According to ancient legends, most of the constellations known to us are immortalized events of the distant past. Powerful gods placed heroes and various creatures in heaven in memory of their accomplishments, and sometimes in punishment for misconduct. Often in this way eternal life was granted. The Andromeda constellation is among such celestial drawings. However, it is famous not only for its legend: the famous neighbor of the Milky Way and several other interesting space objects are located on its territory.
Mythological plot
Andromeda in ancient Greek legends was the daughter of the king of Ethiopia, Kephei (Cepheus) and his wife Cassiopeia. There are several versions of the legend associated with the constellation. According to one of them, the beautiful Andromeda was so pretty that she was envied by the Nereid sea maidens. They suffered and stunted before our eyes. Poseidon decided to rectify the situation by sending a terrible monster to Ethiopia. Every day it went ashore and destroyed villages, killing residents. Kefey turned to the Oracle for advice and found out that in order to end the disasters, you need to give the monster to Andromeda. Saddened parents nevertheless chained their daughter to the rock and left before the arrival of the monster. However, the tragedy did not happen: Perseus arrived in time to help the beauty, flying by and falling in love with Andromeda at first sight. He defeated the monster with the help of the head of Medusa Gorgon and married a beautiful maiden. Since then, this constellation has existed . Perseus and Andromeda now shine in heaven. The gods immortalized in the vast expanses of space also Cassiopeia, Kefey and even a sea monster.
Location
The constellation of Andromeda has a well-recognized shape: three chains of stars, diverging from one point. This heavenly drawing occupies a vast area and is one of the largest in both hemispheres. The brightest star in the constellation Andromeda, the one from which the chains begin, is located on the border with the image of Pegasus. Until the XVII century, the luminary was considered to belong to both heavenly drawings. This star is the northern corner of Pegasus Big Square.
Andromeda can be admired throughout the vast territory of Russia. In the summer and in September it is located on the eastern side of the sky, and in the late autumn and early winter - in the southern part of it.
Alpha
The brightest point of this heavenly drawing is Alferatz (alpha of Andromeda). It was finally fixed in the constellation described in 1928. Ptolemy Alferats belonged to Pegasus. The name itself testifies to the history of the luminary: it means “navel of the horse” in Arabic.
Alferatz is a white-blue subgiant that emits 200 times more light than the Sun. In addition, it is the main component of a binary system. His companion shines 10 times less.
Alferats A is one of the most prominent representatives of an unusual class of mercury-manganese stars. The high concentration in the atmosphere of metals in the name of the type is explained by the difference in the influence of the gravity of the star and its internal pressure on various chemical elements.
Alferatz also refers to variable stars. The gloss range is from +2.02 m to +2.06 m. Changes occur with a period of 23.19 hours.
Nebula
The Andromeda constellation is known to many not because of the impressive size or beauty of the stars, but because of the M31 galaxy located on its territory. The famous neighbor of the Milky Way is one of the few such objects that can be seen with the naked eye. The Andromeda nebula is located slightly above the star Mirah (beta Andromeda). In order to examine the structure of a galaxy, at least binoculars are required.
The Andromeda Nebula is more than twice the size of the Milky Way and has about 1 trillion stars. Two satellites are also located next to it: galaxies M32 and NGC 205. The distance from the Sun to three objects exceeds 2 million light years.
Supernova
The Andromeda constellation became the object of observation by many astronomers in 1885. Then it lit up with a flash of a supernova. She became the first such object found outside the Milky Way. The supernova S of Andromeda is located in the same galaxy and is still the only such cosmic body in it. The luminosity reached its maximum brightness on August 21-22, 1885 (it amounted to 5.85 m). After six months, it decreased to a value of 14 m.
Today S Andromeda is classified as a type Ia supernova, although its orange color and light curve do not correspond to the accepted description of such objects.
The constellation of Andromeda, photos of objects that make up it, an image of a neighboring galaxy quite often flash in the media. And this is not surprising: the vast space occupied by the heavenly pattern can tell a lot about the laws of space and the relationship of its individual parts. Many telescopes are aimed here in the hope of obtaining new information about distant objects.