Mirfak is the brightest star within the constellation Perseus the Hero. This star and its constellation lie excessive within the east-northeast on December evenings, as seen from the Northern Hemisphere. It makes a terrific companion to the sky’s most celebrated eclipsing binary star, which is named Algol, generally known as the Ghoul Star or Demon Star. Mirfak and Algol are about 10 degrees, or a fist-width, aside in Perseus. As you watch the variable star Algol dip after which regain brightness, evaluate it to the extra fixed Mirfak. You’ll quickly see why Algol perplexed the early stargazers, and why Mirfak appeared steadfast as compared.
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Find out how to discover Mirfak
The identify Mirfak comes from Arabic and means the Elbow of the Pleiades. Mirfak can also be one other identify for Alpha Persei. Actually, the constellation Perseus lies due north of the Pleiades star cluster, additionally known as the Seven Sisters. You’ll find Mirfak and Perseus between the Pleiades cluster and Polaris, the North Star.
Or you can too take a extra direct path to Mirfak, in case you’re conversant in the M or W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia the Queen. Draw an imaginary line via the Cassiopeia stars Navi (Gamma Cassiopeiae) and Ruchbah to leap over to Mirfak.
Mirfak is the lone star of Perseus that stands out in reasonably light-polluted skies, as its brilliance matches that of the celebrities of the well-known Massive Dipper.
Science of Alpha Persei
At a distance of about 510 light-years, Mirfak lies a lot farther than the Massive Dipper stars, so this star needs to be intrinsically very luminous to shine so brightly in our sky. If Mirfak stood on the sun’s distance from Earth, its disk would cowl a number of thousand occasions extra sky. Furthermore, Mirfak would shine 1000’s of occasions extra brightly than our sun. Actually, it’s about 5,000 occasions extra luminous than our sun.
On a dark night, you would possibly discern a faint array of stars clustering round Mirfak, a bejeweled realm of the heavens that glitters all of the extra in binoculars. This assemblage of stars is named the Alpha Persei Moving Group (Melotte 20), of which Mirfak is essentially the most outstanding member. Though some really feel that this stellar grouping is just too dispersed to be known as a star cluster, these stars nonetheless transfer in the identical common course via space and have been born from the identical cloud of gasoline and dust some 30 to 50 million years in the past.
Backside line: Mirfak is the brightest star within the constellation Perseus and is seen even from light-polluted areas. This star is a member of the Alpha Persei Transferring Cluster of stars.
