People have been watching the sky and its phenomena for thousands of years. They "invented" the first constellations in ancient times. However, there was no single answer to the question of how many constellations exist until the 20th century. Let's answer it, and at the same time talk about one of them.
How many constellations are there in the world?
People have long noticed that some groups of stars form various patterns and geometric shapes in the night sky. To distinguish them from each other, they began to give names, choosing, as a rule, familiar objects or the names of famous heroes. These were the constellations.
In different parts of the world their number was different. In addition, their clear boundaries were not defined, the same star could be present in different constellations. The development of technology has made it possible to see the sky even more clearly, observing objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Many dimmer stars have been revealed to us, and the edges of some of the "celestial drawings" have become completely indistinct.
To remove all confusion, they decided to divide the celestial sphere into specific areas. ATIn 1922, the International Astronomical Union approved 88 constellations, between which clear boundaries were marked on the map. Of these, 48 are ancient, they were known even before our era. Others are considered new, such as the constellation Dove.
The official list of the Union of Astronomers did not include the constellations Cerberus, Turtle, the Jordan River, Water, Keney, Lone Thrush, Charles Oak, Zeus the Thunderer and others. Some of them can be seen on medieval atlases.
Description of the constellation Pigeon
The science of astronomy developed mainly in the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth. Therefore, the first atlases were devoted to the objects of that part of the sky, which is visible just above it. Sky charts were often used for orientation, and after the first round-the-world voyages, there was a need for atlases of the Southern Hemisphere. So, in the 16th century, constellations arose: Fly, Indian, Peacock, Bird of Paradise, Toucan, etc.
In 1592, the constellation Dove also appeared. It was proposed by Peter Plancius. But it is often associated with Augustin Royet, who brought it into wide use by publishing his maps.
The Dove constellation is perfectly visible throughout the Southern Hemisphere up to a latitude of 90 degrees, in the Northern Hemisphere it is visible only up to 47 degrees. In the sky, it occupies 270 square degrees. In winter (December, January) it can be observed in the Crimea, Odessa, Chisinau, in the European south of Russia. He is surrounded by Canis Major, Painter, Hare, Korma, Cutter.
Myths and legends
The names of the constellations were often tied to legendary figures or events. Atmany of them have their own history. Peter Plancius was a theologian, so the biblical myth is associated with the constellation Dove. It is assumed that he originally named it Columba Noachi, or "Noah's Dove".
After the Flood, Noah repeatedly released this bird in the hope that it would find dry land. One day she returned with a sprig of olive, the next time she did not return at all. This meant that the waters receded and the Earth could be repopulated.
There is another legend about the constellation Dove associated with the story of the Argonauts. While sailing into the Black Sea, Jason and his crew might have encountered the wandering rocks of the Symplegades. They swam in sea waters and smashed ships to smithereens when they collided. The Argonauts released a dove that flew between the rocks, showing them the right path.
Dove Stars
In cloudless weather, about forty stars can be distinguished in the constellation Dove. But none of them exceeds 3 in brightness (the smaller the number, the brighter). The brightest is Dove Alpha, or Fact. This is a binary system whose main star is a blue-gray subgiant. Rapid rotation creates a gaseous disk around its equator, due to which it is referred to as a shell. Gradually, it goes more and more to the south, and in a few thousand years it will become the southern polar star.
The second brightest star is called Vazn or Vezn. It is an orange giant with an apparent magnitude of 3.12. Its radius is twelve times that of the sun, but its mass is almost equal toour luminary. Beta Pigeon is approximately 86 light-years from Earth.
Mu Dove is also interesting. She is called a "fugitive", just like AE Charioteer. It is assumed that they were once the same star system and were thrown out of it after flying past Nair al Saif Orion (Orion's Iota).
Interesting objects
There are no meteor showers in the constellation Dove, but there are two galaxies and a globular cluster. The galaxy NGC 1808 resembles ours. It is spiral and has a jumper. Hydrogen comes from its disc-shaped core. Galaxy brightness 9, 9 m.
You can see it if you draw a diagonal to the right and down from O Dove. Just below it is the galaxy NGC 1792, also a spiral galaxy. Its brightness is 10.2 m, and it is quite difficult to see it on amateur optics.
The galaxy was discovered by James Dunpaul in 1826 along with the globular cluster NGC 1851 (C 73). Pictures from the Hubble telescope showed that the cluster contains stars of two generations - two branches of subgiants. In the images taken, scientists were able to distinguish about 170 stars, although their number could be much more.
