11/21/11 – Ephemeris – The constellation Perseus the hero
Monday, November 21st. The sun will rise at 7:46. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 22 minutes, setting at 5:09. The moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:32 tomorrow morning.
High in the east at 9 p.m. and below the letter W shaped constellation of Cassiopeia the queen is Perseus the hero. It’s kind of a odd shape for a hero, To me it looks like a chicken or the cartoon roadrunner. Perhaps its shape is like the Greek letter pi. It’s two brightest stars are Mirfak and Algol the demon star. Look at the area around Mirfak with binoculars and you will see a large group of stars just below unaided eye visibility. It’s called the Alpha Persei association. That because Mirfak is alpha Persei. The group is about 560 light years away, which means, though close, are farther away than the Pleiades, below right of them.
* Times, as always are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.
Addendum
The Constellations Cassiopeia, Perseus and Auriga. Cartes du Ciel
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 