The mythology of the constellation guide andromeda, page 1. The perseus family is a group of 9 constellations composed of cassiopeia, cepheus, andromeda, perseus, pegasus, cetus, auriga, lacerta, and triangulum. While perseus lies along the milky way, and offers many sparkling open clusters and diffuse nebulae, andromeda lies away from our galaxys plane, and lets. Folios from the kitab suwar alkawakib althabita book of the constellations of the fixed stars of alsufi late 15th century iran ink and gold on paper. The perseus family includes several constellations associated with the perseus myth. It is one of the 48 ancient constellations listed by the 2ndcentury astronomer ptolemy, and among the 88 modern constellations defined by the international astronomical union iau. Perseus ngc869 and ngc884 make up the famous double cluster, a related pair of star clusters that form one of the richest sights in the sky for small telescopes. In 964, the iranian astronomer abd alrahman alsufi published a revised edition of ptolemys almagest, the book of fixed stars. The characters in his story are represented by six constellations that occupy a substantial part of the sky. This was a rather complex task, as anyone who saw her hideous face would be turned immediately to stonethe gorgons, according to bulfinch, were monstrous females with huge teeth like those of swine, brazen claws, and snaky hair bulfinchs. Included in this handbook are the only surviving works on the constellation myths that have come down to us from antiquity.
Today it remains as one of the 88 current or modern constellations. Remote work advice from the largest allremote company. Constellation perseusconstellation perseus named after the. Myth about andromeda and perseus windows to the universe. While perseus lies along the milky way, and offers many sparkling open clusters and diffuse nebulae, andromeda lies away from our galaxys plane. A laymans book of astronomy and the mythology of the eightyeight celestial constellations and registry by james edmund magee author 1. His exact method of doing so varies in different versions of the myth. If a virtual private party is more your thing, go here for details. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read constellation myths. Perseus, the nephew of the king of the city of argos noticed her as he was sailing by and immediately fell in love with her. Perseus tells andromedas parents that hell kill the monster if they agree to give him their daughters hand in marriage.
In greek mythology this constellation represented the hero perseus, who slew. After her death she was placed by athena among the constellations in the northern sky, near perseus and cassiopeia. As an infant he and his mother were cast into the sea in a box. Perseus was the son of danae, daughter of king acrisius. House of perseus mycenae and tiryns the family tree above showed the descedants of io, on the belid branch, which included such heroes as perseus and heracles. Perseus is a midsized constellation with a total area of 615 square degrees. Unfortunately, her parents had forgotten their promise to perseus.
However, only two of these are prominent from lightpolluted locations. The constellations andromeda and perseus, along with pegasus, casseopiea and cepheus, are richly intertwined in mythology, but are vastly divergent in the objects they present to amateur astronomers. The constellation perseus represents the greek hero perseus in the sky and is one of the six constellations associated with the myth of perseus. Behind him come his other constellations representing animals see enlargement at right, led by little lacerta, the lizard. In his right hand hevelius carries a shield, representing his new constellation of scutum, while in his left hand he carries his astronomical sextant, commemorated by sextans. Positioned north of the ecliptic plane, the constellation of perseus was. Constellation perseus astrology perseus constellation gives an intelligent, strong, bold.
The constellations grus, pavo, phoenix and tucana are collectively known as the southern birds. Can you say whether or not these figures from greek mythology are represented among the 88 modern constellations. Beta gruis is a red giant variable star with a minimum magnitude of 2. The constellation andromeda greek legends and myths. Constellation perseusconstellation perseus named after. Cassiopeia, cepheus, andromeda, perseus, pegasus, and cetus representing the monster sent to devour andromeda. Mythology perseus was the son of zeus and danae, conceived as she was locked up by her father acrisius. The latins, urged on by drances, want to separate themselves from turnus, who caused all the suffering.
This engraving forms the frontispiece to heveliuss star atlas firmamentum sobiescianum, dated 1687 but not published until 1690. Located north of the celestial equator, it is named for andromeda, daughter of cassiopeia, in the greek myth, who was chained to a rock to be eaten by the sea monster cetus. The cetus constellation is found in region of the sky called the sea with other waterbased constellations of. Johannes hevelius, centre foreground, bends his knee in supplication as he presents his new constellations for approval to urania, the muse of astronomy, and an array of great astronomers of the past. The constellation depicting perseus lies in a prominent part of the milky way, which is perhaps why aratus termed him duststained.
In 2006, perseus became the location of the largest supernova on record when a star 100200 times more massive than the sun exploded. Perseus is perhaps best known for the perseid meteor shower, one of the. It is visible at latitudes between 90 degrees and 35 degrees. Perseus he was the son of jupiter and danae, and is best known for his killing of the gorgon medusa. Globe at night is a program of the national optical astronomy observatory, the national center for groundbased nighttime astronomy in the united states, operated by the association of universities for research in astronomy aura, under cooperative agreement with the national science foundation. Perseus spans 28 degrees of the zodiac in the signs of taurus and gemini, and contains 12 named fixed stars. Other constellations in the perseus group include andromeda, cassiopeia and pegasus. It is home to the perseid meteor shower which peaks around august 9 and can produce up to 60100 meteors per hour. Homer, iliad book 18 theoi classical texts library. Perseus, constellation in the northern sky at about 4 hours right ascension. Perseus constellation myths and facts under the night sky.
It is located near several other constellations named after ancient greek legends surrounding perseus. Except for cetus, these constellations all lie north of the. The constellation perseus can be seen in late summer and autumn in the. Constellation families are collections of constellations sharing some defining characteristic, such as proximity on the celestial sphere, common historical origin, or common mythological theme. Perseus is a constellation in the northern sky, being named after the greek mythological hero. Pdf astronomy and constellations in the iliad and odyssey. National optical astronomy observatory, the national. Perseus is a constellation in the northern sky, being named after the greek mythological hero perseus.
Myth i wrote elsewhere about the ethiopian royal family whose princess andromeda was saved by perseus. Now that delegation of latins returns with news that diomedes doesnt want to ally, because hes fought the trojans enough and doesnt want more of the misery of war. He beheaded the gorgon medusa for polydectes and saved andromeda from the sea monster cetus. The constellation perseus, the hero, can be seen in late summer and autumn in the northern hemisphere. The constellation andromeda is named for the aethiopian princess of the same name. Menzel also included a few neighboring constellations. Test your knowledge on this religion quiz to see how you do and compare your score to others. Each cluster covers more than 12 degree of sky, with ngc869 being the brighter and richer of the pair. This is the list of notable stars in the constellation perseus, sorted by decreasing brightness. Mother and son escaped ina floating chest to the kingdom of polydectes.
The 16thcentury english bibliophile, robert cotton, sometimes bound together unrelated manuscripts. Star myths of the greeks and romans is the most comprehensive work ever published on the fortyeight classical constellations. M34 m76 mirphak algol zeta persei epsilon persei gamma persei. Perseus intervened and was dispatched on a mission to bring back the head of medusa as a wedding gift. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in.
Perseus is a constellation located in the northern hemisphere that is visible during december. Perseus boasts one of the most impressive meteor showers of any constellation, the perseids, which occur during a nice warm time of the year in the northern hemisphere, thus encouraging many people to go outside and take a look. Its quite protracted, lasting from around july 17th to august 24th, and peaking around august 9th when about. Pages in category perseus constellation the following 149 pages are in this category, out of 149 total. The constellations brightest star, alpha gruis, is also known as alnair and appears as a 1.
More perseus information back to constellations home page. The galactic equator is crossing our field of view, whereas in these fields pointing so far away from the galactic center, the star fields are not very dense. Book 18 when antilochus brings word to achilles of patroclus s death, achilles loses control of himself. An oracle had told acrisiusa that a son of danae would one day kill him. As a baby, he and his mother were put in a chest and cast into the sea by acrisius, danaes father. Condos has brought the original sources of the myths surrounding the constellations of the northern hemisphere to a 21st century audience.
After the marriage, andromeda left her country to live with perseus who later became the king of tiryns and mycenae. In book 8, a latin delegation traveled to ask king diomedes, a greek now living in italy, to ally with them against aeneas. Him he found in front of his ships with upright horns, boding in his heart the thing that even now was brought to pass. He weeps and beats the ground with his fists and covers his face with dirt. Astronomy and constellations in the iliad and odyssey article pdf available in journal of astronomical history and heritage 143. How do you find the constellation, perseus in the night. Andromeda was a daughter of cepheus and cassiopeia, who was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to the monster cetus, before being rescued by perseus, before andromeda became the wife of the greek hero. Jun 01, 2016 andromeda is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2ndcentury grecoroman astronomer ptolemy and remains one of the 88 modern constellations. Andromeda is represented in the sky as the figure of a woman with her arms outstreched and chained at the wrists. The six constellations in this group are related by greek origin myths, but not by a single myth.
The king fell in love with danae but she refused to marry him. In the western tradition, most of the northern constellations stem from ptolemys list in the almagest which in turn has roots that go back to mesopotamian astronomy, and most of the far southern. On it he showed the earth, sea, sky, the tireless sun and the full moon, and all the constellations that crown the heavens, the pleiades, hyades, great orion, and the bear, that men also call the wain, that circles round in its place, never bathing in oceans stream, while gazing warily at orion. Constellation myths with aratuss phaenomena eratosthenes, hyginus, and aratus robin hard oxford worlds classics. Therein he wrought the earth, therein the heavens therein the sea, and the unwearied sun, and the moon at the full, 485 and therein all the constellations wherewith heaven is crownedthe pleiades, and the hyades and the mighty orion, and the bear, that men call also the wain, that circleth ever in her place, and watcheth orion, and alone hath no part in the baths of ocean. This barcode number lets you verify that youre getting exactly the. The time to start watching this shower is now, before the waxing moon becomes a factor. The names in blues are the heraclids or the descendants of heracles, who would later.
Ovid has perseus stab the monster to death after a drawnout, bloody battle, while other versions have the hero simply hold up the head of medusa, turning the monster to stone. Perseus is near several constellations whose names derive from the adventures of the greek hero, known as the perseus group. The story of perseus take a look at the story of how perseus slew medusa, the mother of pegasus, and rescued andromeda, the daughter of cepheus and cassiopeia, from the sea monster cetus. All of ptolemys 48 constellations are still used today, except for argo navis the ship argo, which has been broken up into smaller parts, carina the keel, puppis the stern, and vela the sail. A couple of interesting deep sky objectscan be seen in perseus. The constellation of perseus, in a scientific textbook. Aug 09, 2016 the nemesis of the 2016 is the moon, which reaches full on august 18 th, six days after the showers peak. It is one of the 48 listed by the 2ndcentury astronomer ptolemy,1 and among the 88 modern constellations defined by the international astronomical union iau. It spans from near the north celestial pole down to 30 and the spring meridian crosses this family. Perseus was the son of zeus and danae the daughter of acrisius of argos.
Andromeda insisted that their wedding be celebrated. The significance of the zodiac stems from the fact that the ecliptic the narrow path on the sky that the sun, moon, and planets appear to follow runs. Constellation perseus the champion, is a northern constellation sitting above constellation taurus and below constellation cassiopeia, and between constellation andromeda and constellation auriga u. This makes it the 24th largest constellation in the night sky. Take a look at the story of how perseus slew medusa, the mother of pegasus, and rescued andromeda, the daughter of cepheus and cassiopeia, from the sea monster cetus. Perseus constellation perseus, named after the greek mythological hero perseus, is a constellation in the northern sky. Following that is vulpecula cum anser, the fox and goose. He promised to rescue andromeda if her parents would allow him to marry her. The air pump peoria astronomical society antlia page. The goddess athena placed the image of andromeda among the stars as a reward for keeping her parentspromise. Play sporcle s virtual live trivia to have fun, connect with people, and get your trivia on.
Though many people start their days by checking their horoscope in the newspaper, the 12 constellations of the zodiac are no more important to astronomers than the other 76 constellations. Perseus has been recognized as a constellation for at least 2,000 years. Ovid has perseus stab the monster to death after a drawnout, bloody battle. Homer, iliad, book 18, line 22 perseus digital library. The mythology of andromeda also sees the constellation referred to as the chained maiden, cepheis, meaning. The constellation known as cetus is one of 48 constellations listed by the 2ndcentury astronomer ptolemy in his book, almagest. Ah, woe is me, how is it that again the longhaired achaeans are being driven toward the ships in rout over the plain. Constellation perseus the constellations on sea and sky. Join a live hosted trivia game for your favorite pub trivia experience done virtually. He was, alongside cadmus and bellerophon, the greatest greek hero and slayer of monsters before the days of heracles. The only comprehensive compendium of the ancient myths of the stars and constellations, including the two main sources, eratosthenes and hyginus, together with aratus phaenomena, the earliest surviving account of the greek constellations.
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