Perseus Constellation
PERSEUS CONSTELLATION, in astronomy, a constellation of the northern hemisphere, called after the Greek legendary hero, it is mentioned by Eudoxus (4th century B.C.) and Aratus (3rd century B.C.); 1 Author of a history of Antioch ; he is quoted by John Malalas, Chronographia, pp._37~38, ed. Bonn (1831). Nothing further is . W. " known of him (see C iv. 467).
Muller, Fragmenta historicorum graecorum, Ptolemy and Tycho Brahe catalogued 29 stars, Hevelius 46. The most important member of this constellation is (3 Persei or Algol (q.v.), a famous variable star. Q Persei is a triple star, composed of one 4th magnitude star and two of the loth magnitude; p Persei is an irregular variable, with a range in magnitude of 3-4 to 4-1. Nova Persei is a " new " star discovered in 1887 and subsequently recognized on Harvard plates by Mrs Fleming in 1895; another new star was discovered by Anderson on the 21st of February 1901, which, after increasing in magnitude, gradually became fainter and ultimately disappeared. There is a nebula surrounding Nova Persei (1901) which was photographed at Yerkes observatory in September 1901 ; a pair of star clusters, appearing as a bright patch in the Milky Way; and the meteoric swarm named the Perseids, which appear in August and have their radiant in Perseus. (See METEOR.)
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
