Equuleus
- Pegasus
- Dolphin
- Aquarius
The filling ( foals, latin Equuleus ) is a constellation north of the celestial equator.
Description
The filling is an inconspicuous constellation. It is made up of about four naked- eye stars, which are to represent the head of a young horse. Only one star is brighter than the fourth magnitude.
You can find it if you follow the southeastern foothills of the Pegasus.
The filling is the second smallest constellation in the night sky. Only the Southern Cross has a smaller extension.
History
The filling is one of the classic 48 constellations of the ancient world, mentioned by Ptolemy.
Mythology
The constellation is supposed to represent the foal Celeris, the brother of the winged horse Pegasus. The Hermes Hermes gave it to Castor, the twin brother of Pollux.
Celestial objects
Stars
α Equulei, the brightest star in the filling is 150 light years away. It is a yellowish shining star of spectral type G0 III. The name Kitalpha is ancient Arabic origin and means " the front part of the horse ".
Double stars
δ Equulei is a double star system 55 light years away. The two components orbit each other in just 5.7 years.
γ Equulei is visible to the naked eye as a double star, but a prerequisite is a clear and moonless night. In addition to the 4.7 m bright main star of a 6.0 m bright star is visible in 6 arc minutes distance. However, this is only an " optical double star ", ie, the stars are seen from Earth in one direction but at different distances.
The main star is actually a physical double star. At a distance of 2 arcsec there is a faint companion of the 11th magnitude, which is gravitationally bound to the primary star. To observe one needs a telescope of at least 15 cm in diameter.
The system ε Equulei consists of four stars that orbit around a common center of gravity.
Variable Stars
The main star of the system γ Equuleis is a short periodic Variable star of type alpha CanesVenaticorum.
R Equuleis is a pulsationsveränderlicher Mira -type stars. It involves luminous red giants or supergiants, which expand and contract rhythmically again, which can be observed as significant brightness variation. While the maximum R eq is so bright that it can be seen with a prism binoculars. At a minimum, the brightness drops to 15.7 m, so that you need a larger telescope for observation.