What are constellations and how many are there in the sky? Detailed answer

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What are constellations and how many are there in the sky? Detailed answer

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What are constellations and how many are there in the sky?

Depending on the visual acuity of the observer with the naked eye on a moonless clear night, 2500-3000 stars can be distinguished above the horizon of the observation site. The entire celestial sphere contains about 6000 stars visible to the naked eye. The mutual arrangement of stars in the sky changes extremely slowly, its changes could be noticed with the naked eye only after millennia.

For the convenience of orientation in the starry sky, ancient astronomers divided it into constellations. This division is purely conditional and does not indicate the presence of any physical connections between the constellations and the stars in them. Stars belonging to the same constellation appear close only in a plane perpendicular to the line of sight of an earthly observer. In fact, they can be arbitrarily far apart from each other.

It must also be borne in mind that the constellation includes all the stars that fall within its boundaries, including those invisible to the naked eye.

In 1922, at the first congress of the International Astronomical Union, the entire sky of the Northern and Southern hemispheres of the Earth was divided into 88 sections (constellations) with precisely indicated boundaries. Since then, everywhere in the world, in any astronomy textbook or reference book, it has been reported that there are 88 constellations in the earth's sky.

The winding and bizarre constellation boundaries outlined by ancient astronomers have been replaced by new ones. They go along the celestial parallels and the circles of declination, although in their conduct they generally adhered to the outlines of the old boundaries.

Astronomical encyclopedias and calendars provide a complete list of constellations, which indicate the Russian and Latin name of the constellation, its symbolic designation, the area occupied by the constellation in the sky (in square degrees), and the number of stars brighter than the 6th magnitude (that is, visible to the naked eye at excellent vision and excellent observation conditions).

Author: Kondrashov A.P.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

What is the difference between fruits and vegetables?

The word "fruit" usually refers to the fleshy part of a plant that develops from a flower and has seeds. Vegetables are herbaceous plants. A herbaceous plant is one that has a soft stem and little or non-woody tissue.

Botanists believe that the part of the plant that contains the seeds is the fruit. They divide fruits into three main classes: fleshy fruits with seeds, such as oranges, melons, berries, and apples; stone fruits, such as cherries, plums, peaches, and dry fruits, such as nuts, cereals, beans, and peas.

If it surprises you that botanists consider beans and peas to be fruits (because they contain seeds), then you will be even more surprised to learn that cucumbers and squash are also called fruits. It depends on how seriously we want to take this field of knowledge. In addition, in different parts of the world there are different traditions: the same edible part of the plant is considered a fruit in a water place and a vegetable in another. Just like in animals, there are families in the plant world.

Did you know that cabbages, turnips, radishes, asparagus, and cauliflower, for example, all belong to the same family of vegetables?

Lettuce, chicory, and artichoke belong to a different family of vegetables. The gourd family includes cucumbers, melons, and pumpkins. The legume family includes peas, all types of beans, peanuts and soybeans. Asparagus is related to the common onion, leek, garlic, and chives. And here is an interesting family of nightshade. It includes potatoes, eggplants, peppers and tobacco. Fruits and vegetables are similar in that they provide us with vitamins and minerals that keep us healthy.

Test your knowledge! Did you know...

▪ What is the traditional name of the oceanic spaces in the 40th latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere?

▪ What happened to the ship Saint Mary?

▪ Where did the word libel come from?

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