If you recall, before the full moon, we learned how to find Cassiopeia from the Big Dipper, if you don’t already know how to find the North Star. Although the Big Dipper is visible only a half-hour after sunset, it takes a bit longer to see Cassiopeia. It’s best to wait 45-minutes after sunset.
To repeat, face east and look for the Big Dipper, it’s the set of stars that almost looks like a question. We will use the top two stars to draw an imaginary line that almost goes at a 45 degrees angle to the next brightest star. That should be the North Star or Polaris. Now from Polaris we will go at another 45 degree angle to the upper left and we hit Cassiopeia.
Now if you recall the mythological story of Cassiopeia, some of the other characters in her story were Perseus and Princess Andromeda. The constellations of Perseus and Andromeda are also near Cassiopeia. Andromeda is to the left of Perseus but unfortunately most of it is below the horizon. Perseus is above Andromeda and to Cassiopeia’s upper left.
According to Space.com, its brightest star is Mirfak, which means “elbow” in Arabic. However, its most famous star is Algol, better known as the Demon Star. Algol is a “variable star,” meaning it brightens and dims with regularity and it’s visible to the naked eye.
While according to Constellation-Guide.com, Perseus contains eight named stars. The proper names of stars that were officially approved by the International Astronomical Union are Algol, Atik, Berehinya, Menkib, Miram, Mirfak, Misam and Muspelheim.
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Perseus contains also contains two Messier objects – Messier 34 (NGC 1039) and Messier 76 (NGC 650 and NGC 651), also called the Little Dumbbell Nebula and has six stars with confirmed planets.
This constellation is also well known because it’s the radiant of the Perseid meteor shower, one of the largest and most visible meteor showers of the year. It starts in July and peaks in August.
Perseus is one of the six constellations associated with his mythological story, according to Constellation-Guide.com. Perseus was the son of Danaë, daughter of King Acrisius. Acrisius ruled Argos and after an oracle foretold him that he would die at the hand of his own grandson, he locked away Danaë in a dungeon. Zeus fell in love with her and took the form of golden rain to visit her. When the rain fell into her lap, Danaë got pregnant. Acrisius found out about the pregnancy and, once Perseus was born, the king locked both his daughter and grandson into a wooden chest and cast them out to sea.
Danaë prayed to Zeus and he heard her. The chest washed ashore within a few days and Perseus and his mother found themselves on the island of Seriphos. A fisherman called Dictys found them and took them home with him. He raised Perseus as his own son.
If you recall from the movie “Clash of Titans” (1981 & 2010), Perseus’ story doesn’t end there. Perseus would go on to slay Medusa and rescue Princess Andromeda.
Look Up appears in the weekend edition. If you have any astronomical questions or facts you’d like to share email news@smdailyjournal.com with the subject line “Look Up.”
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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