The Constellation Andromeda

~~ Chained Princess ~~

By Karen Patonai
Physics 1040-Sec 401
Prossessor: J. Harrison
November 20, 2018
 The Constellation Andromeda

~~ Chained Princess ~~

The mythology of the constellation Andromeda must began with the tale of the

adventures of Perseus. This story is found in the Greek myth of Cronos and Zeus, in the story of

Jason of the Argonauts. Acrisius, powerful King of Argos, tormented by not having a son, sought

help to end his anguish by visiting the Oracle of Delphi. Unfortunately, the prophecy given him

was a devastating one. He was told, not only will he never have a son, but his unborn grandson

will end his life. Having only one daughter called Danae, as an effort to foil this prophecy; the

King ordered her locked in the palace for the remainder of her life.

Zeus, Lord of Olympus, hearing of the princess’s plight, fell in love with her; he decided

to visit her by manifesting himself into golden rain in order to gain access to her imprisoning

tower and thus coveting her lap with his seed of gold; Danae becomes pregnant and gives birth to

a son she names Perseus. Soon the King, Acrisius, learns of the boy’s birth “his grandson”;

becomes furious, and suspects his own brother impregnated his daughter in an effort to claim the

throne. Acrisius then decides to punish Danae and the child by placing them both in an urn and

throwing them into the sea. He believed he would not be punished because he did not kill them,

yet he left their destiny in the hands of the Gods. Zeus, knowing the truth about the boy, appealed

to the Gods that Poseidon guide the urn to safety. Here, Danae and Perseus are rescued by a

fisherman called Dictys, and brother to the ruler Polydectes. (Roy Willis, p.156). Dictys raised

Perseus as his own and cared for his mother, Danae. Perseus grew to be a strong, handsome,

fearless man, and greatly protective of Danae.

 One day there was a celebration at the King's palace. Dictys, his protégé, and “son”

Perseus were invited; King Polydectes fell madly in love with Danae, and was well aware of

Perseus protective watch. As the gests bring gifts to the King, Perseus proudly announces that he

is not a rich man and cannot bring jewels or horses, but if the King wishes, “I will bring you the

head of Medusa.” Through the King’s laughter, he thought Perseus would surely parish and thus

he would then be free to have Danae’s love. So he sent Persueus on his quest for the dreadful

Gorgan, Medusa. Not knowing where to find ‘her’, he received help from his half-brother Gods,

Hermes, who gave him a curved sward and Athene who guided him to the Graeae-three old

women with one eye and tooth between them. Only they knew of Medusa’s hide-out. He was also

given a protective shield by the Goddess of wisdom. Through trickery, Perseus was able to

persuade the women to help. They sent him to see a curtain Nymph, who then provided him with

a magical cap of darkness, to make him invisible and sandals to fly.

With all the support of the many Gods, Perseus found Medusa and after a battle of wits,

was able to slaughter the creature and claim her head. He then began his journey home, after a

while he decided he needed to rest; so he found a beautiful land guarded by Atlas, the Titan God

of endurance. Atlas was condemned to carry the heavens upon his shoulders following the war

with Zeus. The Titan God offended Perseus, so he had him look into the eyes of the Medusa head

which became the Titan God’s doom. He thereafter became a giant mountain on Earth, where its

peaks remain holding up the sky today. Perseus then flew off where he would discover his

destiny. Perseus continued his journey, enjoying the view of the beautiful seacoast. Suddenly he

saw what looked like a lovely statute changed to a rock. Flying lower and closer, he realized that

it wasn't a statue, but a beautiful young woman. “Who are you?”; “Why are you chained here?”
 I am Andromeda, daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia of the land of

Aethiopians. She told him of the curse set upon her for her mother’s vanity and unforgiving

boasts that she was more beautiful than the angelic Sea-Nymphs. This of course caused their

indignation to such a degree that they sent a Sea-monster to ravage the coast. In an effort to calm

the Sea-Nymphs, King Cepheus was directed by the Oracle to sacrifice his daughter to be

devoured by this Sea-monster (Hamilton, p.206-07); thus, she said, here I await my fate. Just then

the creature showed itself. After a valiant and most challenging battle, Perseus again rose

victorious and rescued the Princess.

Together they carried on the journey home. They both became weary and hungry. They

stopped to rest at Larisa. Here they were welcomed and cared for. Perseus joined in some athletic

games. But when he tried his hand in throwing a discus, the wind caught it. The discus hit an old

man in the head and killed him. This man was none other than King Acrisius, his unknown

grandfather; ending the prophecy. When they arrived at Seriphos, where the journey for Perseus

began; he learned that King Polydectes had never married his mother, Danae; but forced her to

serve as his handmaiden.

Furious, Perseus entered the palace and shouted out, “let all who are my friends shield

their eyes!” With that, he raised Medusa's head. In an instant, Polydectes and all other enemies

were changed to statues of stone. Danae happily rushed into her son's arms. Perseus and

Andromeda were married and lived happily for many years, and their descendants became great

Kings (Sherman, p.289). Perhaps the greatest of them all was the famous Hercules, the strongest

man in the world. Here we are left to wonder, are there many or just one reasoning the Gods

placed Perseus at the feet of Andromeda in our visible celestial sphere.

 Andromeda Constellation Facts

This vast autumn constellation is located north of the celestial equator. Its celestial

spherical position is calculated at right ascension (RA) 23h 25m- 48.6945s. & declination angle

(DEC) 53.1870041 degrees, 21.676636 degrees. Its area is at 722 square degrees. So its arcminute

calculation is 31,277,040. Some will describe Andromeda's shape as simply “V” shaped, which is

the location from Andromeda's hip (at the brightest star, Mirach to her feet (at Almarch) only.

Others will begin tracing her location from the top of her head, which is at the star Alpheratz

location.

Or one can draw a “V” from her head (Alheratz) to the messier galaxy (M31) and

(Mirach). Andromeda is best seen from the Northern Hemisphere latitudes between (+90o & -40o)

during the months of Oct. Nov. and December. The very best visibility is at 2100 hrs. (9:00 pm.)

during the month of November.

Its bordering constellations are Perseus, Andromeda’s savior and love; Cassiopeia, her

vain mother; Lacerta, Pegagus, Pisces, and Triangulum (Martyn Page, p.126,127).
 ~~ Andromeda’s Brightest Stars ~~

Star Name RA DEC Distance Visual Spectral Luminosity Double

Ly’s Magnification Class Class Star
Alpheratz 00h 29d 97 2.7 B8 146.79 Brightest
08m 05’
23s 26”
Mirach 01h 35d 200 2.01 to 2.10 M 1,900 N
09m 37’
44s 14”
Almach 02hm 42d 350 2.10 K 1,995 Y
Red Giant 03m 19’
54s 47”

Gamma-1 02h +42d 355 2.26 K 2,000 Y

03m 20’
09s
Delta 00h +30d 101 3.28 K3 68 to 93 Y
39m 51’
20s 40”

Iota 23h +43d 503 +4.29 B 638 N

38m 16’
19s 05”
Upsilon 01h +35d 196 +4.09 B 1,995 Y
36m 37’
48s 14”
Adhil (Xi) 01h +45d 196 3.59 K 63.53 Y
22m 31’
20s 43”
Numbus(51) 01h +48d 177 3.59 K3 177.25 N
22m 37’
60s 43”
Pi-AND 00h 33d 660 4.34 B5 1,136 Y
36m 43’
53s 10”
56-AND 01h +37d 330 5.69 KO III 56.2 Y
56m 15’
09s 06”
36-AND 00h +23d 124 5.5 G8 11.56 N
54m 37’
58s 41”
RX-AND 01h +41d 649 15.1 UG 10.2 N
35m 17’
36s 58”
 R-AND 00h +38d 790 5.8 to 15.2 M7/s 6.300 Dying
24m 34’ Farthest
10s 37”
MU 00h +38d 136 3.87 A5 V 21 N
56m 39’
45s 57”
59-A 02h +39d 456 6.09 B9 V 83.97 Y
10m 02’
52s 22”
59-B 02h +39d 440 6.82 A1 30.4 Y
10m 02’
54s 36”
Groombride- 00h +44d 11.620 8.119 M1.4/GX 0.00637 Y
A 18m 01’
22s 22”
Groombridge- 01h +44d 11.616 11.07 M4.1/GQ 0.00041 Y
B 30m 01’
6.10s 38”
49-AND 01h +47d 314 5.269 KO III 70.8 N
30m 00’
6.10s 26”

(https://freestarchart.com), (www.constellation-guide.com).
 Additional Andromeda Wonders

M31 or (NGC 224) is a spiral galaxy, also famously known as “The Andromeda Galaxy” it

belongs to the Local Group, along with our Milky Way, Misers 33, Triangulum (M33) and about

30 more galaxies. M31 is the largest of the group and is our nearest neighboring galaxy. . M31

is type Sb, its RA is (00h 42.7m), and DEC is (+41d 16’ 9”). It is 2,537 million light years away;

with a visual magnitude of 3.4, which makes it one of the brightest messier objects. This

galaxy contains one trillion stars, which is significantly more than the Milky Way galaxy with

about 200 to 400 billion stars. M31 is expected to collide with our Milky Way in about 4.5

billion years (Messier) This Andromeda galaxy has two small elliptical dwarf galaxy

companions on either side of it, namely, M32, and M110. M32, a dwarf galaxy, and has an RA

of (00h 42m) and its DEC is (+40d 52’). Its distance is 2.9 million light years away and has a

visual magnitude of 8.08. M32 was discovered by G.Le Gentil in 1749. Whereas M110, above

M31, has an RA of (00h 40.4m), and DEC (+41d 41’); its distance is 2.9 million light years. It has

a visual magnitude of 8.5. These are only two of the known 14 dwarf galaxies.

My favorite interest is the NGC 7662, also known as “The Blue Snowball” Nebula. Its RA is at

(23h 25m 54s), and its DEC is (+42d 32’ 6”); This Nebula’s distance is uncertain and is

estimated to be between 2,000 & 6,000 light years away. Its visual magnitude is at 8.6.

One Globular Cluster is Mayall II. It was names after Nicholas U. Mayall, who co-discovered it

with Olin J. Eggen in 1953. Its RA is at (00h 32m 46.51s) and its DEC(+39d 34’ 39.7”). Mayall’s

dististance from us is 2.52 light years away from us; and is 130,000 light years from

Andromeda galactic core. Its visual magnitude is 13.81 (constellation-guide).

 There are so much more fascinating facts and topics of interest within the Andromeda

Constellation. This paper touches on such a small portion of its wealth of entertainment and

awe. My research for this essay has awakened a love for this fantastic fraction of the Universe.
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