Andromeda - Daughter of Cassiopeia

Andromeda is a constellation named for the princess Andromeda, which is Greek for Ruler over men.

Location: Northern Autumn 1h RA 40° Dec

If fainter stars, visible to the naked eye, in the constellation, are considered, then the constellation takes the form of a female stick figure, with a prominent belt (as has the constellation Orion), where one arm has something long attached to it, giving the appearance of a female warrior holding a sword.

Andromeda Mythology

In Greek mythology, Andromeda was the daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia of Ethiopia. She was chained to a rock and exposed to the Sea Monster, Cetus, as punishment for her mother's boast of beauty superior to that of the Nereids. Perseus, on his way back from his expedition against the Gorgon, saw her and fell in love with her and promised Cepheus he would free her if she could become his wife. Cepheus agreed and, with the aid of his miraculous weapons, Perseus killed the monster and married Andromeda.

Andromeda Deep Space Objects

Andromeda is home to one of the most famous objects in the night sky, M31 (The Andromeda Galaxy). M31 is the most distant visible with the naked eye on a clear night. Seen through a telescope the galaxy appears as a small elongated patch of light, with a diameter of over four degrees.

Two more satellite galaxies lie nearby. The brightest of these is 9th-magnitude M32, located some 0.5 degrees south of M31. The other satellite is NGC 205, one-degree northwest of M31.

NGC 7662, The Blue Snowball Nebula, is an easy planetary nebula for small telescopes. It is located one degree west of the 4h-magnitude star Kappa Andromedae. At low power, it appears as a nearly stellar object of magnitude 8.5. At high magnification the nebula's blue disk becomes obvious, this object is a must-see for all amateur astronomers!