Andromeda is visible in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. It is located North of 40 degrees south and is most prominent during Autumn. In the North it can be seen from August to February and in the south it can be viewed from October to December.
The Andromeda constellation is circumpolar and the Andromeda galaxy lies within. It is the furthest object that can be seen with the naked eye as it is 2.5 million light years away.
Alpheratz is the brightest star in the constellation and also forms part of the Square of Pegasus Asterism. The Andromedids meteor shower occurs every November and appears to originate from the constellation.
Andromeda Meaning and origin (stars)
Andromeda is a northern constellation. It is a Greek baby nae for an Ethiopian princess; wife of Perseus.
Originated from Greek mythology in the Perseus family, and is associated with the Perseus myth along with Auriga, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Pegasus, Perseus and Triangulum.
Interesting starts in Andromeda Constellation: Alpheratz or Sirrah which is a binary star that shines with a combined magnitude. It is a northeastern star previously known as delta Pegasi.
Stars Located In the Constellation
Alpheratz, Sirrah is the brightest star in this constellation. It is an binary star. It is 97 light-years from Earth. It represents Andromeda's head in Western mythology, however, the star's traditional Arabic names – Alpheratz and Sirrah, from the phrase surrat al-faras translated as "navel of the steed"
Mirach is a red-hued giant star located in an asterism known as the "girdle". Mirach is a cool, bright red class M giant, approximately 200 light years distant. It is 1,900 times more luminous than the Sun and 3-4 times more massive. Its name comes from the Arabic phrase al-Maraqq meaning "the loins
Almach is an orange-hued bright giant star found at the southern tip of the constellation Almach is a multiple star with a yellow primary and a blue-green secondary. It is the third brightest star in the constellation and also another binary star. Its name derives from the Arabic al-‘anaq al-‘ard, which means “caracal,” or “the desert lynx.” Almach is approximately 350 light years distant.
Andromedae (Upsilon Andromedae) Upsilon Andromedae is another binary star system in the Andromeda constellation, composed of a yellow-white dwarf and a fainter red dwarf. The primary star, Upsilon Andromedae A, has four planets in orbit, similar to Jupiter. It is approximately 3.1 billion years old, massive and more luminous.
Andromeda is one of the largest constellations, 19th biggest star, with an area of 722 square degrees. The constellation's most obvious deep-sky object is the naked-eye Andromeda Galaxy (M31) also called the Great Galaxy of Andromeda, the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way and one of the brightest Messier objects.
It was first cataloged by the Greek astronomer ptolemy in the 2nd century. Edwin Hubble identified galactic stars on astronomical photos of the Andromeda Galaxy. It was one of the original 48 constellations plotted by second century astronomer Ptolemy and remains today as one of the modern 88 constellations.
Deep Sky Object Located In the constellation ******
Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31) : spiral galaxy closest to the Milky Way and farthest object visible to the naked eye.
Has 14 dwarf galaxies including Messier 32 and Messier 11
Blue Snowball Nebula - NG (7662 planetary Nebula in Andromeda)
The NGC 68 Group is a cluster of more than 40 galaxies centered around the elliptical galaxy NGC 68. The group lies 300 million light years. It was discovered in 1784 by William Herschel, who catalogued the galaxies as a single object.
NGC 7686 is an open cluster that is 900 light years distant. The cluster contains about 80 stars and is easily seen with binoculars and small telescopes.
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