Under Ursa Major, next to Bootes, there are Hounds Dogs, a constellation connected with the neighbors by a mythological plot. This celestial drawing has an interesting fate and includes many curious space objects.
Hounds Constellation: legend
Today this celestial image is associated with the dogs of Arcade, forever wandering along the dome above his head in the form of Bootes. He was the son of Zeus and Callisto (the nymph of the goddess Artemis), who was turned into a bear by a jealous Hera. A born hunter, Arkad did not recognize his mother in a wild beast and set dogs on her. Zeus, in memory of this event (according to another version, wanting to save his beloved and son from the revenge of his wife) placed his heroes in heaven. The constellation of the Hounds of the Dogs shone there, as well as Ursa Major and Bootes.
History
Hounds Dogs - a constellation that is not among the most ancient. In Ptolemy, the luminaries included in its composition belonged to Bootes and formed his club and some other parts. Actually, the name "Hounds of the Dogs" is quite likely due to the erroneous translation of the Greek word first into Arabic, and from it into Latin. As a result, the "baton" has becomeinto "dogs".
The author of the constellation is considered to be Jan Hevelius, who first included it in his celestial atlas "Uranography" in 1690. Asterion and Chara ("small star" and "joy") - that was the name of the dogs of Bootes in the legend - in the image of the astronomer are restrained by a long leash, the end of which is in Arkad's hands.
Location
Hounds Dogs - a small constellation. In it, under good conditions, up to thirty luminaries can be distinguished with the naked eye. You can find a celestial pattern by focusing on the Big Dipper, the detection of which, as a rule, does not cause any difficulties for anyone. Hound Dogs are placed exactly under the bucket. A line drawn through the alpha and gamma of Ursa Major in a southeast direction indicates the brightest point of the constellation, the luminary called the Heart of Charles. To the east of the Hounds of the Dogs is Bootes, also clearly visible in the night sky.
Carl's Heart
Alpha Canis Hounds is the brightest star in this celestial pattern. Such a poetic name was given to her by Charles Scarborough. In 1660, he proposed to map the sky with the constellation Heart of Charles, consisting of only one luminary. His wish came true. The "constellation" existed in this form until the end of the 19th century. Then the name passed to the alpha Hounds of the Dogs. The star was dedicated to Charles I, who was executed in 1649 and was the father of Charles II, whose court was Charles Scarborough.
Hounds Alpha is one of the most beautiful binary systems, according to many scientists. Its main component is a white-blue hotmain sequence star. It is the prototype of the class of variable luminaries of the same name. The reasons leading to a change in the brightness of a star are its rotation and a very strong magnetic field. The latter exceeds the analogous parameter of the Sun by a hundred times. The brightness of a star with a period of 5.47 days varies from +2.84 m to +2.94 m. The magnetic field of the luminary, in addition to these fluctuations, creates spots of impressive size and inhomogeneities in the photosphere of the described space object.
The second component of the system is a yellowish main sequence dwarf.
Beta
The next brightest star in this celestial pattern is called Chara. It is a yellow dwarf and belongs to the spectral class G. In many respects, the star is similar to the Sun. Scientists mark it as one of the most interesting objects in the sky. In 2006, Beta Canes was identified as the most promising star for the search for extraterrestrial life. Together with the alpha Hounds of the Dogs, also called Asterion, Chara forms the "southern dog".
Interesting objects
Hounds Dogs is a constellation that boasts a fairly large number of curious cosmic formations in addition to the luminaries. These are galaxies, nebulae, and globular clusters. One of them is M51. This is a galaxy called the Whirlpool. It is separated from the Earth by about 23 million light years. The peculiarity of the object is that it consists of two galaxies. The largest of them, NGC 5194, has a pronounced spiral structure. One ofarms rests on the companion galaxy NGC 5195. Owners of amateur telescopes will be interested to know that the Whirlpool is the only such object in which you can see the spiral structure without professional equipment.
Many fans of astronomy are well aware of the globular cluster M3. It contains more than 500 thousand stars. It is quite noticeable through binoculars, provided that it is away from city lighting.
It is no coincidence that many telescopes are aimed at the constellation Canes Venatici. Photos of objects from its territory, in addition to those named, contain such beautiful galaxies as M63 (Sunflower galaxy), M106 or M94. In addition, not everything is still known to astronomers about the stars of this celestial pattern. It is likely that the Hounds of the Dogs have many surprises in store for us.
