Hydra+-+Breanna+Snow

Here is the body of my reseach paper on the constellation Hydra. Hydra  According to mythology, one day in ancient Greece, Hercules, son of Zeus, had to face a series of 12 labors. Hydra was Hercules second labor after slaying the Nemean Lion. Hydra was a serpent with nine heads, one of her heads were immortal. Hydra was a monster who lived near a town and ate rancher’s cattle. When facing Hydra, Hercules first started by shooting flaming arrows into Hydra's lair, making thick smoke form forcing Hydra out. Hercules cut off one of Hydra's head, but when he did this he discovered that when he cut off one, two more heads would take its place. When Hydra and Hercules were fighting a crab came out to attack and kill Hercules; however, Hercules killed the crab and it was placed it in the stars as the constellation "Cancer". After trying to cut off Hydra's head or smashing it with rocks Hercules finally killed Hydra with help Lolaus by burning the stumps after Hercules cut the heads off. Hercules finished his slaying of Hydra by cutting off the immortal head and burning it under a rock. (Constellation Guide, 2)  In a different myth, Hydra is associated with Apollo. One day, Apollo sent his pet crow (Corvus) to retrieve him water in a cup (Crater). However, out on his adventure the crow became distracted with a fig tree to eat from. When he returned it was late and the crow blamed the water snake Hydra. Apollo was upset because he knew the crow was lying so he placed it in the sky. Apollo also placed Hydra and the cup into the sky into constellations as well so that way Hydra could always protect the cup from the crow. (Constellation Guide, 2).  Hydra is known as the largest of 88 constellations in the sky and is listed as one of second century astronomer Claudius Ptolemy's 48 constellations. Hydra occupies a space of 1,303 square degrees in the night sky. "Hydra lies in the southern hemisphere, stretched across 102.5, with its head located in south of the constellation Cancer and tail between Centaurus and Libra" (Constellation Guide, 1). Hydra is accompanied by constellations Antlia, Cancer, Canis Minor, Centaurus, Corvus, Crater, Leo, Libra, Lupus, Monoceros, Puppis, Pysix, Sextans and Virgo. Hydra has 17 main stars and 75 Bayer/Flamsteed stars. All of Hydra's stars are very dim stars except Alphard.  Alphard (Alpha Hydrae) is Hydra's brightest star. Alphard is approximately 175 light years away from Earth. It has a visual magnitude to 2.0. Alphard is a dim orange star that can reach temperatures of 4,000 degrees kelvin. If this star was in our solar system it would be about 400 times brighter than our sun! (Plotner, 2). Alphard's stellar classification is K3 II-III; which means it is halfway between an orange giant and a bright giant. Alphard is also known as "the solitary one" in Arabic because it’s the only bright star in its overall area. Tycho Brahe called Alphard Cor Hydra meaning "the heart of the snake." Alphard has three solar masses, 50 times the solar radius and is about 420 million years old. Gamma Hydrae is the second brightest star in Hydrae, it has the apparent magnitude of 2.993. Gamma Hydrae is about 135 light years away from Earth. Its stellar classification is G8 III, making it a yellow giant. R Hydrae is a Myra-type star. It is a red pulsating star with a stellar constellation of M7IIIe. V Hydrae is a carbon star with stellar classification of C9I. U Hydrae is also a carbon star; however, this star is one of the few carbon starts that can be seen without using binoculars. Epsilon Hydrae is a multiple star system consisting of at least four stars. It has a stellar classification of G5 III and F0V, composed of a yellow giant and a yellow white dwarf. The four stars are names Epsilon Hydrae A, B, C and D. Nu Hydrae is an orange giant star located next to Crater. Zeta Hydrae is the third brightest star in Hydra. It has a magnitude of 3.10, with a stellar classification G9 II-III which is between a giant and a bright giant. Beta Hydrae is a binary star with a visual magnitude of 4.276 and changes magnitude of a period of 2.344 days. 27 Hydrae has a stellar classification of G8III-IV making it a evolved yellow giant star. Sigma Hydrae has a stellar classification of K1III, orange giant. Sigma Hydrae is also known as "Minchir" which means "the nostril of Hydra" in Arabic. Pi Hydrae is and orange star halfway between thee subgiant and the giant stage of evolution with a stellar classification of K1 III-IV. Delta Hydrae is a binary, white dwarf star with a stellar classification of A1V. Delta Hydrae is also known as Lisan al Shudja or Lingua Hydri meaning "tongue of the snake" in Arabic. (Constellation Guide, 3-5)  Within Hydra are many galaxies and clusters. Hydra contains three Messier objects: M83 (Southern Pinwheel Galaxy), M68, and M48. M83 (NGC 5236) is an 8th magnitude face-one spiral galaxy discovered by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1752; however, Charles Messier added it to his catalogue in 1781. It can be found in the sky on the south of 40 degrees North latitude. This galaxy can be well seen with a large amateur telescope, even being about 15 million light years from the sun. M83 is also known as the "Southern Pinwheel" because its resemblance to the Pinwheel Galaxy (Messier 101) in the Ursa Major constellation. M83 has been a host to six supernovae. M83 is also considered to be the Milky Way's smaller sister, the galaxy is 40,000 light years across. Discovered in 1780 by Charles Messier, M68 (NGC 4590) can be seen in the night sky with a pair of binoculars or an amateur telescope. It is approximately 30,000 light years from earth with a magnitude of 8. M48 (NGC 2548) is an open cluster discovered by Charles Messier in 1771 that can be seen in dark skies with your naked eye. This cluster of stars is huge, made up of about 80 stars is more than half of a degree in diameter, making it larger than the diameter of the full moon! (Constellation Guide)  There are many other objects that can be seen in Hydra. For example, NGC 3234 a planetary nebula that has a nickname of "The Ghost of Jupiter" because of its resemblance to the planet Jupiter. NGC 3234 was discovered by British astronomer William Herschel in 1785. Also, NGC 2865 a galaxy of young stars and rich gases. NGC 3314, NGC 3314z and NGC 3314b are a pair of galaxies that are not related or interacting with each other. NGC 3314b is a spiral galaxy that looks red because of NGC 3314a's dusty disk. Sometimes, astronomers believe that galaxies can have interactions with other galaxies forcing them to change, such as ESO 510-G13. ESO 510-G13 has a warped spiral galaxy. This galaxy can be found about 150 million light years away from Earth. There are many galaxies in Hydra, along with the few I have mentioned. (Constellation Guide)

Credner, Till. “Hydra the Watersnake.” 2004. All in the Sky. Web. Works Cited Credner, Till. “Hydra the Watersnake.” 2004. All in the Sky. Web. (image) "Hydra Constellation." Constellation Guide Constellations: A Guide to the Night Sky. Web. [] Plotner, Tammy. "Hydra." Universe Today. Web. 11 November 2008. []