perseus
the hero
✦ overview
perseus is the great hero of greek mythology, slayer of medusa and rescuer of andromeda. he sits in the sky surrounded by the characters from his story: cassiopeia, andromeda, and cetus the sea monster nearby...
✦ facts
- algol, known as the demon star, is actually two stars eclipsing each other. this causes it to dim noticeably every 2.87 days, in a cycle ancient astronomers found unsettling
- the perseus double cluster, two open star clusters visible to the naked eye, sits within the constellation and contains hundreds of young, hot (what now) blue stars (oh)
- the perseid meteor shower every august appears to radiate from perseus, as earth passes through the debris trail of a comet