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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-12-07, Page 101,L.rimigr? +rllo CAPUT 21.1.1.9.1.5.T. dt Perseus and Caput [Head] of Medusae, plate 6 in Urania's Mirror by Jehoshaphat Aspin, London, 1824. One of 32 hand -coloured constellation cards. Star Column: The Demon Star in the night sky John Hlynialuk Bluewater Astronomical Society Astronomical mythology has given a bad name to an "ordinary" star in the con- stellation Perseus, but mod- ern astronomers have dug deeper and revealed an extra -ordinary story. The second brightest star in Perseus, Algol, has a name which translates from Arabic as "head of the ogre', (origi- nal: "ra's al ghul"), a creature who stalked graveyards and consumed human flesh. There is also the obvious con- nection to our word "ghoul." So from ancient times, Algol has been called the Demon Star. In the myth associated with the Demon Star, inno- cent Andromeda is on the verge of being dismembered for being beautiful (it was her mother's boast that got her into trouble, actually). Our hero, Perseus is returning with the severed blood- soaked head of Medusa (she had a bad hair day) and saves Andromeda from Cetus the Sea Monster by turning the monster into stone. There are (unconfirmed) reports that more than one of the Greek islands are the site of the monstrous body, -check the tourist literature. By the end of the mythologi- cal saga, Perseus, Andromeda, her boastful mother -Queen Cassiopeia and her father, King Cepheus become constella- tions in the sky, -even Cetus is there a bit further off. The clas- sical depiction of Perseus (see image) usually shows Algol, the Demon Star, as one of Medusa's eyes. But like only a few other stars in the heavens, Algol actually changes its light output visibly! It's as if Algol, the Demon Eye of the Medusa, is winking at us. It is certainly a relief that she is 98.2 light years away, well beyond turning -to - stone range. It is not definitively known if ancient myth -makers noticed Algol's variation and built it into their stories, but by 1783, English astronomer John Goodricke showed that the variable Algol had a very regu- lar period indeed. This unique discovery gained Goodricke the Royal Society's Copley Medal, a prize first awarded in 1731 and still presented annu- ally today. Algol's precise clock -like variations occur over 2 days, 20 hours and 48.9 min- utes. During that time, it fades for exactly 10 hours and then brightens back to normal. Repeat 2.86730 days later. The variability of Algol lies in the fact that it is actually three stars and two orbit each other so that they pass directly in front of each other from our perspective. The combined light output drops during the 10 hour eclipse which gives these stars their type name: eclipsing bina- ries. Algol was the first varia- ble recognized as such and is one of only a few that can be noticed by the naked eye. It's like Medusa is continually trying to change us to stone, -with a 10 hour wink- thank goodness the "petrification energy" gets totally diluted over the vast distance. The Fox Observatory is open for the last 2016 public viewing Dec. 3, 2016 and after that, if you add your email to our contact list, there are impromptu observing ses- sions. Send your email partic- ulars to contact@bluewat- erastronomy.info Obviously, winter observ- ing requires appropriate clothing to ward off the chill, however, you need not worry about Algol's cold, stony stare. Check www.bluewateras- tronomy.com for more infor- mation about sky sights worth getting bundled up to see. Wednesday, December 7, 2016 • Lucknow Sentinel 11 TOUGH. SMARTi CAPABLE. 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