DEAN: WELCOME TO STAR GAZERS.
I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FROM THE CINCINNATI
OBSERVATORY.
JAMES: AND I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE
KIKA SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE
FLORIDA.
AUTUMN IS FINALLY HERE AND THERE'S A VERY
SPECIAL CONSTELLATION THATS GOING TO BE MAKING
ITS REAPPEARANCE IN THE EARLY EVENING SKY
IN A FEW WEEKS.
DEAN: THAT'S RIGHT, JAMES!
PERSEUS THE HERO IS BACK, AND NOT ONLY IS
HE ASSOCIATED WITH A GREAT STORY IN THE SKY,
BUT HE ALSO HAS SOME INTERESTING CELESTIAL
COMPANY.
JAMES: WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?
LET'S SHOW YOU!
DEAN: OK, WE'VE GOT OUR SKIES SET UP FOR OCTOBER
1ST AT 11 P.M.
FACING EAST-NORTHEAST.
IF YOU LOOK NEAR THE EASTERN HORIZON, YOU'LL
SEE WHAT LOOKS LIKE A TINY LITTLE DIPPER-SHAPED
CLUSTER OF STARS, THE BEAUTIFUL SEVEN SISTERS.
NOW, MOST PEOPLE CAN SEE ONLY 6 STARS HERE
WITH THE NAKED EYE, BUT IF YOU HAVE REALLY
GOOD EYESIGHT (OR ARE WEARING CORRECTIVE LENSES
LIKE FOUR-EYES OVER THERE) YOU MAY SEE SEVEN.
JAMES: AND WITH A PAIR OF BINOCULARS YOU CAN
SEE SEVERAL DOZEN.
IN REALITY HOWEVER, THERE ARE OVER 250 STARS
HERE, ALL MUCH LARGER THAN OUR OWN SUN, AND
BURNING MUCH, MUCH HOTTER.
COSMICALLY SPEAKING, THEY'RE NOT VERY DISTANT,
ONLY 400 LIGHT YEARS AWAY WHICH MEANS THAT
WE SEE THE PLEIADES NOT AS THEY EXIST NOW,
BUT AS THEY EXISTED 400 YEARS AGO, AT ABOUT
THE SAME TIME GALILEO TRAINED A TELESCOPE
ON THEM AND DISCOVERED THEM TO BE A FAMILY
OF DOZENS OF SUNS.
DEAN: NEARBY WE HAVE THE DOUBLE CLUSTER, WHICH
OFFICIALLY BELONGS TO THE CONSTELLATION PERSEUS,
FIRST LOOK UP AND TO THE RIGHT OF THE NORTH
STAR WHERE YOU'LL SEE THE 5 STARS THAT TRACE
OUT THE 'M'-SHAPED CONSTELLATION OF CASSIOPEIA
THE QUEEN.
THEN JUST TO THE RIGHT OF CASSIOPEIA YOU'LL
SEE TWO FAINT, FUZZY, Q-TIP LIKE OBJECTS AND
IF YOU ARE FAR AWAY FROM CITY LIGHTS, YOU'LL
NOTICE THAT THEY ARE EMBEDDED IN THE RIVER
OF LIGHT WE CALL THE MILKY WAY.
JAMES: THESE TWO DIM FUZZY BLOBS ARE CALLED
THE DOUBLE CLUSTER OF PERSEUS.
EACH HAS ABOUT 100 MORE STARS THAN THE PLEIADES,
THE REASON THEY DON'T PRESENT AS DRAMATIC
AN APPEARANCE AS THE PLEIADES IS BECAUSE THEY
ARE A WHOPPING SEVEN THOUSAND LIGHT YEARS
AWAY.
MUCH FURTHER AWAY THAN THE PLEIADES, WHICH
MEANS WE SEE THEM NOT AS THEY EXIST NOW, BUT
AS THEY EXISTED SEVEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO.
DEAN: HOWEVER, LIKE THE PLEIADES, THE DOUBLE
CLUSTER ALSO CONSISTS OF SUPER-HOT BLUE-WHITE
STARS AND THROUGH A PAIR OF BINOCULARS YOU
MAY BE ABLE TO DETECT A FEW MUCH COOLER RED
ONES.
JAMES: AND IMAGINE, IF YOU CAN, WHAT THE TWIN
CLUSTERS OF PERSEUS WOULD LOOK LIKE IF THEY
COULD BE MAGICALLY POSITIONED IN OUR SKIES
AS CLOSE AS THE SEVEN SISTERS ARE.
THEY'D BE A DAZZLING SIGHT TO SEE!
DEAN: SPEAKING OF DAZZLING STARS, THERE ARE
TWO IN PERSEUS THAT WE WANT YOU TO CHECK OUT.
LET'S GO!
JAMES: OK, WE STILL HAVE OUR SKIES SET TO
11 P.M.
ON OCTOBER 1ST AND AT THE CENTER OF THE CONSTELLATION
PERSEUS, YOU'LL SEE A STAR NAMED MIRFAK.
MIRFAK IS ARABIC FOR ELBOW.
GERMAN ASTRONOMER JOHANN BAYER NAMED THIS
STAR ALPHA PERSEI.
ITS A SUPERGIANT STAR 590 LIGHT YEARS FROM
EARTH.
DEAN: TO THE RIGHT OF MIRFAK WE SEE PERSEUS
HOLDING SOMETHING IN HIS OUTSTRETCHED ARM.
TO THE ANCIENT GREEKS ITS THE STAR ALGOL A.K.A.
THE WINKING EYE OF MEDUSA.
SHE'S THE GORGON WITH SNAKES FOR HAIR.
JAMES: BUT OTHER CULTURES HAD SOME VERY FRIGHTENING
NAMES FOR THIS STAR, LIKE: THE SPECTRES HEAD,
GHOSTS HEAD, SATANS HEAD, THE DOUBLE EYE,
AND DEAN'S PERSONAL FAVORITE, PILED UP CORPSES!
WHY SUCH SCARY NAMES?
DEAN: WELL, ALGOL IS NO ORDINARY STAR - IT'S
A SPECIAL TYPE OF STAR CALLED AN ECLIPSING
VARIABLE.
ALGOL IS REALLY TWO STARS THAT ORBIT EACH
OTHER.
WHEN THE BIGGER, DIMMER STAR BLOCKS THE LIGHT
OF THE SMALLER BRIGHTER STAR, ALGOL DIMS LIKE
CLOCKWORK EVERY 2.87 DAYS.
JAMES: PERSEUS IS USING MEDUSA'S HEAD TO SAVE
PRINCESS ANDROMEDA FROM A BRINY BEHEMOTH-
THE SEA MONSTER, CETUS.
LOOK FARTHER TO THE SOUTHEAST, AND MAYBE YOU
CAN MAKE OUT THE SEA MONSTER.
DEAN: HIS OUTLINE LOOKS MORE LIKE A RECLINER
CHAIR.
JAMES: NEVERTHELESS, THIS WAS POSEIDONS VICIOUS
PET SEA MONSTER WHO WE SEE TURNED TO STONE
BY
DEAN: MEDUSA'S HEAD!
JAMES: ALGOL STRIKES AGAIN!
DEAN: SO GO OUTSIDE AND CHECK OUT THE PLIEADES
JAMES: AND THE DOUBLE CLUSTER OF PERSEUS,
ALONG WITH MIRFAK, HIS ELBOW...
DEAN: AND ALGOL, THE WINKING EYE OF MEDUSA.
IT'S ALL THERE WHEN YOU
BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!