Carina (constellation)
- Sailing of the ship
- Aft deck of the ship
- Painter
- Flying Fish
- Chameleon
- Fly
- Centaur
Ship keel or keel of the ship, in today's astronomical use Carina ( from Latin ) is a constellation of the southern sky.
Description
The keel of the ship pulls down below the constellations aft deck of the ship and sailing of the ship. It contains the bright star Canopus striking. From Germany, the constellation can not be seen.
History
The keel of the ship is part of the ancient constellation Argo Navis, which was one of the 48 constellations described by Ptolemy.
Since the very extensive Argo Navis the French astronomer Lacaille was too confusing for astronomy, he shared it in 1763 on the constellations keel of the boat, aft deck of the ship ( Puppis ) and sailing of the ship ( Vela ). The original star designations have been retained, so that each Greek letter in the three constellations occurs only once. Therefore, there is a star α Carinae ( Canopus ), but no star Puppis α or α Velorum.
After the British astronomer Edmond Halley from the island of St. Helena had observed from the southern sky, he published in 1679 a star catalog in which he described the region around the star β Carinae as Robur Carolis, " Charles oak ". So that the tree was meant, in the 1651 English King Charles II hid after his defeat by Oliver Cromwell. However, Halley's proposal could not prevail.
Mythology
Argo Navis was in Greek mythology, the ship of Jason and his companions, the Argonauts. They sought the golden fleece, a golden ram's fleece. Jason, son of King Aeson of Thessaly, had been brought by his half- brother Pelias succession to the throne. Jason should get the throne again when he brought Pelias the Golden Fleece - a task almost impossible, because the fabulous fur was guarded in a sacred grove in Colchis from a deadly dragon. With the help of the king's daughter Medea, however, Jason came into the possession of the coat. The ship Argo and the fleece was placed in the sky, the latter as the constellation Aries.
For the ancient Egyptians, the constellation was also a ship with which their god Osiris was driving. In Canopus they saw a helmsman.
Celestial objects
Stars
α Carinae is an extremely high-luminosity star of spectral type F0 in 310 light years away. With an apparent magnitude of -0.62 m, it is the second brightest star after Sirius in the night sky.
The name Canopus comes from the ancient Greek legend of the conquest of the city of Troy. Canopus was the helmsman of Menelaus.
β Carinae belongs to the spectral class A2 and is approximately 113 light years away. Its proper name Miaplacidus is composed of the Arabic and Latin and means " water hole ".
ε is 632 light years away and is part of spectral type K3.
The 6,000 light-years distant star Eta Carinae is an extremely interesting object. With a brightness of 6.21 m, it can not be perceived with the naked eye today. As Edmond Halley aufstellte his star catalog in the 17th century, Eta Carinae was with 4m much brighter, with the brightness changes irregularly. In the years 1833-1843 the brightness increased dramatically and Eta Carinae was with -1m the second brightest star in the sky. At this time, the star must have possessed the four million times brighter than our sun. In the following years the apparent brightness decreased. However, studies show that the star is still extremely high luminosity, its radiation is however absorbed by ejected gas and dust clouds and released as long-wave infrared radiation. Eta Carinae has obviously reached a final stage and will explode in the near future as a supernova. Possibly the explosion has occurred, however, the light flash due to the immense distance has not yet arrived on the earth.
Double stars
The constellation contains several binary systems, which can already be resolved with a smaller telescope in single stars.
υ Carinae consists of two stars of spectral types A8. The system is about 1,000 light- years away.
U Carinae is 70 light years away and consists of a red star of spectral type K0 and a white glowing companion of class B3.
I Carinae, also referred to as ZZ Carinae is a binary star system 1,500 light years away, which consists of two extremely bright stars of spectral classes F2 and A2. I Car is also a variable star.
B1 Carinae is 1,000 light- years away and consists of two whitish luminous components of the spectral classes B3 and B9.
Variable Stars
R Carinae is a variable star of type Mira, whose brightness changes greatly over a period of 308.7 days. At the maximum, the star is 3.9 m bright and can be seen with the naked eye without further notice. At a minimum, the brightness drops to only 10.3 m, and for monitoring purposes you need a telescope.
I or ZZ Carinae is a Variable from Cepheidentyp, whose pulsating stellar envelope at a regular interval of 35.53 days. The brightness varies between 3.3 m and 4.2 m.
Messier and NGC objects
Through a part of the constellation, the band of the Milky Way draws. Here are several open clusters and nebulous objects. Since the French astronomer Charles Messier could not see the constellation of his observation of, are in the constellation no " Messier objects" listed.
NGC 2516 is an open cluster in 2,000 light- years away, which is already clearly visible with the naked eye. In a prism binoculars are a myriad of stars is visible.
NGC 2808 is a globular cluster in 30,000 light years away, which appears as a nebulous spot in binoculars. To resolve it into individual stars you need a telescope.
The open cluster NGC 3114 is 2,500 light-years away. He is a beautiful object for binoculars or a telescope.
NGC 3293 is an open cluster in 5,000 light -years away, which appears as a nebulous object in the binoculars. To resolve it you need a telescope.
The open cluster IC 2602 is also called the "Southern Pleiades ". The 800 light years distant star clusters is similar to the Pleiades, although somewhat fainter.
NGC 3372 is the emission nebula around the star Eta Carinae. The fog is already visible to the naked eye and shows in binoculars or telescope at low magnification interesting structures.
NGC 3603 is an open cluster about 20,000 light years away. It has the largest known cluster of giant stars, so-called Wolf- Rayet stars in our Milky Way.
Additional properties
In 1898, the planetary nebula IC 2448 was discovered by the astronomer Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming.