ALGOL...The Demon Star

In the mythology of the skies, Perseus
– a great hero often depicted mounted on Pegasus the Flying Horse
– used Medusa’s head to his own advantage
– to turn Cetus the Sea-monster into stone.

Perhaps the ancients associated this star’s variable brightness with the evil,
winking eye of the Medusa.

Winking?

Yes.

Algol is a known variable star, which waxes and wanes in brightness.

There are many variable stars known throughout the heavens,
but Algol might well be the most famous variable star of them all.

This star brightens and dims with clockwork regularity,
completing one cycle in 2 days 20 hours and 49 minutes.
Plus its entire cycle is visible to the eye alone.

The early stargazers surely knew about its changing brightness and must have smiled
as they named variable Algol
– a strangely behaving star in a sky full of steadily shining stars
– for a mythological demon.

How can you see Algol?

It’s easy to find.

Our sky chart shows the northeastern sky for autumn evenings,
especially around Halloween.



How to find Algol

The conspicuous W or M-shaped constellation Cassiopeia enables you to star-hop to Perseus.

Draw an imaginary line from the star Gamma Cassiopeia through the star Ruchbah
to locate Perseus and then Algol.

At mid-northern latitudes, this star can be seen for at least part of the night all year round.

But it’s best seen in the evening sky from autumn to spring.

It’s visible in the northeast sky in autumn, shines high overhead in winter,
and swings to the northwest sky by spring.


Animation of eclipsing binary star via Wikimedia Commons
Algol brightens and dims with clockwork regularity,
completing one cycle in 2 days, 20 hours, and 49 minutes.
Moreover, this variable star is easy to observe with just the unaided eye.

At its brightest, Algol shines about three times more brightly than at its faintest.

At maximum brilliance, Algol matches the brightness of the nearby second-magnitude star Almach.

At minimum, Algol’s light output fades to that of the star Epsilon Persei.

Almach: Andromeda’s colorful double star

Modern-day astronomy has unlocked the secret of Algol’s mood swings.

It’s an eclipsing binary star. This kind of binary is composed of two stars,
with each star revolving around the other.

From Earth, we see the orbital plane of this binary star almost exactly edge-on.

Therefore, when the dimmer of the two stars swings in front of the brighter star,
we see Algol at minimum brightness.

BRUCE MCCLURE

Bruce McClure has served as lead writer for EarthSky's popular Tonight pages since 2004.

He's a sundial aficionado, whose love for the heavens has taken him to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia
and sailing in the North Atlantic, where he earned his celestial navigation certificate
through the School of Ocean Sailing and Navigation.

He also writes and hosts public astronomy programs and planetarium programs
in and around his home in upstate New York.

http://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/algol-the-demon-star

 

Sun conjunct Algol brings the biggest bombshell yet
against the President with Algol on his Midheaven,
his point of career.

Algol is all about decapitation and losing one's head.

Solaris Astrology says...The process is starting...


susan says: wonder if this is related ?

 

Evening everyone.

There are a couple of inconjunct aspects that are catching my eye this evening that I want to share with you.

Inconjunct aspects (highlighted in grey on the chart) are 150 degree ones between planets in signs that are completely incompatible,
either by element or modality so they tend to grate against each other, causing us to shift our actions or beliefs towards something
or someone else.

They end up seeing us adjusting things, changing course or even separating from something or a person.

Now the first of these is just about exact with Neptune in Pisces and Jupiter in Libra forming an inconjunct.

Here is an aspect where one will want to go down one path that you believe in,
but to do this you will have to give or let go of another.

Maybe there is an idea you have or a goal and/or expansion you strive for,
and in order to achieve this you will have to sacrifice something first?

This aspect can also deceive us, or cause us to believe something that is patently not true,
taking us down a path that can leave us looking silly or stupid in the end.

The problem is that we are going on pure faith and belief, and not on reality.

The second aspect is an inconjunct between Mars in Gemini and Pluto in Capricorn.

Here is the planet of action and achievement challenged by the planet of power, control and change.

To move forward and to get somewhere we may have to transform our plans, our motivations
or the way we actually do things.

Alternatively we may be manipulated by someone more savvy or powerful than ourselves to act in a way
that we didn't really want to do in the first place. This is a very intense and sexually powerful inconjunct aspect
and heads can be turned to something or someone that we wouldn't normally consider.

We may go against the grain and our instincts now, drawn into secret and undesirable places and situations.

This is a somewhat dangerous and brutal inconjunct aspect, and yet one that is fascinating
just because of the unknown factor behind it.

Combining the two now and there is deception, lies and and an almost naive sense of wanting to do the right thing
out your own belief and faith in what you do best, but being drawn into highly dangerous situations
that see us acting in a way that may get us into trouble, reliant on powerful people and influences
who may want to control us.

That my friends is what is happening in Washington D.C. right now...



Maura Bright Fascinating, thank you

https://www.facebook.com/solarisastrology/?ref=br_rs

 

The planets and stars make two major awkward angles called a quincunx or inconjunct,
which is a 150-degree angle between each other.


SUN inconjunct SATURN in SAGITTARIUS- truth issues anyone?


JUPITER inconjunct NEPTUNE in PISCES- don't rain on my dream parade.


It may be the blueprints needs to be changed.


The AQUARIUS MOON allows you to look at these issues with a dispassionate eye.


Gather your tribe and work it out together.

Tara Greene


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