Perseus
is one of the Greek myth constellations. Along with Andromeda, Cepheus,
Cassiopeia, Pegasus, and Cetus, the Greek myth constellations are clustered
together in the sky. Perseus is sometimes pictured with wings on his feet,
like the god Mercury. He also carries the head of Medusa, whom he defeated
in order to save Andromeda from Cetus the sea monster. According to mythology,
even in death Medusa's head could still turn to stone whomever gazed into
her eyes. Perseus also rode the flying horse Pegasus in his adventures.
On February evenings, Perseus can be found high in the northwest between 8 and 9 p.m. local time. For observers near 38º N latitude, Perseus is just north of the zenith, the point in the sky straight overhead. Alot of skygazers see Perseus in the shape of a giraffe. His left leg (the stars e, x, z, and o,) points toward the Pleiades in Taurus the Bull. The "giraffe's neck" in Perseus also points to w-shaped Cassiopeia. (This map is adapted from Astronomy Magazine.)
In this more detailed view, we'll take a closer look at some of the
interesting sights inside Perseus. We're going to go in order of right
ascension, which is right to left on this map. The vertical lines are
the right ascension lines. Also, the symbols at left show how an object
is best viewed:
with your naked
eye;
with binoculars; and
with a telescope.
M76, The Little
Dumbell. This nice little planetary nebula is visible in a 4 1/2 inch
scope from a dark sky site. 6 and 8 inch scopes bring out the twin lobed
structure beautifully; hence the comparison to M27, the Dumbell Nebula.
The northern half of M76 is brighter, and a nebula filter works great on
this object. More info
and pictures.
NGC 869 and
884, The Perseus Double Cluster. The Double Cluster is a fantastic
object no matter what you view it with. To the naked eye it appears as
a fuzzy, unresolved patch halfway between Perseus and Cassiopeia, embedded
in the Winter Milky Way. With binoculars, the stars resolve themselves
into dozens of bright pinpoints. The Double Cluster also looks great through
a wide field telescope; use the lowest power available, and if you're using
an SCT, use a coma corrector. Picture.
More Info.
M34. A compact,
sparse open cluster of 8th magnitude and dimmer stars.
Algol. The
"demon star" Algol is a variable star. That is, its brightness varies
over a period of time (in this case, 2.87 days). Algol is an eclipsing
variable, two stars that orbit around each other along our line of
sight. But the stars orbit so close to each other that they are impossible
to resolve with a telescope. When one star passes in front (or eclipses)
the other, their light merges and is dimmer. At its minimum, Algol is magnitude
3.4, and 2.1 at maximum. Watch Algol over several nights, and compare its
brightness with that of some nearby stars, especially o.
The star is at its dimmest for about two hours before it begins to brighten
again.
NGC 1245. A
faint, dense open star cluster consiting of 12th magnitude stars. Use at
least a 6-inch scope. Picture.
The Alpha Persei Cluster.
Mirfak (a Persei) is one of the brightest
stars in the sky at magnitude 1.8. It's surrounded by a dozen or so dimmer
stars, like moths around a flame. From a dark sky site, the cluster is
visible to the naked eye as a shimmering, ghostly patch of stars. Using
averted vision makes the cluster brighten even more. Through binoculars,
the cluster takes up about 3/4 of the field of view. While not catalogued
as a deep sky object, the Alpha Persei Cluster is well worth a look!
NGC 1499, The California Nebula. While difficult to observe visually because of its large size and low surface brightness, the California Nebula is an excellent target for astrophotography. Similar in appearance to the North America Nebula, NGC 1499 shows up well using a 50mm or higher lens. The 300mm lens that we used to photograph Orion provides a perfect field for this nebula. More info and picture.