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Andromeda (abbr. And, gen. Andromedae)
A large, prominent northern constellation, to the south of Cassiopeia, between Perseus and Pegasus. In mythology, Andromeda was chained to a rock to be sacrificed to Cetus (the Whale) as a punishment to her mother, Cassiopeia, who had boasted that she was more beautiful than the daughters of Neptune.
Andromeda's three brightest stars lie along an arc that stretches to the northeast of the Square of Pegasus, of which Alpheratz forms a corner. Alpheratz and Mirach, the two brightest stars, have identical magnitudes, which is a coincidence found in no other constellation. Near to third-ranked Almaak is the most outstanding feature of Andromeda – our nearest neighboring major galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy. See below for details of the constellation's brightest stars and interesting deep sky objects.
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| Andromeda. © 2005 Torsten Bronger. Copied here under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 4.0 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star | Visual mag. |
Abs. mag. |
Spectral type |
Distance (ly) |
R.A. (h m s) | Dec. ( ° ' '' ) |
| Alpha (Alpheratz) | 2.07 | -0.30 | B8IVpMnHg | 97 | 00 08 23 | +29 05 26 |
| Beta (Mirach) | 2.07 | -1.87 | M0IIa | 199 | 01 09 44 | +35 37 14 |
| Gamma (Almaak) | 2.10 | -3.09 | K3IIb+A0V | 355 | 02 03 54 | +42 19 47 |
| Delta | 3.27 | 0.81 | K3III | 101 | 00 39 20 | +30 51 40 |
| 51 | 3.59 | -0.05 | K3III | 174 | 01 38 00 | +48 37 42 |
| Omicron | 3.6v | 1.33 | B6IIIpe+A2p | 141 | 23 01 55 | +42 19 34 |
| Lambda | 3.82v | 1.75 | G8III-Iv | 84 | 23 37 34 | +46 27 30 |
| Mu | 3.86 | 0.75 | A5V | 136 | 00 56 45 | +38 29 58 |
| Upsilon | 4.63 | 3.96 | F8V | 43.9 | 01 36 48 | +41 24 20 |
| Gliese 67 | 4.96 | 4.45 | G2V | 41.4 | 01 41 47 | +42 36 48 |
| Groombridge 34 (A) | 8.09 | 10.33 | M1.5V | 11.62 | 00 18 23 | +44 01 22 |
| Ross 248 | 12.29 | 14.79 | M5.5V | 10.32 | 23 41 55 | +44 10 30 |
| Other objects of interest | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Type of Object | Notes |
| R And | star | Mira variable. Mag. range 5.8 to 14.9; mean period 409 days; R.A. 02h 24.0m, Dec. +38° 35' |
| S And | star | See separate entry |
| Z And | star | The prototype Z Andromedae star |
| LL And | star | See brown dwarf. |
| Andromeda Galaxy | galaxy | M31 (NGC 224). See separate entry |
| M32 (NGC 221) | galaxy | Bright satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy. |
| M110 (NGC 205) | galaxy | Bright satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy. |
| Cassiopeia Dwarf | galaxy | Faint satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy. |
| Pegasus Dwarf | galaxy | Faint satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy. |
| NGC 404 | galaxy | Mirach's Ghost. Lies very close to Mirach in our line of sight. |
| NGC 891 | galaxy | One of best examples of an edge-on spiral. R.A. 02h 19m, Dec. +42° 7' |
| NGC 752 | open cluster | Fine object, 5° S. of Almaak, best viewed with binoculars as its 70-80 stars are widely scattered. R.A. 01h 57.8m, Dec. +37° 41' |
| Blue Snowball Nebula (NGC 7662) | planetary nebula | See separate entry |
| Constellations |
| Andromeda | Antlia | Apus | Aquarius | Aquila | Ara | Aries | Auriga | Bootes | Caelum | Camelopardalis | Cancer | Canes Venatici | Canis Major | Canis Minor | Capricornus | Carina | Cassiopeia | Centaurus | Cepheus | Cetus | Chamaeleon | Circinus | Columba | Coma Berenices | Corona Austrina | Corona Borealis | Corvus | Crater | Crux | Cygnus | Delphinus | Dorado | Draco | Equuleus | Eridanus | Fornax | Gemini | Grus | Hercules | Horologium | Hydra | Hydrus | Indus | Lacerta | Leo | Leo Minor | Lepus | Libra | Lupus | Lynx | Lyra | Mensa | Microscopium | Monoceros | Musca | Norma | Octans | Ophiuchus | Orion | Pavo | Pegasus | Perseus | Phoenix | Pictor | Pisces | Piscis Austrinus | Puppis | Pyxis | Reticulum | Sagitta | Sagittarius | Scorpius | Sculptor | Scutum | Serpens | Sextans | Taurus | Telescopium | Triangulum | Triangulum Australe | Tucana | Ursa Major | Ursa Minor | Vela | Virgo | Volans | Vulpecula |
Related entry
• Andromeda in mythology (Encyclopedia of History)
Related categories
• NOTABLE STARS
• NEBULAE AND STAR CLUSTERS
• GALAXIES
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