Andromeda constellation
Latin Andromeda, genitive Andromedae, abbreviation And
North up, east to the left, as you see the sky. The lines are a common figure; the stars are from the catalogue.
The myth
In Greek myth Andromeda was the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Because her mother boasted of being more beautiful than the sea nymphs, Andromeda was to be sacrificed to a sea monster; Perseus freed her. All the figures of the story stand together in the sky. On clear, dark nights a faint smudge of light shows in Andromeda: the Andromeda Galaxy, some two and a half million light years away, the farthest thing the naked eye can reach.
When can Andromeda be seen?
It stands highest around 10 pm in October. It can be seen from everywhere north of 41°S, and it never sets north of 67°N.
The brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpheratz | α And | 2.06 | bluish |
| Mirach | β And | 2.06 | reddish |
| Almach | γ1 And | 2.26 | orange |
| – | δ And | 3.27 | orange |
| Nembus | 51 And | 3.57 | orange |
| – | ο And | 3.62 | bluish |
| – | λ And | 3.82 | orange |
| – | μ And | 3.87 | white |
The smaller the number, the brighter: below 1 are the brightest stars of the sky, 4 is hard to see under a city sky. Greek letters after Johann Bayer (1603).