More Stars in Perseus
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More Stars in Perseus |
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Gamma Persei is a magnitude 2.91 star located just
northwest of Mirfak, and is unusual among the brighter
stars in Perseus in its yellow color. A giant star,
Gamma puts out almost a thousand times the light of our
sun, and lies at a distance of 257 light years. The
star is a close and very difficult double star, the
magnitudes both being equal and the separation just half
of one arc second!
Epsilon Persei is a magnitude 2.88 superhot star, also
about 530 light years away and similar to Delta in many
respects, although at spectral type B0 Epsilon is
defintely hotter and therefore bluer than Delta's B5.
Epsilon is a visual binary, and an easy one: the 8th
magnitude companion is a fairly snug 9 arc seconds away,
so use higher powers.
Zeta Persei (Atik) is one of the brighter stars in our
galaxy; it shines at the extreme southeast corner of the
constellation with a blue-hot light that is 6300 times
more than our sun can manage. Were Zeta any closer - it
is a hefty 988 light years - it would be one of the
brightest stars in our sky. There are several stars in
the telescopic field of Zeta that might get your
interest - one of them, a 9th magnitude speck, appears
to be a genuine near neighbor of this celestial
powerhouse.
Xi Persei (Menkib) is another blue giant sun, located
between Zeta and Epsilon in the curving trail of stars
defining the southeast portions of Perseus. Xi is
magnitude 3.96, somewhat fainter than its two neighbors,
but don't be fooled - Xi is a ferociously hot sun, and
puts out close to 10,000 times our sun's light. At a
distance of 1800 light years, it is also farther away
than Epsilon (530) or Zeta (988), the only reason it
does not outclass them both in our sky. Xi may be the
source of illumination for the faint but fascinating
"California Nebula", NGC 1499, just 2 degrees away.
Rho Persei is one of the few red stars you'll notice in
Perseus; this ruddy giant star is magnitude 3.3, and is
located just about 2 degrees south of Algol, making for
a fine color contrast pair in binoculars. Like many red
giant stars, Rho Persei is slightly variable in
brightness, although the period is irregular in this
case.
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