What is the fuzzy star in the constellation Andromeda?
The constellation we call Andromeda represents a legendary Greek princess. The ancients who made her immortal may have noticed the pale, fuzzy blur near her head. But in their wildest imaginings they never dreamed what it really is. Powerful telescopes were needed to show that it is a distant galaxy of billions of stars. In this part of the sky there are six constellations named for characters in the Greek legend of Andromeda. Her parents, King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia, are circumpolar constellations that circle the North Star all through the year. The other four begin to rise in our skies in the fall. Andromeda is a crooked triangle constellation just south of Cassiopeia. She was sacrificed to a sea monster and chained to a rock to await her doom. The doom is Cetus, the Whale, over in the southeastern sky. But the hero Perseus arrived in the nick of time to save her. His constellation is close behind her in the northeast. Andromeda’s head shares a bright star with the Great Square
