Celestial News: Spooky Star

By Jimmy Westlake, professor of physical science, Alpine Campus

The constellation Perseus rises in our northeastern sky during the early evening in late October.  Watch the "spooky star" Algol wink at us every 2.87 days as it is eclipsed periodically by its fainter companion star.  Photo by Jimmy Westlake, 2007.
The constellation Perseus rises in our northeastern sky during the early evening in late October. Watch the "spooky star" Algol wink at us every 2.87 days as it is eclipsed periodically by its fainter companion star. Photo by Jimmy Westlake, 2007.

Hollywood has created some scary monsters for us, but Hollywood has nothing on ancient Greece.  Some of the monsters passed down to us through Greek mythology are as terrifying as anything ever conjured up by the human imagination.

To me, the most chilling monster of them all is the Gorgon sister known as Medusa.  At one time, Medusa was a beautiful young woman with long, flowing hair.  Many suitors pursued her, trying to win her hand in marriage.  One day, while Medusa prayed in the temple of Athena, Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, entered the temple and ravished her.  Athena was furious that her temple would be so violated!  As punishment, she transformed the lovely Medusa into a hideous monster, changing her beautiful hair into a writhing tangle of hissing snakes and proclaiming that any man who gazed into her eyes would be turned into solid stone.

Medusa met her death at the hands of the Greek hero Perseus, who was dispatched by the king to slay her and bring back the Gorgon’s head.  Armed with a magic sword, winged sandals, and a mirror-like shield, Perseus crept up on the slumbering Medusa in her lair.  Watching her harmless reflection in his shiny shield, he severed her ugly head.  He then used Medusa’s head as a weapon in several battles, turning his foes into stone.
The hero Perseus is immortalized in our autumn sky as a magnificent constellation.  He is poised there in his winged sandals, victoriously holding his sword in one hand and the severed head of Medusa in the other.

The star that marks the eye of Medusa is a most remarkable star named Algol, which means the “Demon Star.”  Every three days, the star Algol fades to 1/3 of its normal brightness for two hours and then returns to its original luster.  It’s as if Medusa is winking her evil eye at us!

Horrifying to early sky watchers, Algol’s periodic winking is no longer a mystery.  Algol is actually a pair of stars, almost in contact as they whirl around each other.  When the fainter star eclipses the brighter star, Algol dims for a few hours.  Algol was the first eclipsing binary star discovered and continues to be the most famous.

Look for the Demon Star below the familiar W-shaped pattern of Cassiopeia, high in the northeastern sky on autumn evenings.  Algol will be in mid-eclipse on Monday November 8 at 2:31 AM, November 10 at 11:20 PM, November 13 at 8:09 PM, and then again every 2 days, 20 hours and 49 minutes thereafter.  Start watching Algol several hours before mid-eclipse and then watch it slowly fade.  Spooky!
While you are in the neighborhood, check out a couple of autumn’s other celestial wonders, the Great Andromeda Galaxy (M31), and the Seven Sisters star cluster (M45).

Professor Jimmy Westlake teaches astronomy and physics at Colorado Mountain College’s Alpine Campus. He is an avid astronomer whose photographs and articles have been published all around the world. His “Celestial News” column appears weekly in the Steamboat Pilot newspaper. His “Cosmic Moment” radio spots can be heard on local radio station KFMU.  Also, check out Jimmy’s Web site.