets.
- Class E. These are young and small planets.
- Class F. Celestial bodies with volcanic activity and an all-metal core.
- Class M. These include all Earth-like planets, including the Earth.
- Class O or oceans.
- Class P - ice, etc.
Each species includes hundreds and thousands of different stars and planets, and each celestial body has its own name. Although scientists were unable to count all the galaxies and stars in the universe, even the billions that are already open speak of the vastness and diversity of the cosmic world.
Names of constellations and stars
From the Earth you can see several thousand different stars, and each of them has its own name. Many names were given back in ancient times.
The very first name was given to the Sun - the brightest and largest star. Although by cosmic standards it is not the largest and not the brightest. So what are the most beautiful names for stars? The most beautiful stars with sonorous names are:
- Sirius, or Alpha of the Great Dog.
- Vega, or Alpha Lyra.
- Toliman, or Alpha Centauri.
- Canopus, or Alpha Kiel.
- Arcturus, or Alpha Bootes.
These names were given by people in different periods. So, the beautiful names of stars and constellations given in the pre-antique and Greek periods have survived to this day. In the writings of Ptolemy there is a description of some of the brightest stars. His writings say that Sirius is a star located in the constellation Canis Major. Sirius can be seen in the mouth of the constellation. On the hind legs of Small Dog is a bright star called Procyon. In the middle of the constellation Scorpio, you can see Antares. On the sink of Lyra is Vega or Alpha Lyra. There is a star with an unusual name - Goat or Chapel, located in the constellation Charioteer.
It was customary for the Arabs to name the stars based on the location of the body in the constellation. Because of this, many asterisks have names or parts of names that mean the body, tail, neck, shoulder, etc. For example: Ras is Alpha Hercules, i.e. the head, and Menkib is the shoulder. Moreover, stars in different constellations were called by a similar name: Perseus, Orion, Centaurus, Pegasus, etc.
In the Renaissance, an atlas of the starry sky appeared. It presented old and new objects. Bayer became its compiler, who proposed adding letters of the Greek alphabet to the names of stars. So, the brightest star is Alpha, a little dimmer - Beta, etc.
Among all the existing names of celestial bodies, it is difficult to choose the most beautiful name of a star. After all, each of them is beautiful in its own way.
Constellation names
The most beautiful names of stars and constellations were given in ancient times, and many of them have survived to this day. So, the ancient Greeks came up with the name of the Bears. Beautiful legends are associated with them. One of them says that one king had a daughter of unusual beauty, with whom Zeus fell in love. Hera - the wife of God, was very jealous and decided to teach the princess a lesson, turning her into a bear. Once, the son of Callisto returned home and saw a bear, he almost killed her - Zeus intervened. He took the princess to heaven, turning her into Ursa Major, and her son into Malaya, who should always guard her mother. In this constellation there is a star Arcturus, which means "guardian of the bear." Ursa Minor and Ursa Major are non-passing constellations that are always visible in the night sky.
Among the most beautiful names of stars and galaxies, the constellation Orion is worth highlighting. He was the son of Poseidon - the god of the seas and oceans. Orion was famous for its skill as a hunter, and there was no animal that he could not defeat. For this boast, Hera, the wife of Zeus, sent a scorpion to Orion. From his bite, he died, and Zeus took him to heaven, placing him so that he could always get away from his enemy. Because of this, the constellations of Orion and Scorpio never meet in the night sky.
The history of the name of the bodies of the solar system
Today, scientists use modern equipment to track celestial bodies. But once, in ancient times, the discoverers of the planets could not see as far as modern astronomers. At that time they gave beautiful names to the planets, and now they are called by the name of the telescope, which discovered the “novelty”.
Mercury
Since ancient times, people watched different celestial bodies, came up with their names, tried to make their descriptions. One of the planets that came into the view of ancient scientists is Mercury. The planet got its beautiful name in ancient times. Even then, scientists knew that this planet revolves around the Sun at an enormous speed - in just 88 days, a complete revolution takes place. Because of this, he was named in honor of the swift god - Mercury.
Venus
Among the beautiful names of the planets, Venus is also distinguished. This is the second planet of the solar system, which was named after the goddess of love - Venus. The object is considered the brightest after the Moon and the Sun and the only one among all the celestial bodies, which was named after the woman god.
Land
It has been bearing this name since 1400, and no one knows who exactly gave the planet such a name. By the way, the Earth is the only planet in the solar system that is not related to mythology.
Mars
Among the beautiful names of planets and stars, Mars is distinguished. This is the seventh largest planet in our system with a red surface. Today, even small children know about this planet.
Jupiter and Saturn
Jupiter is named after the Thunder God, and Saturn got its name because of its slowness. Initially it was called Kronos, but after it was renamed, picking up an analogue - Satur. This is the god of agriculture. As a result, this planet was called by this name.
Other planets
For several centuries, scientists have studied only the planets of our solar system. Outside of our universe, other planets were first seen only in 1994. Since then, a large number of different planets have been openly and registered, and many of them are more like the imagination of screenwriters. Among all the known objects, the most interesting are exoplanets, that is, those that are similar to the Earth. Theoretically, there could be life on them.
The most beautiful names of planets and stars were given in ancient times, and it is difficult to argue with this. Although, some of the "finds" have unofficial unusual nicknames. So, among them it is worth highlighting the planet Osiris - this is a gas body that contains oxygen, hydrogen and carbon, these substances gradually disappear from the surface of the celestial body. Such an event led to the emergence of a new category of bodies - chthonic planets.
Among the most beautiful names of the planets in the universe, Epsilon Eridanus stands out. It is located in the constellation Eridanus. The exoplanet rotates in an elongated orbit around its luminary. It has two asteroid belts, because of this it is somewhat similar to our Saturn. Epsilon is located at a distance of 10.5 light years from us. A year on it lasts 2500 earth days.
Among the beautiful names of the planets of the Universe, Tatooine or HD188753 Ab are distinguished. It is located in the constellation Cygnus, which consists of three objects: yellow, red and orange dwarfs. Presumably, Tatooine is a hot gas giant flying around a major star in 3.5 days.
Among the unusual planets , Tres is distinguished. It is almost the same size as Jupiter. She has a low density. The beauty of the planet is that because of the strongest heating, there is a loss of atmosphere. This phenomenon causes the effect of a stretching tail, like an asteroid.
The most beautiful name of the planet - Methuselah, sounds like some kind of demonic name. It revolves immediately around two objects - a white dwarf and a pulsar. For six earth months, Methuselah makes a complete revolution.
Not so long ago, scientists discovered planets similar to Earth. One of them is Gliese. She has almost the same orbit, she herself revolves around her body in a zone where the emergence of life is possible. And who knows, maybe she is on it, but so far we don’t know.
Among all the objects, the most beautiful name of the planet, as well as the most unusual structure of Cancer-e or the Diamond planet. She received her nickname not by accident. Scientists estimate that Cancer is eight times heavier than Earth. Its main element is carbon, therefore, most of the object consists of crystalline diamonds. Because of this feature, the planet is considered the most expensive in the universe. According to estimates, only 0.18% of this facility would be able to fully repay all world debts.
Depths of space
Considering the most beautiful names of stars in the universe, it is worth mentioning about galaxies, nebulae and other space objects. So, among the most unusual, but attractive names and the objects themselves, there are:
- Galaxy Sunflower. This is the most beautiful system of all known to man. Her sleeves are made up of blue and white giant stars.
- Kiel Nebula. This object is represented by dust and gases that have spread over more than 300 light years. It is located at a distance of about 8000 light years from us.
- Westurlund is a cluster of stars.
- Hourglass. This nebula is horrifying: the photo taken by the telescope more closely resembles a huge eye in a red glow. The object got its name due to the unusual location of the gas cloud, which is narrow under the influence of stellar winds in the central part and wide towards the edges. Although the picture of the Hourglass suggests the opposite - looking at it, it seems that a giant eye is looking directly from the depths of Cosmos to Earth and other worlds.
- Witch's broom. It is located at a distance of 2100 light years from Earth. In general, this nebula is called the Veil, but because of its thin and elongated shape it is often called the Witch's Broom.
- Whirlpool It looks very beautiful in telescope images, but it has many secrets - it is characterized by a huge accumulation of black holes.
- The Nebula Ring. Such an unusual name was given to an object formed after the explosion of a star similar to our Sun. A ring is red-hot layers of gas and the remains of the atmosphere. By the way, in the pictures the Ring looks like a cosmic eye, though it is not as sinister as the Hourglass.
- Milky Way.
- Cat's eye. This nebula consists of eleven rings that appeared before the formation of the nebula. The object has an irregular internal structure, which is the result of a rapidly moving stellar wind, which seemed to break through the shell of the bubble from two ends.
- Omega Centauri. There are about 100,000 stars in the globular cluster of Omega Centravra. This is a unique system: red dots are red giants, and yellow dots are stars similar to the Sun. After the release of the outer layer of gaseous hydrogen, the objects become bright blue. All of these shades are clearly visible on telescope images.
- Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula.
- The Stefan quintet is five galaxies that constantly fight among themselves, stretching each other, distorting shapes, tearing their sleeves.
- Butterfly. That is an unofficial, but fairly accurate description of the name of the nebula, which is the remnant of a dying star. The wings of the “butterfly” are wide open for two light years. The gases emitted during the explosion glow brightly, creating the unusual effect of a butterfly hovering in space.
Modern technology has allowed you to look into the far depths of space, to see a variety of objects, give them names. One of the dramatic objects is War and Peace. Due to the high density of the gas, this unusual nebula forms a bubble around a bright cluster of stars, and then ultraviolet radiation heats the gas and pushes it out, directly into the Cosmos. This beautiful sight looks as if in the Universe in this place stars and gas accumulations are fighting for a place in open space.