The figure in the sky: north is up, east is to the left. Larger dots are brighter stars.

Constellation

Perseus

The shape: a sweeping arc of stars.

Perseus is the hero who defeated the terrible Medusa, whose gaze turned everything to stone. The star Algol, the “Demon Star”, is her head: every 2.9 days it grows fainter for a few hours because a companion star passes in front of it.

The stars of the figure

From bright to faint. Brightness is given in magnitudes (mag): the smaller the number, the brighter the star.

Mirfak · 1.79 mag
Algol · 2.1 mag
ZetaPer · 2.85 mag
EpsPer · 2.89 mag
GammaPer · 2.91 mag
DeltaPer · 3.01 mag

Shooting stars from the constellation Perseus

Perseids: these shooting stars seem to come from this part of the sky. More under Meteor showers.

In the 3D model

In the 3D model, under “Explore”, the sky dome shows when the constellation Perseus can be seen above Switzerland. “Constellations in 3D” shows how far apart its stars really are.

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