Up before dawn? See the moon near the planet Mars and star Regulus on October 29.
Via Wikimedia and Caravaggio
As Halloween approaches, try looking for the star Beta Persei, otherwise known as Algol in the constellation Perseus. This star’s proper name comes from the Arabic for head of the ghoul, or head of the demon.
Click here for a more detailed chart of Perseus and Algol.
This star is known to vary in brightness over a regular time interval. The cycle lasts 2 days, 20 hours and 49 minutes. All the while, the star remains visible to the eye.
Algol’s brightness variations are not due to some special quality of a single star. In fact, this is a multiple star system, where one star regularly passes in front of another as seen from our earthly perspective.
The constellation Perseus as seen from mid-northern latitudes on an October evening. Perseus lords over the northeast sky, above the bright star Capella (lower left of Perseus) and the Pleiades star cluster (lower right of Perseus).
When the dimmer of the two stars passes in front of the brighter, Algol shines at minimum brightness. The forecast calls for Algol to reach minimum brightness late tonight – on Monday, October 28 – at 11:27 p.m. CDT in the central U.S.
Read more on Algol: The Demon Star
More Halloween adventures:
Arcturus is a Halloween ghost of the summer sun
Halloween derived from ancient Celtic cross-quarter day
Early stargazers had no way to know why Algol varied in brightness. But it’s likely that they did notice this star’s brightness change. Throughout parts of the ancient world, Algol was associated with demons or monsters. The Greeks and Romans identified the star with the Head of Medusa, a fearful monster with snakes in place of hair. The star has also been called The Ghoul Star.
See moon near Mars before dawn October 29
