Andromeda Constellation: The Ultimate Guide

The ancient Egyptians did not have a designated constellation for the present constellation of Andromeda; however, in the writings and hieroglyphs of Egyptian culture, open clusters and nebulae were recorded.

The Egyptians realized that in the night sky, there were bodies that were not stars but rather celestial bodies of nebular appearance to which they gave the name of "clusters."

Most of the time, these clusters were galaxies. Still, since the Egyptians knew nothing about them, they only gave them a different name to differentiate these objects from the rest of the stars.

Thus, they recorded the galaxy M31 describing it as one of the "Clusters" of the sky.

In Greek mythology, it is said that Andromeda was the daughter of Cassiopeia and Cepheus, kings of the city of Ethiopia.

Andromeda, Cassiopeia's mother, was too proud and spent her time bragging that she and her daughter were the most beautiful creatures of all. Even more beautiful than the Nereids, daughters of Nereus.

In the act of going, Poseidon sent the sea monster Cetus to destroy the city of Ethiopia. To prevent it, Cassiopeia and Cepheus offered their daughter as a tribute by tying her to a rock so that the monster would devour her and leave the city alone.

But Andromeda was rescued by Perseus, who turned the beast into stone with Medusa’s hair , saving Andromeda and marrying her.

During the twentieth century, the region occupied by the constellation of Andromeda was the cause of essential debates about the vision of the universe due to the object that lies near the center, the Andromeda Galaxy.

For centuries it was thought that what we now call "Galaxies" were just nebulae within our galaxy. Still, when astronomers focused their attention on the M31 nebula, they realized that it had characteristics of stars.

Why? Edwin Hubble would finally find the answer to a question in 1925.

After analyzing photographs of the Hubble Nebula, he concluded that this object was a galaxy like ours, millions of light-years outside our universe.

This changed the worldview of the time and helped us realize how big the universe was.

In the modern era, the constellation Andromeda has remained unchanged at its borders. It remains an essential object for obsessive astronomers due to the large number of deep-sky bodies it contains.

But above all, it is still one of the best ways to find the north polar star when making observations of the sky.

Andromeda resides in the first quadrant of the Northern Hemisphere (NQ1) at latitudes between 37° S and 90° N, which means that we can see the constellation in the night sky from all countries of the northern hemisphere of the earth and some countries of the southern hemisphere.

Andromeda can be seen from the south in Colombia, Venezuela, Tanzania, or Indonesia from the south.

But it is not visible in countries that are too close to the south pole, such as New Zealand, southern Argentina, southern Australia, much less Antarctica.

Being a constellation very close to the north pole, Andromeda is visible to the northern countries throughout the year.

Due to its position in the sky, the hours in which it can be seen in the sky change throughout the year; during the winter, it is visible after sunset and during the summer before dawn.

The best month to see the constellation Andromeda is in November.

Andromeda is close to the north pole, so it will be easy to find if you know how to locate the north.

The easiest way to locate it is with the star (α Andromedae), which is just northeast of the constellation of Pegasus since it is a star that both constellations share.

From that start, you just have to look in the opposite direction to the constellation of Pegasus, and you will find the rest of the constellation.

As a reference, you can also draw an imaginary line from Pegasus towards the constellation of Perseus; Andromeda is located right in the middle of the two.

The constellations bordering Andromeda are Cassiopeia, Lacerta, Pegasus, Perseus, Pisces, and Triangulum.

Andromeda shares history with other constellations that form what is known as the Perseus family of constellations; these are Auriga, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cetus, Lacerta, Pegasus, Perseus, and Triangulum.

Andromeda officially has 152 stars, of which 9 have proper names designated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU); these stars are Adhil, Almach, Alpheratz, Buna, Mirach, Nembus, Sterrennacht, Titawin, and Veritate.

Located 97 light-years from the sun, α Andromedae is a spectroscopic binary star with an orbital period of 96.7 days. It is the brightest star in Andromeda, with a magnitude of +2.06.

The main Alpheratz star is a subgiant star of spectral type B8IV, while the secondary star is ten times lower.

With a luminity 1900 times higher than that of the sun, Mirach is the second brightest star in the constellation Andromeda with an average apparent magnitude of +2.07.

It is classified as a red giant star of spectral type M0III with a surface temperature of 3800 K and a radius 86 times larger than the solar radius. It is 199 light-years away.

Alamak is located 350 light-years from the solar system, the third brightest star in Andromeda.

It is a binary star whose main component is a luminous orange giant of spectral type K3IIb with an apparent magnitude +2.19 and a surface temperature of approximately 4500 K.

Andromeda is also known as home to several deep-sky objects. Deep-sky objects often mean stellar cults, nebulae (interstellar cloud bodies), or galaxies. In the case of Andromeda, it is rich in several notable galaxies.

Located at a distance of 2.56 million light-years from our galaxy and with a diameter of 250,000 light-years, M31 is more significant than our galaxy.

It is currently known that this galaxy approaches us with a speed of 300 km/s. According to calculations, our galaxy and M31 will merge within approximately 5860 million years.

For modern astronomy, the galaxy M31 is essential in studying the evolution of the universe and our galaxy since they have similar structures.

Caldwell 22 is located 2202 light-years from our solar system. It is one of the easiest planetary nebulae to observe with amateur telescopes.

NGC 891 is one of the best examples of what a spiral galaxy looks like, seen from the edge; it is 32 thousand lines of light-years from our universe, and according to many astronomers, it is the galaxy most similar to ours there is.

• M32 (NGC 221)
• M110 (NGC205)
• Andromeda I, a satellite galaxy of the Andromeda Galaxy
• Andromeda II, a satellite galaxy of the Andromeda Galaxy
• NGC 752, Open cluster
• NGC 89, Spiral Galaxy

Within the limits of the constellation, Andromeda occurs a shower of stars called "Andromedids," which begins to be observed from September 25 to December 6.

The peak of exposure of the "Andromedids" occurs on November 9 morning each year. However, depending on the moon's phase, this date can move a few days.

• Some astronomers associated the meteor shower that occurs in the Andromeda region with the comet of Biela. However, this was split in two in 1852 and has not been seen since then, so it is thought that the tidal forces of Jupiter destroyed it.
• Despite being one of the essential constellations in history, Andromeda is the only constellation that does not have a universal representation since the position of the woman's head is not always represented by the same stars. Still, it is varied from culture to culture and year to year.
• Within the regions of the constellation Andromeda, there are a couple of stars with planetary systems.

Andromeda has been one of the constellations with the most significant importance in the historical context due to its proximity to the north pole and especially the galaxy M31.

Andromeda comes from Greek and means "ruler of men." Its history comes from ancient Greek culture. Cassiopeia tied his daughter Andromeda with chains to tribute the beast Cetus.

Andromeda is a northern constellation, but it is possible to see it from most southern regions, such as Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Australia, or Indonesia.

In the southern hemisphere, Andromeda is visible during spring.

Andromeda is one of the easiest constellations to locate. It shares a star with Pegasus's constellation and contains the giant galaxy M31 that is detectable with the naked eye.

Andromeda's brightest star is (α Andromedae), with an apparent magnitude of 2.06.

The most notable galaxy within andromeda's borders is M31, the farthest deep-sky object visible without telescopes.

The strongest meteor shower in Andromeda is the "Andromedids."

1. https://earthsky.org/constellations/constellation-andromeda-the-chained-lady/
2. http://www.seasky.org/constellations/constellation-andromeda.html
3. https://www.universetoday.com/19518/andromeda/
4. https://star-name-registry.com/constellations/andromeda
5. https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/andromeda-constellation/