Stozhary is a constellation on the map of the starry sky. However, this is not the only meaning of the word. But, as the dictionary says, all its interpretations relate to the field of colloquial use. More about what stozhary will be described in the article.
Several meanings
As mentioned above, stozhary is a multi-valued word.
- First, in the singular, this is a pole that is stuck in the ground in the middle of the stack for its stability.
- Secondly, in the plural, these are several poles that serve to dry hay and are arranged conically or in the form of a cell.
- Thirdly, this is the popular name of one of the constellations in Ancient Russia, in astronomy it is called the Pleiades (M45).
Next, the last of the given interpretations will be considered in detail.
Constellation Stozhara
In ancient Russia, it was also called Volosozhary and Volosyn. Sometimes they also use the name Seven Sisters, and in the Torah and in the Bible - Kim.
We are talking about an open star cluster in the constellation Taurus, which is one of the closest to Earth and one of the most visible with the naked eye. In ancient Greece and in ancient Rome there was a sign - if this constellation appeared in the morning before sunrise, this indicated the return of spring.
Stozhary is clearly visible in the northern hemisphere in winter, and in the southern hemisphere in summer, with the exception of Antarctica and the surrounding area.
From the history of discovery
This object has been known in many cultures since ancient times. This, along with others, includes Australian Aborigines and Maori, Sioux Indians from North America, and Japanese. Some astronomers from ancient Greece believed that the Stozhary is a separate constellation.
Hesiod and Homer mentions them in the Iliad and Odyssey as the Pleiades, three times they are mentioned in the Bible (Kim). In the XV-XVI centuries, as Stozhary, Volosyn and Volosozhary, they appear in literature in Russian, for example, by Athanasius Nikitin in his “Walking Over Three Seas”.
It has long been known that the Stozhary are not stars, objects that are far from the Earth, which only seem to be located on the celestial sphere next to each other. This is a group of close, physically connected stars. In 1767, priest D. Michell calculated that the probability of accidental location on such a small section of the sky of such a large number of bright stars is very small. It is 1: 500 000, so the stars must be physically connected. This assumption was confirmed after a series of measurements.
The composition of the cluster
The constellation Stozhara in the sky has a diameter of approximately 12 light years. It contains about one thousand stars, some of them are multiple, so the total number of stars is about three thousand. Among them, hot blues predominate. Depending on the observation conditions and visual acuity, up to 14 of them can be observed with the naked eye.
Moreover, the arrangement of the brightest resembles Ursa Minor and Ursa Major. The total mass of all stars in the cluster is estimated at approximately 800 solar masses.
There are many brown dwarfs in the stozhirs, up to ¼ stars in the cluster, but less than 2% by mass. These are substellar objects whose mass is less than 8% of the solar. This is not enough to start thermonuclear reactions. The brown dwarfs of such young clusters as Stozhary are very interesting for astronomers, since they are bright enough for observation and study. In addition, there are also several white dwarfs in the constellation.
