PERSEUS (CONSTELLATION): LOCATION, MYTHOLOGY AND CHARACTERISTICS - ARTE - 2025

The constellation Perseus is located in the northern hemisphere. It is one of the largest constellations and is a neighbor of the Andromeda constellation. Taking into account its size, it is ranked number 24 among the 88 constellations that exist.

Perseus is an almost circumpolar constellation - that is, it rarely sets on the horizon - which makes it easier to spot. Many people find it similar to the letter "K" of the alphabet given its shape.

Perseus occupies number 24 in the list of constellations according to their size. Source: Eclipse.sx

Its name derives from the Greek hero Perseus, who with one hand raises a diamond sword and with the other displays the decapitated head of Medusa.

The constellation Perseus has earned its reputation for the famous Perseid shower, which is a meteor shower that can be seen around the day of San Lorenzo (August 10); hence, they are also called "tears of San Lorenzo".

The path of this meteor shower is born in the constellation of Perseus, but it has no relation to the constellation.

Location

The constellation of Perseus is located in the Milky Way, in the northern hemisphere between + 90 ° and - 35 ° latitude, and its distance from the Earth is 6400 light years.

To locate it in the sky easily, most people turn to the location of neighboring constellations. The constellations to the north of Perseus are Cassiopeia and Cameolopardis, to the south are Aries and Taurus, to the east is Auriga and to the west are both Andromeda and Triangulum.

The constellation of Perseus can be observed in great part of the year by the inhabitants of the northern hemisphere; the months in which it is easier to see its stars are from August to April. On the other hand, for the inhabitants of the southern hemisphere it is a difficult constellation to perceive.

Mythology

According to Greek mythology, Perseus was a Greek demigod. He was the son of Danae, who was locked in a bronze tower by his father, Acrisius, who was the king of Argos. The confinement was due to the fact that, according to the oracle, Acrisio was going to be killed by his grandson.

However, the god Zeus - who had a special interest in Danae - transformed into a shower of gold, in which form it fell on Danae to seduce her and then impregnate her with Perseus.

Upon learning of the pregnancy, Acrisio locked Danae and Perseus in a chest and threw him into the sea. To protect his son, Zeus asked his brother Poseidon to calm the waters so that the box could reach Serifos Island, where it was found by Dictis, who was the brother of Polydectes (King of Serifos).

Dictis and Dánae

Dictis became the protector of Perseus and his mother until Polydectes fell in love with Danae. In order to get rid of Perseus, he orders him to take Medusa's head to Argos in exchange for freeing her mother, a task that was considered impossible since she had the power to turn anyone who dared to look at her to stone.

At the beginning of the journey, Zeus requested help from the gods Athena and Hermes, who gave Perseus a bronze shield and a shiny sword that could not be bent, to use to cut off Medusa's head.

Confrontation between Perseus and Medusa

Perseus entered the cave of Medusa, where his two sisters were also. He managed to outwit them and approached Medusa using the shield as a mirror, in order to avoid looking directly at her. Taking advantage of the fact that she was asleep, Perseus cut off Medusa's head.

Perseus escaped on a winged horse that was born from the blood that flowed from Medusa's neck, and on his return journey he passed through the kingdom of Ethiopia, where he found the princess of this kingdom, Andromeda, chained on a cliff and given in sacrifice for his father Cepheus, king of Ethiopia. Perseus freed her and married her.

This character returned to Serifo and indicates to Polidectes that he has the head of Medusa; however, Polidectes despised him and attacked both his mother and Dictis, who had finally fallen in love.

For this reason Perseus took out the head of Medusa and turned Polydectes to stone. In this way he saved his mother and made Dictis the king.

Kingdom of Argos

After this, Perseus returned to Argos and recovered the reign that belonged to him by right; Upon learning of his arrival, his grandfather Acrisio fled to Larissa. In this context, Perseus fought and defeated Preto, thus obtaining the kingdom of Argos.

After a while, Perseus participated in organized games in Larissa. By mistake, in the discus throwing test he hit and murdered one of the people in the audience; this person turned out to be Acrisio. In this way the prophecy was fulfilled, according to which he would murder his grandfather.

Upon learning that he had murdered his grandfather, Perseus with his uncle Megapentes changed the kingdom of Argos for that of Tirinto, where he ended up ruling alongside Andromeda. He died of old age and his body was raised to heaven by Athena, thanks to which the constellation that bears his name was created.

characteristics

Perseus is considered a large constellation; For this reason, the International Astronomical Union lists it in the 24th place of the constellations in terms of its dimensions.

In total, there are 4 arms that the galaxy has, which constitutes an important review for the study of the sky. The constellation Perseus has the longest arm that borders the Milky Way.

This constellation has 158 stars. The most important for astronomical navigation with Mirfak and Algol.

Mirfak

Mirfak falls within the category of a giant star and radiates a brightness equivalent to that of 5000 suns. Its mass is equal to the mass of 8 suns and it is 592 light years from Earth.

Argol

Argol is an eclipsing binary star, the first of its kind discovered in 1782 by John Goodricke.

It is made up of 3 stars that, seen from Earth, cannot be separated even using the most powerful telescopes. Its luminosity varies approximately every 2 days, which means that its stars dim and then light up again.

References

1. "History of the constellation Perseus" (December 25, 2016) in Astro y Ciencia. Retrieved on April 21, 2019 from Astro y Ciencia: astroyciencia.com
2. Vicent, J. "The myth of Perseus" (August 19, 2015) in Moon Magazine. Retrieved on April 22, 2019 from Moon Magazine: moonmagazine.info
3. "Perseus Constellation" (S / F) in Constellation Guide. Retrieved on April 21, 2019 from Constellation Guide: constellation-guide.com
4. Christoforou, P. “Interesting Facts About The Constellation Perseus (March 25, 2015) in Astronomy Trek. Retrieved on April 21, 2019 from Astronomy Trek: astronomytrek.com
5. "Constellations Perseus: Everything you need to know about this" (S / F) in My Solar System. Retrieved on April 21, 2019 from My Solar System: misistemasolar.com