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Andromeda



Andromeda is a large northern constellation, visible in the months around September. It is one of the 48 constellations identified by Ptolemy. It is home to one of the best-known of all deep-sky objects, the Andromeda Galaxy, M31, which is the nearest comparably-sized galaxy to our own Milky Way. Around M31 can be seen a number of smaller companion galaxies, including M32 and M110.

Lying not far from the plane of the northern Milky Way, Andromeda is also home to numberous open clusters.

Andromeda’s brightest star, Alpheratz forms one corner of the Square of Pegasus, and was once shared between the two constellations with the designations α–And and δ–Peg. Today it is assigned exclusively to Andromeda, and the designation δ–Peg is defunct.

 

In Greek mythology, Andromeda was the daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. She was also the Wife of Perseus and hence has also been called Persea (“Perseus’s wife”) or Cepheis (“Cepheus’s daughter”).

 

Cassiopeia, the queen of Ethiopia, bragged that her daughter was more beautiful than the Nereids, sea nymphs blessed with incredible beauty. Offended at her remark, the nymphs petitioned Poseidon to punish Cassiopeia for her insolence, which he did by commanding the sea monster Cetus to attack Ethiopia. Andromeda’s panicked father, Cepheus, was told by the Oracle of Ammon that the only way to save his kingdom was to sacrifice his daughter to Cetus. She was chained to a rock by the sea but was saved by the hero Perseus, who in one version of the story used the head of Medusa to turn the monster into stone.

In traditional Chinese astronomy, nine stars from Andromeda (including Beta Andromedae, Mu Andromedae, and Nu Andromedae), along with seven stars from Pisces, formed an elliptical constellation called “Legs” (奎宿). This constellation either represented the foot of a walking person or a wild boar. Gamma Andromedae and its neighbors were called “Teen Ta Tseang Keun” (天大将军, heaven’s great general), representing honor in astrology and a great general in mythology. Alpha Andromedae and Gamma Pegasi together made “Wall” (壁宿), representing the eastern wall of the imperial palace and/or the emperor’s personal library. For the Chinese, the northern swath of Andromeda formed a stable for changing horses (tianjiu, 天厩, stable on sky) and the far western part, along with most of Lacerta, became Tengshe, a flying snake.

In the Indian traditional constellation names, Andromeda is called ದ್ರೌಪದಿ (Draupadi).

Each November, the Andromedids meteor shower appears to radiate from Andromeda.

 

Andromeda contains:
  • Stars
    • α And or Alpheratz or Sirrah : magnitude of 2.1, 97 light-years away
    • β And or Mirach : magnitude of 2.06, 198 light-years away
    • γ And (Almach) : magnitude of 2.14, 358 light-years away
    • δ And : magnitude 3.3, 105 light-years away
    • 51-And (mag 3.6)
    • O-And (mag 3.6)
    • λ-And (mag 3.9)
    • μ-And (mag 3.9)
    • ζ-And (mag 4.1)
    • Titawin (mag 4.1)
    • κ-And (mag 4.1)
    • ι-And (mag 4.3)
    • φ-And (mag 4.3)
    • π-And (mag 4.3)
    • ε-And (mag 4.4)
    • η-And (mag 4.4)
    • σ-And (mag 4.5)
    • ν-And (mag 4.5)
    • 7-And (mag 4.5)
    • θ-And (mag 4.6)
    • 3-And (mag 4.6)
    • 65-And (mag 4.7)
    • 58-And (mag 4.8)
    • ω-And (mag 4.8)
    • 8-And (mag 4.8)
  • Clusters
  • Globular Clusters
    None
  • Galaxy

View Andromeda in 3D


Source: Wikipedia, in-the-sky.org
Image Courtesy: Sky&Telescope & IAU, Illustration Images linked from Urania's Mirror on Wikmedia Commons by Sidney Hall

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