These are places marked by areas of Ourense with constellations.
The stimulating proposal can also be combined with the practice of hiking, since the different locations will be scattered throughout the municipality, conveniently signposted to appreciate a different set of stars from each enclave. For the implementation of this project, it has been necessary to apply a celestial map over another of Ourense, thus finding the most appropriate places to contemplate each of the constellations.
They are with some graffiti, but they are well perceived.
"Despite being located in the second quadrant of the southern hemisphere , this constellation can be seen from any latitude below 60 degrees north. For this reason it was already known by the Greek civilization and appears among the 48 constellations documented by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century after Christ.
It is currently part of the 88 modern constellations .
This constellation has a medium size since it occupies an area on the celestial sphere of 380 square degrees . This makes it the 43rd constellation out of the 88 modern constellations ordered from largest to smallest.
The constellations adjacent to the Canis Major constellation are the Unicorn (Monoceros), the Hare (Lepus), the Dove (Columba) and the Stern (Puppis).
The constellation Canis Major is mainly known because it contains the star Sirius , which is the brightest star in the night sky. It is also known among astronomers for containing the Messier Object 41 , an open cluster with more than 80 stars.
Origin and mythology of the constellation Canis Maior
The constellation Canis Maior was created by the Greek civilization . Previously, the Babylonian astronomers had defined with the same stars another constellation consisting of an arrow and a bow.
In Greek mythology there are different characters and interpretations that explain the origin of this constellation.
The most widespread explanation for the origin of this constellation relates it to one of Orion's hunting dogs . In the night sky, this hunting dog appears behind the constellation of Orion and chasing the hare, represented by the constellation Lepus .
There is another Greek myth that relates him to the dog Lélape . According to the myth, Lelape was a gift from Zeus to Europe and was a dog that always caught its prey. Later the dog passed into the hands of Cephalus and he ordered him to hunt the Teumesian fox , which was the mythological fox that could not be hunted. This gave rise to a paradox that was resolved by Zeus , who decided to turn the two animals into a constellation.
Stars of the constellation Canis Maior
Among all the stars in this constellation, the one that stands out the most is Sirius for being the brightest star in the night sky . Apart from Sirius, this constellation contains 4 more stars with an apparent magnitude less than 3 and 9 stars discovered so far with planets around them.
Sirius
Sirius is the name by which the star Alpha Canis Majoris is known , the brightest star in the night sky and therefore also the brightest in the constellation Canis Major.
This star has an apparent magnitude of -1.46 and is located 8.6 light years from the solar system. This makes it the seventh closest star to the solar system.
Its name comes from the Greek Seirios , which means bright . Due to the great brightness of this star, it was already known and considered important by other civilizations such as the Egyptian or the Babylonian.
Sirius is actually a binary star . Its two components are known as Sirius A and Sirius B. Sirius A is a white main sequence star and Sirius B is a white dwarf . The star Sirius B completes one orbit around Sirius A every 50 years.
Adhara
The second brightest star in the Canis Major constellation is Epsilon Canis Majoris , also known as Adhara . This name comes from the Arabic adara , which means virgins .
This is also a binary star with an apparent magnitude of 1.5 and is situated 430 light-years from the Solar System . Its main component is a blue supergiant and it is 250 times brighter than its secondary component, which has an apparent magnitude of only 7.5.
An interesting trivia about this star is that about 4.5 million years ago it was the brightest star in the sky, ahead of Sirius . This star reached an apparent magnitude of -3.99, the maximum value that a star outside the solar system has ever had.
Being
Wezen is the third brightest in this constellation and is also known as Delta Canis Majoris . The name Wezen comes from the Arabic word al-wazn and means weight .
This star is a white-yellow supergiant with an apparent magnitude of 1.83. Its distance from Earth is 1600 light years .
Murzim
Murzim is the fourth brightest star in the Canis Major constellation and the last to have an apparent magnitude less than 2. In this case, its apparent magnitude is 1.99. This star is a blue supergiant .
Following Bayer's name, this star is known as Beta Canis Majoris . It also receives the names Mirzam or Murzam , all of them are words that come from Arabic and mean the herald .
Aludra
The star Aludra is according to the Bayer denomination known as Eta Canis Majoris . Its apparent magnitude is 2.45 and it is the fifth brightest in the constellation. It is a blue supergiant that is located approximately 2,000 light-years from the solar system .
Its name comes from Arabic and means the virgin . This star forms, together with the stars Epsilon Canis Majoris (Adhara), Delta Canis Majoris (Wezen), and Omicron2 Canis Majoris , the group of stars known as the virgins .
Fruit
Furud is the official name of the star Zeta Canis Majoris . This name comes from Arabic and means "the lonely". Furud is a bluish-white main sequence star with an apparent magnitude of 3.02. Its approximate distance from the solar system is 365 light years .
other stars
There are five more stars in this constellation that have an apparent magnitude less than 4. These stars are Omicron 1 and Omicron2 Canis Majoris , Sigma Canis Majoris , Kappa Canis Majoris , and Nu2 Canis Majoris .
9 stars with planetary systems around them have also been discovered . Among them, the stars HD 47536, HD 47366, EZ CMa and HD 45364 stand out for having a minimum of two planets around them. A planet has also been detected so far around the stars Nu2 Canis Majoris, HD 45184, HD 43197, WASP-101 and HATS-4.
deep space objects
The most interesting deep space object in the Canis Major constellation is Messier Object 41 . The Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy can also be seen in this constellation . Finally, two other interesting objects are the spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163 .
Messier 41
Messier Object 41 is an open cluster discovered in 1654 by Italian astronomer Giovanni Batista Hodierna . This cluster is interesting for containing more than 100 stars , many of which are red giants . Its diameter is approximately 25 light-years and it is located more than 2,300 light-years from the solar system.
Messier 4
Messier 4
(Source: Atlas Image [or Atlas Image mosaic] courtesy of 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF.)
Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy
The Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy is probably the closest galaxy to Earth's position in the Milky Way. However, it is still a matter of scientific debate if it really is a separate galaxy from the Milky Way or if it is simply part of one of the arms of its spiral.
In either case, it is located 25,000 light-years from Earth and 42,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way. Current estimates are that it contains about 1 billion stars , including a significant number of red giants.
NGC 2207 y IC 2163
The galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163 are two interesting spiral galaxies from a scientific point of view due to their gravitational interaction . These two galaxies are in the initial phase of their collision process. It is likely that millions of years from now they will have merged to form a new elliptical galaxy.
The two galaxies are located approximately 80 million light-years apart and their apparent magnitude is 12.2."
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