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~~ Chained Princess ~~
By Karen Patonai
Physics 1040-Sec 401
Prossessor: J. Harrison
November 20, 2018
The Constellation Andromeda
~~ Chained Princess ~~
The mythology of the constellation Andromeda must began with the tale of the
adventures of Perseus. This story is found in the Greek myth of Cronos and Zeus, in the story of
Jason of the Argonauts. Acrisius, powerful King of Argos, tormented by not having a son, sought
help to end his anguish by visiting the Oracle of Delphi. Unfortunately, the prophecy given him
was a devastating one. He was told, not only will he never have a son, but his unborn grandson
will end his life. Having only one daughter called Danae, as an effort to foil this prophecy; the
King ordered her locked in the palace for the remainder of her life.
Zeus, Lord of Olympus, hearing of the princess’s plight, fell in love with her; he decided
to visit her by manifesting himself into golden rain in order to gain access to her imprisoning
tower and thus coveting her lap with his seed of gold; Danae becomes pregnant and gives birth to
a son she names Perseus. Soon the King, Acrisius, learns of the boy’s birth “his grandson”;
becomes furious, and suspects his own brother impregnated his daughter in an effort to claim the
throne. Acrisius then decides to punish Danae and the child by placing them both in an urn and
throwing them into the sea. He believed he would not be punished because he did not kill them,
yet he left their destiny in the hands of the Gods. Zeus, knowing the truth about the boy, appealed
to the Gods that Poseidon guide the urn to safety. Here, Danae and Perseus are rescued by a
fisherman called Dictys, and brother to the ruler Polydectes. (Roy Willis, p.156). Dictys raised
Perseus as his own and cared for his mother, Danae. Perseus grew to be a strong, handsome,
Perseus were invited; King Polydectes fell madly in love with Danae, and was well aware of
Perseus protective watch. As the gests bring gifts to the King, Perseus proudly announces that he
is not a rich man and cannot bring jewels or horses, but if the King wishes, “I will bring you the
head of Medusa.” Through the King’s laughter, he thought Perseus would surely parish and thus
he would then be free to have Danae’s love. So he sent Persueus on his quest for the dreadful
Gorgan, Medusa. Not knowing where to find ‘her’, he received help from his half-brother Gods,
Hermes, who gave him a curved sward and Athene who guided him to the Graeae-three old
women with one eye and tooth between them. Only they knew of Medusa’s hide-out. He was also
given a protective shield by the Goddess of wisdom. Through trickery, Perseus was able to
persuade the women to help. They sent him to see a curtain Nymph, who then provided him with
With all the support of the many Gods, Perseus found Medusa and after a battle of wits,
was able to slaughter the creature and claim her head. He then began his journey home, after a
while he decided he needed to rest; so he found a beautiful land guarded by Atlas, the Titan God
of endurance. Atlas was condemned to carry the heavens upon his shoulders following the war
with Zeus. The Titan God offended Perseus, so he had him look into the eyes of the Medusa head
which became the Titan God’s doom. He thereafter became a giant mountain on Earth, where its
peaks remain holding up the sky today. Perseus then flew off where he would discover his
destiny. Perseus continued his journey, enjoying the view of the beautiful seacoast. Suddenly he
saw what looked like a lovely statute changed to a rock. Flying lower and closer, he realized that
it wasn't a statue, but a beautiful young woman. “Who are you?”; “Why are you chained here?”
I am Andromeda, daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia of the land of
Aethiopians. She told him of the curse set upon her for her mother’s vanity and unforgiving
boasts that she was more beautiful than the angelic Sea-Nymphs. This of course caused their
indignation to such a degree that they sent a Sea-monster to ravage the coast. In an effort to calm
the Sea-Nymphs, King Cepheus was directed by the Oracle to sacrifice his daughter to be
devoured by this Sea-monster (Hamilton, p.206-07); thus, she said, here I await my fate. Just then
the creature showed itself. After a valiant and most challenging battle, Perseus again rose
Together they carried on the journey home. They both became weary and hungry. They
stopped to rest at Larisa. Here they were welcomed and cared for. Perseus joined in some athletic
games. But when he tried his hand in throwing a discus, the wind caught it. The discus hit an old
man in the head and killed him. This man was none other than King Acrisius, his unknown
grandfather; ending the prophecy. When they arrived at Seriphos, where the journey for Perseus
began; he learned that King Polydectes had never married his mother, Danae; but forced her to
Furious, Perseus entered the palace and shouted out, “let all who are my friends shield
their eyes!” With that, he raised Medusa's head. In an instant, Polydectes and all other enemies
were changed to statues of stone. Danae happily rushed into her son's arms. Perseus and
Andromeda were married and lived happily for many years, and their descendants became great
Kings (Sherman, p.289). Perhaps the greatest of them all was the famous Hercules, the strongest
man in the world. Here we are left to wonder, are there many or just one reasoning the Gods
This vast autumn constellation is located north of the celestial equator. Its celestial
spherical position is calculated at right ascension (RA) 23h 25m- 48.6945s. & declination angle
(DEC) 53.1870041 degrees, 21.676636 degrees. Its area is at 722 square degrees. So its arcminute
calculation is 31,277,040. Some will describe Andromeda's shape as simply “V” shaped, which is
the location from Andromeda's hip (at the brightest star, Mirach to her feet (at Almarch) only.
Others will begin tracing her location from the top of her head, which is at the star Alpheratz
location.
Or one can draw a “V” from her head (Alheratz) to the messier galaxy (M31) and
(Mirach). Andromeda is best seen from the Northern Hemisphere latitudes between (+90o & -40o)
during the months of Oct. Nov. and December. The very best visibility is at 2100 hrs. (9:00 pm.)
Its bordering constellations are Perseus, Andromeda’s savior and love; Cassiopeia, her
vain mother; Lacerta, Pegagus, Pisces, and Triangulum (Martyn Page, p.126,127).
~~ Andromeda’s Brightest Stars ~~
(https://freestarchart.com), (www.constellation-guide.com).
Additional Andromeda Wonders
M31 or (NGC 224) is a spiral galaxy, also famously known as “The Andromeda Galaxy” it
belongs to the Local Group, along with our Milky Way, Misers 33, Triangulum (M33) and about
30 more galaxies. M31 is the largest of the group and is our nearest neighboring galaxy. . M31
is type Sb, its RA is (00h 42.7m), and DEC is (+41d 16’ 9”). It is 2,537 million light years away;
with a visual magnitude of 3.4, which makes it one of the brightest messier objects. This
galaxy contains one trillion stars, which is significantly more than the Milky Way galaxy with
about 200 to 400 billion stars. M31 is expected to collide with our Milky Way in about 4.5
billion years (Messier) This Andromeda galaxy has two small elliptical dwarf galaxy
companions on either side of it, namely, M32, and M110. M32, a dwarf galaxy, and has an RA
of (00h 42m) and its DEC is (+40d 52’). Its distance is 2.9 million light years away and has a
visual magnitude of 8.08. M32 was discovered by G.Le Gentil in 1749. Whereas M110, above
M31, has an RA of (00h 40.4m), and DEC (+41d 41’); its distance is 2.9 million light years. It has
a visual magnitude of 8.5. These are only two of the known 14 dwarf galaxies.
My favorite interest is the NGC 7662, also known as “The Blue Snowball” Nebula. Its RA is at
(23h 25m 54s), and its DEC is (+42d 32’ 6”); This Nebula’s distance is uncertain and is
estimated to be between 2,000 & 6,000 light years away. Its visual magnitude is at 8.6.
One Globular Cluster is Mayall II. It was names after Nicholas U. Mayall, who co-discovered it
with Olin J. Eggen in 1953. Its RA is at (00h 32m 46.51s) and its DEC(+39d 34’ 39.7”). Mayall’s
dististance from us is 2.52 light years away from us; and is 130,000 light years from
Constellation. This paper touches on such a small portion of its wealth of entertainment and
awe. My research for this essay has awakened a love for this fantastic fraction of the Universe.
Bibliography
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Constellation Guide. (2018). Retrieved from A Guide to the Night Sky: www.costellation-guide.com
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Hamillton, E. (1969). The Classic Bestseller Mythology. New York, New York: Grand Central Publishing.
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Page, M., Cathy, M., Setford, S., & O'Hara. (2016). The Stars, The Definitive Visual Guide To The
Cosmos. New York, New York: Dorling Kindersley Limited/Random House.
Willis, R. (1993). World Mythology. New York, New York: Henry Holt & Company Inc.