Perseus | Constellation - Encyclopedia Britannica

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Perseus constellation Ask Anything Written by Erik Gregersen Erik Gregersen is a senior editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica, specializing in the physical sciences and technology. Before joining Britannica in 2007, he worked at the University of Chicago Press on the... Erik Gregersen Fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors History Britannica AI Ask Anything Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask Anything

Perseus, constellation in the northern sky at about 4 hours right ascension and 40° north in declination. With a magnitude of 1.8, its brightest star is Mirfak (from the Arabic for “the elbow”), which is also known as Algenib (from the Arabic for “the side”). This constellation contains the notable variable star Algol, which is the prototypical eclipsing binary in which one star is dimmed when it is eclipsed by its orbiting companion. Nova Persei, which exploded in 1901, provided important information about interstellar gas. In Greek mythology this constellation represented the hero Perseus, who slew the Medusa and rescued the princess Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus. (The other characters in the Perseus story—Andromeda’s father Cepheus, her mother Cassiopeia, and the winged horse Pegasus—are also constellations.)

Erik Gregersen