![]() The name Algol comes from the expression “ra’s al-ghul”, which means “the head of the ghoul. ![]() It sits 9° (or a fist’s diameter) to Mirfak’s lower left. Algol is the second brightest star in Perseus. ![]() It’s hard to miss as it’s brighter than any other nearby star, except yellowish Capella, which is about 1.4 fist diameters above it. Night Sky Chart made via Star Walk 2 iOS and Android. The star is near the zenith (green cross) in early February evenings. If you observe it at its minimum brightness, and check it over the next five hours, you’ll see it brighten to its normal intensity. (Above: For 10 hours, every 2 days and 20 hours, and 49 minutes, the naked-eye star Algol, which represents the severed head of the gorgon Medusa in the constellation of Perseus, drops in brightness to equal the nearby star Gorgonea Tertia. As the evening rolls on, Perseus descends in the western part of the sky, setting about 4 am local time. It is located roughly between the Pleiades cluster in Taurus (the Bull) and the W-shaped constellation of Cassiopeia (the Queen). This time of year, Perseus sits near the zenith (i.e., directly overhead) as soon as it’s dark. It’s the “Demon Star”, Algol.Īlgol is a medium bright, blue-white star in the northern constellation of Perseus (the Hero). One variable star’s changes are particularly easy for everyday folks to see. There are different reasons for the variations. But a large percentage of stars actually vary in the amount of light they emit, resulting in changes in their visual brightness on a timescale of hours, days, or even years. The flickering is produced by turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere that temporarily deflects the narrow beams of starlight before they reach our eyes. of Astronomy, University of Michigan)Įveryone has seen stars twinkle. A labelled zero value indicates the start of the orbit. It shows a dimmer companion star orbiting Algol and passing in front of it - a classic eclipsing binary star system. #Forms of demonstar series(This animation uses a series of 55 images taken with the CHARA interferometer at Mount Wilson observatory, using the infrared part of the spectrum. ![]()
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