Constellation of Perseus: history, facts and legends. Stars of the constellation Perseus

Map of the starry sky - the spectacle is incredibly attractive and fascinating, especially if it is a dark night sky. Against the background of the foggy Milky Way, you can clearly see both bright and slightly misty stars constituting various constellations. One of these constellations, almost entirely in the Milky Way, is the constellation of Perseus.

Legend of the constellation Perseus

Constellation Perseus (the legend of whose appearance is unusually beautiful) is quite interesting from the point of view of science. But now not about this, but about love. The location of the constellation stars resembles a man in a tall hat on his head. And this is the story of the constellation. According to an old legend, Perseus was an illegitimate child of Zeus and the tsar's daughter. At one time, the prophet was revealed to the ruler that he would perish at the hands of his own grandson. Frightened of the prediction, the king closed the beautiful Danae in the tower. But Zeus, who fell in love with an earthly girl, made his way into the dungeon, turning into a golden rain. Soon the princess bore a son. And to get rid of the unwanted kid, the king ordered to imprison the mother with the baby in a barrel and throw into the sea. Young mother and baby survived, and the barrel sailed to the shore of the island.

When the young handsome Perseus became an adult, he accomplished many exploits. And during his adventures the young man found his love - the beautiful Andromeda. Already an adult, he took part in competitions on throwing a disk, where he accidentally killed his own grandfather. Here is such a beautiful story about the constellation with a slightly sad end.

History of the ancient constellation

The Perseus constellation, located in the northern celestial hemisphere, was discovered by ancient astronomers. And it is best seen in the starry sky from November to March. In a cloudless and moonless night, it is not difficult to distinguish all ninety stars of the constellation even with the unaided eye, since the constellation contains stars of the second and third magnitude.

Scattered star clusters in the constellation Perseus were discovered by astronomers for a long time. In particular, in the late 19th century, an American astronomer discovered an emission nebula. This is a pretty beautiful phenomenon, which can be viewed with a modern telescope. Constellation Perseus (photo of which can be seen in the article) is mentioned in the catalog of the starry sky, dated the second century of our era.

The location of Perseus on the star sky

The constellation is quite visible throughout the territory of Russia. The most favorable conditions for visibility are in December.

The constellation of Andromeda and Perseus (considered by us constellation) are located side by side. And if you want to find Perseus in the sky, you must first find Andromeda. In the constellation of the beloved Perseus there is a straight line composed of several stars. Then continue the line to the east, and it will point you to the star Perseus.

Star Neighbors

Like any other, the constellation Perseus in the sky has neighbors. From the east it borders on Cassiopeia, in the west it adjoins the Auriga. In the southeast of Perseus, one can easily discover the constellation of Taurus. In addition, the constellation of Andromeda and Perseus are very close - even here the lover does not let go of his beauty.

Winking devil in the constellation

Corresponding to his legendary image, Perseus on the celestial map is depicted as a warrior with the head of the jellyfish Gorgons on the belt.

The constellation of Perseus was observed by astronomers of different countries, and this star cluster attracted them with its mysteriousness and uniqueness. In the Middle Ages, Arab astronomers were actively studying it. It was they who noticed first that when examining the head of the jellyfish in detail, one can see that one eye remains motionless, and the other, from time to time, seems to wink. And this star in the constellation Perseus was called "devil", or in Arabic - Algol.

The European astronomer, the first who deeply studied the phenomenon of the flashing Algol, was an Italian astronomer-physicist, who lived in the 17th century. However, his research did not bring him nearer to an understanding of the regularity with which the star flashes. To determine this was possible to astronomers only in the late 18th century, watching the star throughout each night. Thanks to this methodical work, it was possible to establish that Algol "winks" have a strict periodicity.

Two and a half days the brilliance of the star remains invariably bright. The next nine hours, its brightness begins to gradually decrease, and then again increases to the initial value. The gap between the "winks" is approximately two days and twenty one hours.

The solution of the mystery of Algol

It was this conclusion that enabled astronomers to assume the existence of another celestial body that rotates around a flickering star. At the end of the 19th century, this assumption became a scientifically confirmed fact. Scientists have received confirmation of their guesses, having discovered a satellite from Algol. It is he who periodically eclipses the star, causing fluctuations in the power of brilliance.

This star was the first celestial body, discovered by astronomers with the characteristics of an eclipsing variable star. And even after this interest of scientists to study this heavenly beauty is not lost. Thanks to this increased attention, it was possible to establish the presence of another satellite, located at a greater distance than the first. Due to its sufficient remoteness of the flicker of the star Algol, it does not cause, nor does the eclipse of the star itself.

Sparkling swarm of stars in Perseus

This is one of the most beautiful clusters of stars found by scientists in the constellation Perseus. A naked eye can be seen only a small bright spot. But if you look closely at it through a telescope, you can see an unforgettable beauty of the cluster of stars. Hundreds of sparkling stars create the impression of a small heavenly feast. To all other things, it has two condensations of celestial bodies.

These scattered clusters in the constellation have a different distance from the Earth and a different number of stars in its composition. The first cluster is more numerous than the second one. The difference in quantity is about one hundred celestial bodies. Astronomers who watch carefully for clusters came to the conclusion that the stars in their composition are not random, assembled without any system. There is a hypothesis that they are all formed from a single pre-stellar form of matter.

In addition, in the middle of the 20th century an astronomer from Holland made another interesting discovery: the stars of the second cluster flee in all directions from its central part. He also managed to calculate that this association of stars arose relatively recently.

In general, star clusters of Perseus are interesting for researchers because they are the most numerous. Interesting for the researchers is also the diffuse nebula California, located in the constellation Perseus. It, according to the observations of scientists, is illuminated by a fairly large star. The distance from the Earth to this bright nebula is about 2000 light years.

Second variable star

In the constellation Perseus, except Algol, there is another variable star. It can also be observed without a telescope. The time range of its flicker is not constant, like that of the "devil" star, but fits within a period of 33 to 55 days. This phenomenon of impermanence is not fully understood by astronomers, nor is the reason for the flicker.

The observation of this beautiful star is a pleasure. But since scientists are used to combine business with pleasure, it has been established that this star also has a satellite. At the same time, its dimensions are somewhat smaller than the size of the star itself.

Watching this pair in a telescope, astronomers called them "heavenly diamonds" because of an amazing combination of colors. The main star burns with a beautiful orange light, and its little companion has a mysterious bluish glow.

Meteor shower of Perseus

Those who are actively interested in meteorites, astronomers offer to view the fascinating sight of meteor shower in the constellation of Perseus. We have a starfall in summer time. This is approximately from the middle of July until the last days of August. The peak of the rain falls on the middle of August. Astronomers called this active meteor shower Perseid.

On the night sky, you can see a huge number of remarkable constellations, many of which require more careful study and consideration. This applies to the constellation Perseus. Despite many perfect discoveries, many generations of people still have to study it. What still remains far behind the scenes of modern astronomical science, perhaps in a few dozen years, will amaze humanity by the scale of its discovery.