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Perseus



Perseus is a northern constellation which appears highest in the evening sky in the months around November. It is one of the 48 ancient constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy.

It is prominent from dark sites, having 16 stars of fourth magnitude or brighter. However, only two of these are prominent from light-polluted locations: Mirfak and Algol.

Perseus is perhaps best known for the Perseid meteor shower, one of the best annual meteor showers, whose radiant lies close to η-Per.

The Milky Way also passes through this area of the sky, where it forms a particularly broad band of deep sky objects, including over a dozen bright open clusters.

Among these, the most celebrated are NGC 884 and NGC 869, known as the double cluster.

In Greek mythology, Perseus was the husband of Andromeda, who is represented beside him on the sky. Among Perseus’ many heroic exploits, he rescued Andromeda from a sea monster (possibly represented by Cetus) and slew the Gorgon Medusa, from whose body sprang the winged horse Pegasus.

The story goes.. Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danae. His mother and he were locked in a wooden box by his grandfather, Acrisius, and thrown out into the sea to perish. However, the box did not sink, but floated to the shore of another land. When the lid of the box was opened, golden sunlight filled the box and Danae, holding the baby Perseus, stepped out of the box. The king of that country, Polydectes, immediately fell madly in love with her and wanted her to marry him. However, she would not marry him, for she wanted to spend her full time taking care of Perseus.

When Perseus had grown into a young man, Polydectes tricked him into agreeing to go on a mission for him. The mission was so dangerous that Polydectes was sure that Perseus would be killed. With Perseus out of the way, Danae would be forced to marry him. In order to prove himself, Perseus would have to go to the cave of the gorgons and kill the Medusa by cutting off her head and bringing it back as proof. The next morning, Perseus went up to the top of a mountain and sang songs to welcome the rising sun. This so pleased the gods that several of them came to Perseus and gave him several gifts to aid him in his fight with the gorgons. Athena gave him her shield of polished gold to look into so he would not have to look directly at the gorgons. Hermes (Mercury) gave him a pair of winged sandals that would allow him to travel seven miles at one stride. Hermes also gave Perseus a new-moon sword of pale gold, the only one that was sharp enough to cut off Medusa’s head. Hades came to give him a helmet that would turn Perseus invisible when he put it on. With these gifts and a special sack to put Medusa’s head in, Perseus went to the cave of the gorgons.

When Perseus entered the gorgon’s cave, he placed the helmet of invisibility on his head and, using the polished shield as a mirror, he examined the head of each sleeping gorgon until he came to the Medusa with her hair of hissing snakes. Being careful to keep looking only into his shield Perseus slashed downward with his new-moon sword and the Medusa’s head was cut off. Quickly, he scooped up the Medusa’s head, placed it in the sack, and ran from the cave.

On his way home, Perseus was able to use the head to help rescue Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus. Taking the beautiful Andromeda, who became his wife, he returned home just in time to stop the forced marriage of his mother Danae to Polydectes. When Perseus proved his mission a success by showing Polydectes the Medusa’s head, Polydectes and his wedding guests all turned to stone. It is said that Perseus gave the Medusa’s head to Athena, who attached it to the front of her shield. Perseus lived to a great old age and became the king of Mycenae, which he founded. After his death, Zeus gave Perseus a place among the constellations next to his beloved Andromeda.

In Indian astronomy, Perseus is known as ಪಾರ್ಥ (Partha).

Perseus contains:

View Perseus 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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