Constellation Hare

Constellations > Hare

Hare is a constellation located in the northern sky at the feet of Orion.

In Latin, “Lepus” is translated as “hare”. The constellation does not have a specific mythological basis. But sometimes he is associated with the hunter Orion and his dogs (Big Dog and Small Dog). It was registered by Ptolemy in the second century.

The constellation Hare contains the variable star R Hare, as well as several deep-sky objects: Messier 79 (NGC 1904), the irregular galaxy NGC 1821, and the Spirograph nebula (IC 418).

Facts, position and map

With an area of ​​290 square degrees, the Hare constellation ranks 51st in size. Covers the second quadrant in the northern hemisphere (NQ2). It can be found at latitudes between + 63 ° and -90 °. Neighboring with Eridan, Orion, Unicorn, Dove, Big Dog and Cutter.

Contains Messier 79 (M79, NGC 1904) and no meteor shower. The brightest star is Arneb, whose apparent visual magnitude reaches 2.58. It is part of the Orion group along with the Unicorn, Orion, Big Dog and Small Dog. View the Hare constellation, its objects, stars and neighbors on a star map.

Myth

Most often, the constellation is displayed in the form of a hare, which is tracked down by Orion with his hunting dogs. The hare is at the feet of the hunter, but there is no myth here. The brightest star Arneb is translated from Arabic as “hare”. The ears are depicted by the stars Kappa, Iota, Lambda and Nu Hare.

Main stars

Explore the stars of the Hare constellation in the southern hemisphere with detailed descriptions and characteristics.

Arneb (Alpha Hare) is a yellow-white supergiant (F0 Ib) with an apparent visual magnitude of 2.589 and a distance of 2200 light years. Ranks first in terms of brightness in the constellation. It has a mass 14 times that of the Sun, 129 times the radius and 32,000 times brighter. Age – 13 million years.

This is a very old dying star. It will continue to expand or has already passed the supergiant stage and is in the process of compression and heating. It will end its existence in a supernova explosion. Arneb means “hare” from Arabic.

Nihal (Beta Hare) is a bright yellow giant (G5 II) with an apparent magnitude of 2.84 and a distance of 160 light years. Occupies 3.5 solar masses and 16 times more in radius. Age – 240 million years.

It is a binary star system and possibly a double star. Its two objects are separated by 2.58 arc seconds. Satellite is a suspicious variable. The name “Nihal” means “thirst quenching”.

Epsilon Hare is an orange giant (K4 III) with an apparent visual magnitude of 3.166 (372 times brighter than the Sun) and a distance of 213 light years. Its radius is 40 times that of the sun and 1.70 times its mass. Age – 1.72 billion years.

Mu Hare is a blue-white subgiant (B9 IV: HgMn) with an apparent visual magnitude of 3.259 and a distance of 186 light years. The radius is 3.4 times that of the sun. It is a suspicious variable star of the Alpha-2 Dog Hounds type with a period of 2 days. The spectrum shows an excess of manganese and mercury.

The X-ray source was detected 0.93 arc seconds from the star. It could be a star that is not yet in the main sequence, or it could be a small, low-temperature star.

Zeta Hare is a white main sequence star evolving into a subgiant. It has an apparent magnitude of 3.524 (14 times lighter than the Sun) and is 70.5 light years distant. Belongs to class A2 IV-V (n). (N) means that the absorption lines in the spectrum look hazy because it rotates rapidly (245 km / s). Reaches 1.46 solar mass and 1.5 radius. Age – 231 million years.

In 2001, a massive asteroid belt was found in stellar orbit. It was the first extrasolar asteroid belt ever discovered.

Gamma Hare is a yellow-white main sequence star (F6V) with an apparent visual magnitude of 3.59 and a distance of 29.3 light years. It is part of the Ursa Major moving group of stars.

It exceeds the solar radius by 1.2 times, and its mass by 1.3. It is a priority for the “Earth-type planet detector” mission.

17 Hare (SS Hare) is a spectroscopic binary system with a combined visual magnitude ranging from 4.82 to 5.06. It is represented by objects with spectral types A1 and M3-4.5, whose period reaches 260.34 days. The system is 1100 light years distant from us.

This Hare is a yellow-white dwarf (F2V) with an apparent magnitude of 3.719 and a distance of 49.1 light years. Excessive infrared radiation was observed, indicating the presence of a dust disk. The radius reaches 1.5 solar, and the mass is 1.42 times greater.

Delta Hare is an orange subgiant (K1IVFe-0.5) with an apparent visual magnitude of 3.81 and a distance of 114 light years.

RX Hare is a semi-regular pulsating star (M6.2III), 490 light years distant. It is a red giant with an apparent visual magnitude ranging from 5 to 7.4. She can be found near Iota the Hare, 4 degrees south of the bright star Rigel (Orion).

Hind’s crimson star (R Hare) is a carbon star (C7.6e (N6e)) with magnitude variations from 5.5 to 11.7. This is a pulsating variable of the World with a period of 418-441 days and a secondary cycle of 40 years. It is 1300 light years distant from us and is located near the border with Eridani. Every 14.5 months, she “blushes”. This may be because carbon in the outer atmosphere removes the blue portion of the visible light spectrum.

The radius is 500 times greater than the sun, and the brightness level is 5200-7000 times greater. It was discovered in 1845 by the British astronomer J.R. Hind. He described her as “a drop of blood on a black field.”

Gliese 229 is a red dwarf (M1Ve) located 18.8 light years from the Sun. Occupies 69% of the solar radius and 58% of the mass. Rotates very slowly (speed – 1 km / s at the equator). It is a flare star with low activity and magnetic activity on the surface, resulting in an occasional increase in brightness. The star corona is an X-ray source.

In 1994, a companion was found in orbit – a brown dwarf (T7). It was the first confirmed object to have a mass 20-50 times that of Jupiter.

Hare’s T is a giant (M6II) with an apparent visual magnitude of 9.94, a distance of 500 light years and a pulsation with a period of 380 days. This is the variable of the World. With each pulsation, it loses approximately the mass of the Earth. It is 100 times the mass of the Sun.

Asterism

In the constellation Hare there is an asterism – “Throne of Jawza”, also called by the Arabs “camel”. The quadrilateral is formed by the stars Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta Hare.

Celestial objects of the constellation Hare

Messier 79 (M79, NGC 1904) is a globular cluster with an apparent visual magnitude of 8.56 and a distance of 41,000 light years. M79 is believed to have originated outside the Milky Way in the Dwarf Galaxy in Canis Major. The main dwarf is now interacting with the Milky Way and is unlikely to remain intact after the collision.

In 1780, the cluster was discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Meschen, and then Charles Messier added it to his catalog.

The Spirograph Nebula (IC 418) is a planetary nebula with a visual magnitude of 9.6 and a distance of 1,100 light years. It was called the Spirograph Nebula because the pattern resembles that which can be created with a Spirograph.

NGC 1821 is an irregular galaxy (IB (s) m) with an apparent visual magnitude of 14.5. Found in 1886 by American astronomer Frank Leavenworth. In 2002, a supernova SN 2002bj was noticed in it. At first it was classified as a Type IIn supernova with an apparent magnitude of 14.7, but in 2008 it was determined that the spectrum was similar to a Type Ia supernova.

It is assumed that the system consisted of two white dwarfs, where helium was transferred from one to the other. Once it was entrenched, it exploded with a thermonuclear reaction on the surface of the more massive star, which led to an outbreak.

You can study the Hare constellation in the southern hemisphere more closely if you use not only our photos, but 3D models and an online telescope. For an independent search, a static or moving map of the starry sky is suitable.

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