Ursa Major's dipper in autumn winter. Presentation on the topic "The constellation Ursa Major"

Looking up, on cloudless nights it is easy to find the large bucket of the Big Dipper, but the problem of how to find the Little Dipper turns out to be impossible for many: its stars are quite dim, and the bright light street lamps and advertising structures, interior lighting of residential premises and other light sources turned on at night in the city interfere with the natural light environment of nature.

The night sky is poorly visible through city illumination, so it is best to enjoy the beauty of the stars in an open space, where neither buildings nor artificial lighting interfere.

On a full moon, even the light of the Moon can interfere, interrupting with its brightness the modest stars of the desired constellation. Ideal place and the time to look at the stars in the sky will be a moonless night in the steppe in a place located in the northern hemisphere of our planet.

Although the constellation Ursa Minor Although small and its components not very bright, its location in the sky near the north celestial pole is notable. It consists of 25 stars, large enough to be seen on a clear moonless night without any aids.

Its configuration includes polar Star, almost exactly located at the north pole of the world and therefore convenient for orientation to the cardinal points. Due to slow shift earth's axis the situation will change over time and another star will indicate the northern direction, but in the next 1200 years you can confidently use Ursa Minor as a guide by finding the tip of the handle of its ladle.

Despite the 25 stars in this constellation, it is recognized by the seven largest of them, forming a memorable figure in the sky, similar to a ladle, at the end of the handle of which is the polar star. It is visible on Russian territory all year round and is one of the figures that serve as excellent landmarks for the initial study of the starry sky.

Guidelines for finding a small bucket

To understand how to find Ursa Minor, you need:

• know what the desired configuration looks like;
• understand that the small bucket includes only 3 more or less bright stars, and therefore a certain skill is needed;
• know the landmarks next to which the necessary stars are located in the sky.

The easiest way to start your search is with the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor - Polaris.

The reference point here will be the Ursa Major bucket. Even a beginner will not have any difficulty finding it.

And then everything depends only on the eye:

1. Find a large dipper: in winter and autumn it descends to the horizon in the north, in summer they look for it in the west, where it hangs with its handle up, and in spring it is found in the east standing vertically with its handle down.
2. Through the 2 extreme stars that form the side wall of the dipper (a and ß of the Big Dipper), mentally draw a line and extend it upward in relation to the bowl of the dipper.
3. Mentally plot on this line 5 times the distance between a and ß, taken as a basis.
4. In the calculated area in the sky, find a star of approximately the same brightness. This will be Polar, marking the end of the handle of the Little Dipper. The small ladle itself will stretch towards the Big Dipper, but its handle will bend in the opposite direction.

In the urban sky, illuminated by extraneous light sources, it is easy to find only three stars of the bucket, one of which is Polaris.

The chance of detecting the rest is much less, and sometimes due to excessive ambient lighting they are not visible at all. Therefore, without sufficient experience it is difficult to immediately recognize the desired group stars But after several trainings, the search will be easy, especially since the handle of the ladle is attached like a nail in the sky by the North Star to the point around which it rotates, as if on a leash.

City residents have stopped looking at the starry sky, which is difficult to see due to the lighting of the streets and surrounding high-rise buildings. But looking at the star dome calms thoughts and emotions.

By focusing on the search for Ursa Minor, you can escape the hustle and bustle of the work week and think about the beauty of other worlds, located so far away that the light from them has not yet reached our planet.

August is famous for its rich starry sky, as if strewn with diamonds. This weekend, while kayaking on the Snigirevka River, spending the night near a bend in the river on a high cape, to the sounds of a jew's harp and a tambourine, I took a few pictures starry sky. The constellation Ursa Major turned out well, which I will tell you about today.

Here is one of the pictures - in a window of foliage nearby standing tree and the tops of the pines on the opposite bank of the river just fit the bucket of the constellation.

If it’s difficult for anyone to identify it at first glance, in the next photo I specifically marked the contours of the constellation with lines.

And there is beauty in the sky! The horizon is barely noticeably illuminated by the setting sun, the entire sky is strewn with sparkling diamonds of stars, the tops of the trees are slightly silvered by the almost full moon hiding behind the forest.

The fire is burning down, illuminating the red paws of the spruce tree, next to which we made a halt on the top of a high cliff near the bend of the Snigirevka River. The hypnotic and enchanting sounds of a jew's harp and a tambourine made of genuine leather, according to all the rules, dried over the flame of a fire, are carried away into the deserted emptiness.

Nearby, a few steps away in absolute darkness among the pine trees, through whose branches the needle-like rays of the moon carefully break through, is a lake. It is absolutely round in shape, covered on all sides by forest, and round leaves of egg capsules float along the shore. Sometimes there is a faint splash, either of a frog jumping into the water, or of a mermaid luring an unwary traveler. And in the grass, timid fireflies burn like green swamp lights, extinguishing their light at any rustle or reflection of a flashlight. And if you turn off the flashlights and stand in complete darkness, surrounding reality completely transformed. The tops of the trees are illuminated by all kinds of silvery shades of moonlight, the diamond dust of the stars is reflected in the water, everything around looks magical and crystal-silver.

On this lyrical digression, perhaps we’ll finish and return to our constellation. It has been known since ancient times, although different nations called differently. IN Ancient Rus' it was the Elk, among other peoples it was the Plow, the Cart, the Seven Wise Men, etc. Greek myth tells that the beautiful nymph Callisto was transformed by Zeus into the Ursa to save her from Hera's revenge. In Chinese astronomy, the seven stars of the dipper are called the Northern Dipper (Beidou). In ancient times, the handle of the ladle pointed almost to the pole and was used by the Chinese to keep time. The Latin name for the constellation Ursa Major is Ursa Major. The constellation appears on some flags: on the flag of Alaska along with the North Star, Irish radical organizations (IRA), and the ancient flag of White Sea Karelia.

The stars that make up the bucket are marked here. Traditionally they are called letters Greek alphabet, starting with the brightest star in descending order of brightness. Although in Ursa Major this rule fails - epsilon in it is brighter than alpha. In addition, each of the bucket stars has its own name. Like most stars, they are of Arab origin (the culture of the Arabs served as a bridge across the intellectual chasm separating the fall of Rome from the Renaissance). Let's take a closer look at each of the stars.

α (alpha) - Dubhe means "bear" in Arabic. The name comes from the Arabic ahr ad-dubb al-akbar - "back of the big bear."

β (beta) - Merak- “lower back”. In its star system it shines 69 times brighter than the sun.

Using these two stars you can find the North Star, which points north. To do this, you need to mentally draw a line through the two stars (Dubhe and Merak) of the “wall” of the bucket opposite the “handle”, on which to mark five times the distance between these extreme stars. Near the end of this line is the North Star. The direction to the North Star coincides with the direction north, and its height above the horizon coincides with the latitude of the observer.

γ (gamma) - Phecda- "hip".

δ (delta) - Megrets- “root” (beginning of the tail). The faintest of the bucket stars, apparent magnitude +3.32. It is located 81 light years away from us, about one and a half times larger and heavier than the sun, while being 14 times brighter.

ε (epsilon) - Aliot- the brightest star of the constellation, 0.05 magnitudes higher than Dubhe. By right, she should be the alpha, but this is how it happened historically. It is in 33rd place in brightness among all stars in the visible part of the sky. Historically, this star has been used in maritime navigation.

ζ (zeta) - Mizar- “sash” or “loincloth”. People with good eyesight see another star next to Mizar, called Alcor. Ability to see Alcor - traditional way vision tests. This pair is also called "Horse and Rider" and is the most famous double star system. The full-size photos on this page also show both stars.

There is also a legend that supposedly in ancient Egypt Young men who could distinguish these stars were recruited into the elite troops of the pharaoh. This was proof that his vision was sharp enough. Versions of the legend feature Greek archers or Indian hunters. There is no confirmation of the reality of these facts. In addition, Mizar and Alcor are easily distinguishable as separate stars even with average visual acuity.

η (eta) - Benetnash or Alkaid from the full Arabic name al-Qa'id banat our, which means "leader of the mourners." This poetic image taken from Arabic popular understanding constellation Ursa Major (Hearse and Mourners). The constellation appears funeral procession: in front are the mourners, headed by the leader, behind them are the funeral stretchers.

It is the third brightest star in the constellation and the 35th brightest star in the constellation. bright stars sky. Benetnash is located about 100 light years from the Sun. With a surface temperature of 22,000°K, it is one of the hottest stars that can be seen with the naked eye.

This is where I will end the astronomical excursion, read the report on kayaking on the Snigirevka River, during which these pictures were taken. (the link is not working yet, the report is being completed)

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Introduction Theoretical part Practical part Conclusion List of references Appendix

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Relevance of the research topic:

expanding students’ horizons about knowledge of the surrounding world, in particular the starry sky.

Slide 4

The object of study is the constellation " Big Dipper» Subject research - development of quiz data about the constellation Hypothesis research - the collected information will help you recognize the constellation in the starry sky, know the history of the constellation.

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The purpose of the work:

Conduct a quiz in grade 2 on the topic “The constellation Ursa Major.” Develop the cognitive and intellectual abilities of students.

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Tasks:

1. Collection of information from literary sources and the Internet; 2. To form in students the concept of “constellation” 3. To introduce the history of the emergence of the constellation “Ursa Major”; 4. Conducting a quiz in grade 2 on the topic “The constellation Ursa Major.”

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Research methods:

Collection of information from literary sources and the Internet; - Analysis of collected information; - Conducting a quiz in 2nd grade.

Slide 8

Theoretical part.

Ursa Major is the third largest constellation in area (after Hydra and Virgo), whose seven bright stars form the famous Big Dipper.

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