Constellation sails legend. What is remarkable about the constellation Vela? Another multi-star Vela system

The constellation Vela is geographically located in the southern hemisphere of the starry sky.

The closest neighbors of the constellation Vela are Pump, Puppis, Compass, Centaurus, and Carina. The area occupied by the constellation in question in the sky is 499.6 square degrees. Of all the abundance of stars in Vela, an observer can distinguish about 195 from Earth without the use of additional optical devices.

The constellation Velas, view in the Stellarium planetarium program

On the territory of Russia, this constellation is difficult to observe. Part of it can be seen only in the southern regions of the country, and the further south the observer, the greater the likelihood of seeing the constellation. The best conditions for contemplating at least some of the components of this constellation occur in February.

An astronaut's lucky joke gave the star its name

Speaking about the stars of the constellation Velas, we should start with the brightest one - the star Gamma. Other names for this luminary are Suhail (Suhail al Mulif) and Regor (sometimes "Roger" thanks to the humor of the astronaut aboard Apollo 1). Often the star is called the Phantom Pearl of the Southern Sky. The long and mysterious name is explained by the emission instead of dark and incredibly bright absorbing rays, due to which the spectrum of the Gamma star is very exotic.

800 sv. away from us. years, this second magnitude star is a multiple system containing at least six components. The brightest among all is considered to be Gamma-2 Parusov, which itself is also , and includes an O9 class supergiant and a Wolf-Rayet type star. The last star is special in that it is recognized as the heaviest star ever found to date. The secondary component after Gamma-2 is considered to be the Gamma-1 component - a white-blue subgiant of the fourth magnitude of class B. The Regor star system has several more faint stars with only magnitudes 8, 9 and 13.

Another multi-star Vela system

It turns out that the Delta star is not far behind Gamma Parus in terms of the number of components. Delta Veli ranks second in brightness in the constellation and is another multiple system in its composition. Unfortunately, the star does not have any generally accepted name. It is 80 light years away from Earth.

A composite star system contains two double stars. The first visual double star is represented by the components Delta Paralis A and B. The luminary Delta A is located on the main sequence and appears to be a white dwarf of the second magnitude. Component A's companion, Delta B, is a fifth-magnitude yellow dwarf.

69 arcseconds away from this system is another, much fainter system. It is represented by Delta C and Delta D - stars of the eleventh and thirteenth magnitudes, respectively. The distance between these two components is 6 arcseconds. It is worth noting that the Delta Veli star system is the brightest among all eclipsing variable luminaries in the sky. And after some 7,000 years, it is predicted to play the role of the South Pole Star as a result of the precession of the earth's axis.

Objects of deep and distant space

First of all, it is worth saying a few words about the False Cross asterism as part of the constellation in question, which is formed by its stars Delta, Kappa, Iot and Epsilon of the constellation Carina. Asterism acquired this name for its resemblance to the constellation. However, unlike the latter, the indicated asterism is not an indicator of the South Pole of the world. This erroneous judgment has previously often led to a variety of navigation errors.

Here in Parusy, at a distance of 2 thousand St. years from us, the planetary nebula of Eight Flares or the Southern Ring is located. In the center of the nebula there is a rather hot color, which illuminates the entire nebula with ultraviolet rays.

There is also the Gama Nebula in the constellation, which is considered to be a remnant that occurred approximately 11-12 thousand years ago. The nebula is also called Gum 12. It extends to the constellation Puppis and is an emission nebula.

Story

To this day, many consider the Sails to be part of another larger constellation, which was called the Ship of Argo, known to everyone thanks to ancient Greek mythology. However, back in 1752, Lacaille proposed dividing such a large constellation into smaller ones, thanks to which three new constellations appeared in the sky. In addition to the Sails themselves, constellations called Puppis and Carina were also formed. However, the names of the stellar components have not changed, so in the Sails there are no stars designated alpha or beta - these stars retained the names assigned back when they were part of the Argo Ship constellation.

The sails are part of the ancient constellation Ship Argo. The southern part of the constellation is located in the most star-rich regions of the Milky Way. Up to hundreds of stars can be seen in the constellation with the naked eye. After the division of the Argo Ship into three constellations on the initiative of Lacaille in 1752, there were no alpha and beta stars in the Sails. Therefore, gamma (Regor), delta, lambda (Al Suhail) became the brightest.

On the border of Parus and Carina there is the False Cross asterism, which is often mistaken for the Southern Cross constellation. Unlike the real one, the false cross is not aimed at the south pole of the world. The double star Gamma Parus is clearly visible through binoculars. Its components, magnitude 2 and 4, are separated by a distance of 40 arcseconds. Moreover, the main component of the pair is itself a close binary system in which two stars are adjacent. One of them is a Wolf-Rayet type star. The masses of the stars are respectively 38 and 20 solar masses. The pair's orbital period is 78.5 days.

The smaller star is losing material from its surface at a high rate. Stars of this type were first described in 1867 by French astronomers Charles Wolf (1827-1918) and Georges Rayet (1839-1906). The spectrum of this star shows wide multi-colored lines against a fairly bright continuous background. Astronomers call this star the “spectral pearl of the southern sky.”

The planetary nebula NGC 3132, located on the border of the Pump, is similar to the Ring Nebula in Lyra. However, it is noticeably brighter, and much brighter is its central star, which can be easily seen with a small telescope. The glow of the nebula itself is excited by its small satellite with a surface temperature of about 100,000° K.

In Parusy there is one of the most unusual objects of optical astronomy - the neutron star-pulsar Vela, blinking at a frequency of 11 pulses per second. This is the second optical pulsar, discovered in 1977, 10 years after the first, discovered in the Crab Nebula (constellation Taurus). Both of them are also radio pulsars, emitting radio waves into outer space. Vela was formed as a result of a supernova explosion that occurred in Parus about 12 thousand years ago. He left behind a rapidly rotating neutron star with a gas shell scattering in all directions from it. Its diameter today has already reached 6 degrees. This very beautiful openwork structure lies on the galactic equator, between the stars Gamma and Lambda Veliki.

Finding a constellation in the sky

The constellation is visible at latitudes from -90° to +34°. The constellation Vela lies far south of the celestial equator and therefore is not observed on Russian territory. Neighboring constellations: Pump, Compass, Puppis, Carina, Centaurus.

In autumn, Sails are on the southeastern side of the horizon. At midnight the constellation is still partially invisible. Above the sails is Puppis with its bright star Canopus, which helps to find the constellation in the sky. To the right of the Sails, the Southern Cross rises from the horizon.

In winter, the Sails rise high into the sky and are visible all night on the southeastern side of the sky. Following them are the conspicuous Southern Cross and Centaurus, which is easy to find by its two bright stars. Canopus (alpha Kipya) is located to the right and above the Sails.

In summer, at midnight, the Sails set beyond the horizon a little to the right of the south point. Above them, part of the setting Kiel is also visible. Bright Canopus has already disappeared beyond the horizon. The main landmark here will be the Southern Cross, which is located above the Sails.

Our sky. Although some of it can be observed in Russia. Its area is more than 500 square meters. This means that the constellation Velus is the thirty-second in the list of the largest. It has 195 stars visible from our planet with the naked eye.

Observation history

People have been interested in constellations in the sky since ancient times. Already representatives of the first civilizations peered into the sky, trying to connect the nature of luminous stars and the essence of things in the world. Interestingly, the constellation Velae in the ancient world was considered part of another, more significant cluster of stars called the “Ship of Argo”. More than a hundred stars can be identified in this cluster even with the naked eye. This name was given to it by the ancient Greeks, who associated these stars with the myth of the campaign of the Argonauts and Jason for the Golden Fleece. lifted the ship into the heavens, turning it into a constellation to forever remind people of the brilliant campaign of the brave Greek travelers to Colchis.

Only in the middle of the 18th century, on the initiative of the French astronomer Nicolas Lacaille, the map of constellations was somewhat transformed and this huge nebula was divided into three. It highlighted the Sterns and the Sails themselves. A little later, the Compass cluster was also identified. In addition to those noted, the constellation Velas is surrounded by the Pump, Centaurus, and Southern Cross clusters. The development of technology, including huge telescopes, as well as mathematical apparatus, made it possible during this period to make a significant breakthrough in the study and description of the properties of space. In particular, individual stars of the Vela cluster were carefully examined and studied. So a double star in a constellation consists of components second and fourth, which are located at a distance of forty arc seconds from each other. Moreover, the main component of this pair is itself a binary system with two neighboring stars. Both of them are equal to approximately thirty masses of our Sun. By the way, double stars in the constellation Velas are not at all unique in this regard. Quite the contrary. Most of the "suns" in our night sky are actually close systems of two, three, and sometimes four objects. This is not always visible to the naked eye, but can be detected through powerful telescopes.

The orbital period of rotation in this Parus pair is more than 78 Earth days. In the same cluster there is another interesting star with qualities that are very interesting for astrophysicists. We are talking about the neutron star-pulsar Vela. Pulsars are extremely unusual in that they emit monstrous amounts of radio emission. In addition, they rotate continuously. Thus, the radiation falls on an outside observer with a certain periodicity - the star seems to blink. For example, the Vela pulsar from the constellation Vela rotates about 11 times per second. It was one of the first stars of this type to be discovered, in 1977. Interestingly, the first detected radio pulses from such stars caused an incredible stir in the scientific community, as they were mistaken for messages from alien civilizations.

[i]CONSTELLATION SAILS
Sails help wandering people, bringing light and goodness, or simply people who love to travel, both by plane, ship, train, car. They protect from troubles and adversity during travel. To make your journey go well, say before your journey that there is a fair wind in your sails. Star. It’s good to have a ship with sails in your home, then you will travel a lot and life will sail in a calm direction. It’s also good to have an icon of sails, preferably blue, scarlet - for love. In general have sails of all colors of the rainbow in your home. Red sails heal the blood. Orange for optimism, humor in life, cheerfulness, yellow for warmth from the cold world. Green for gaining the energy of nature. Blue for communication with the sky, the other world. Purple for the mind, philosophers , teachers, wisdom. In general, it is best to have rainbow-colored sails, then there will be no storm in your life. To have love in the house, draw a ship with scarlet sails and put the whole family in the photo, then peace and quiet and love will reign in the house. K turn to sails when you want to go to another country or travel for a long time. So that you meet only good people along the way. Sails know everything about the magic of the wind. Write your wish on a piece of paper. For example: in the name of father and son and the holy spirit, may I have a husband. Amen . Burn the letter, and scatter the ashes in the wind, saying the ashes fly to my betrothed or betrothed. Sails give lightness to the body, as if you were sailing, not walking, on a wave. People with sails love to travel a lot to different countries, especially love to sail on ships. People's lives Sails are full of adventures - they are altruists, airy, windy people, rushing around the world in search of happiness and adventure. In order to find adventures in a boring life, draw blue sails by writing I want adventures and soon they will appear. Sails fill your life with wind, taking away all the bad from you. Always say when you go from home that the wind is fair to me in my sails. And you will be lucky, it is also a good sign to sit in silence before the road, so that the road will be successful. The sails guide you into the desired wave and people adjust the sails depending on their mood and the weather can be lazy, tired, or it can be fast and high-speed. Therefore, getting out of bed, say the sails are tight, I’m waiting for a fair wind, amen.
Vela is a constellation that is located in the southern sky and from Latin “Vela” is translated as “Sails”.
Once part of a larger constellation, the Ship Argo, which is the ship of the Argonauts. It was first recorded by Ptolemy in the second century. And in the 1750s, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille divided it into three: Sails, Keel and Stern.
Contains several notable objects: the Eight Burst Nebula (NGC 3132), the Gum Nebula, the Vela supernova remnant, the Pencil Nebula (NGC 2736), and the Omicron Vela Cluster (IC 2391).
The myth of the constellation Vela
The constellation represents part of the Ship Argo, on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolkos to obtain the Golden Fleece. It was created by Argus, who took advantage of the help of Athena. When the expedition ended, they dedicated the ship to Poseidon, who placed it in the sky.
In 1752, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille divided the giant constellation into three small ones: Sails, Carina and Puppis. He used one set of Greek letters for all constellations, so the Sails were stripped of Alpha and Beta (they went to Carina).
WIND MAGIC
Areas of energy application:

Intelligence, creativity, learning, discovery, attractiveness, individuality, insight, freedom and liberation, travel, independence, lightness, cheerfulness, pleasure, play, communication, the ability to concentrate power. Energy concentrators:
Smoke, air, wind, bird feathers, bells, needles, pins.
Traditional associations:

Side of the world: East.

Yellow color. Season: Spring.

Wind is somewhat similar to Fire - they are related by unrestrainedness and violence. But Fire is driven by something close to rage (this is not rage towards someone or something, it is the rage of moving towards a goal, the rage of a breakthrough), while the Wind is a rogue, a daredevil. He is characterized by gaiety, mischief, and his basis is freedom. He does not burden himself with obligations. He loves to play, or rather, he lives by playing.
Wind is also the younger brother of the Earth, he was born together with Water. They played together on the still deserted planet until the time came to manifest their materiality and give rise to life on Earth (in its material form).
The task of the Wind is to transmit energy to living beings and collect information, which it stores for a very short time, sharing it with others, primarily with Water. Wind is friendly with Fire, although Water avoids it, since their characters are opposite. Water often has to restrain the rage of Fire in its movement, because its Path is the path of will and strength, while it does not really care about those around it. Although he loves Water (and who in our world doesn’t love it?) and is gentle with her, he also argues with her often.
Wind and Fire often act in pairs, supporting and feeding each other with their energy.

Wind energy is light and free. If you need to free yourself from a load, scatter something - this is to the Wind. Use its energy where you need to organize a holiday - either in relationships between people, or ease and pleasure in work. Call the Wind for help when you need to ease your soul, remove the burden of worries, pain and resentment from yourself or others. Give the energy of the Wind to children - after all, he himself looks like a big child.
Wind energy also promotes the development of intelligence, mental abilities, provides inspiration for creative endeavors, liberates and provides the opportunity to gain freedom.

In healing:

Of all the elements, Wind is the least used in healing. Actually, it is not used for treatment as such - its energy is good for general cleansing of the body, for example, for removing decay products after being “burned out” by Fire. It's like sweeping up after someone who has done the work. Its energy gives lightness, a breath of joy during a serious illness, will help get you out of depression and improve your mood. Image of the Wind

I stand on the top of the hill, arms outstretched, and feel the gusts of wind with my whole body. He flutters my hair and clothes. I look into the sky and see rapidly moving, ever-changing clouds. I close my eyes and feel the Wind filling my being. I am overcome with joy - pure, causeless joy, like in childhood. The world is huge and beautiful, I am free in it! There are no barriers, I can do anything! The body becomes light and airy. I reach up to the clouds, I want to fly! Unbridled mischief is added to the feeling of joy.
Why not! I want to fly! A gust of Wind picks me up and I take off. Here it is, here it is! That almost forgotten childhood feeling of flying! I am laughing. All feelings are mixed, and they can be described only by one concept: absolute happiness. I rise up to the clouds, with a sharp gust I cut through their snow-white, weightless thickness. I collect them together: and then tear them apart... I mold them into infinitely fluid and changeable forms, they are like a thought - light, free and restless. You can create clouds endlessly, but I break away from them and rise higher. Emotions calm down.
I see huge atmospheric fronts moving over the earth, redistributing information and energies of colossal force. Their movement is not at all chaotic, it is subject to the laws of Life of our planet. A single living organism where everything is interconnected. I look through the breaks in the clouds at the Earth and see all the details of the relief. I see rivers, lakes, I see people and animals. I see Life as a whole, I understand it. This understanding cannot be translated into words, I just know where everything follows and what it will lead to in its movement along the Great Circle of Life.
My attention is drawn to a beautiful, proud bird soaring nearby. The bird begins to descend and I realize that I need to follow it. I gently lower myself to the ground and watch her land. The bird touches the ground and turns into a young man. Tall and slender, with fair skin, light unruly, disheveled hair and amazing huge, deep eyes the color of a sunny autumn sky on a mischievous snub-nosed face. His clothes are decorated with feathers and colorful, flowing ribbons. He walks, and his every movement causes the wind. The grasses bend down, paving the way for him, the trees wave their branches in greeting. He smiles and extends his hand to me. I take his hand and look into his eyes. He doesn’t say anything, but I understand that he is glad to see me, that he is always ready to come to my Circle if I call him. He is interested and does not mind giving me his Power. He has a lot of Power - and what else can you do with it if not give it to him?
But it’s time for him, constancy is not in his character. I let go of the young man’s hand and step back, and a whirlwind is already swirling around him like a funnel. For another moment I see his smiling face, tousled hair, colored ribbons fluttering in the wind. The whirlwind thickens, quickly rises, and then I see the bird again. A wide circle above my head, a melodic piercing cry, and a beautiful free bird dissolves into the heavenly distance. And a light, slightly curved feather falls onto my palm - the Wind’s farewell greetings.
Wind - attunement to the Element

The best time to carry it out is early in the morning. Choose a place where you will not be disturbed, preferably somewhere on a hill. The weather should be windy. Face east, close your eyes and relax. Feel the wind ruffle your hair, touch your face, run through your body. Inhale the aroma of herbs and flowers that the Wind brought you. Start rhythmic breathing: take a deep breath and exhale smoothly and slowly. Your breathing will gradually become smooth, calm, light and pleasant.
Summon the image of the Wind. Focus your attention and feelings on it. Live this image, feel how the Wind enters you along with the air that you inhale. You absorb it with your lungs, your skin, your whole body. Feel how light and free your soul has become. Feel the mischief and freedom. Shout (be mischievous, that's the full extent of it!).
Look at the clouds floating in the blue sky above. This is your planet, this is your home!
Remember how you feel. Thank the Wind for the attention shown to you.
Now, calling on the power of the Wind, it will be enough for you to recall these sensations.
Don't neglect the opportunity to refresh your settings. It is not necessary to go to a deserted place again; on a windy day, just walking down the street, it is enough to feel in tune with the Wind, evoke a feeling of lightness, and smile sincerely.
WIND - examples of work

Connecting to the Element and using its energy.

SAILS (lat. Vela), constellation (see CONSTELLATIONS) of the Southern Hemisphere in which a pulsar was discovered (see PULSARS) PSR 0833 45 ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Sails (lat. Vela), constellation of the southern hemisphere of the sky; the brightest stars are 1.8; 2.0; 2.2; 2.5 and 2.7 visual magnitudes. The best conditions for observations are in January February; visible in the southern regions of the USSR. See the starry sky... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

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- (lat. Vela) constellation of the Southern Hemisphere, in which the pulsar PSR 0833 45 ... was discovered Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (lat. Vela), constellation of the Southern Hemisphere, in which the pulsar PSR 0833 45 ... was discovered encyclopedic Dictionary

Noun, number of synonyms: 3 sails (11) sails (2) constellation (121) Dictionary ... Synonym dictionary

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