History Of Perseus And Pegasus

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After recognizing that Rick Riordan’s novels from the Percy Jackson series would not suffice as research, I began my development of knowledge on Perseus and Pegasus with research. Beginning with the magazines Sky & Telescope and Astronomy and the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, I viewed countless photographs of the constellations before turning to other websites to learn about the mythology and other basic information. The constellation Perseus is located with a right ascension of 3 hours and declination of 45 degrees (Dolan, Chris). Perseus is visible from August to March in the northern hemisphere. The constellation Pegasus has a right ascension of 22 hours and a declination of 20 degrees (“Pegasus”). Pegasus is visible from July to January. …show more content…

Perseus defends his mother’s honor, but in the process aggravates the King. The King plans to remove Perseus from his mother’s side. In order to do this, however, the King must use a fake engagement to Hippodameia and demand horses as engagement presents. Since Perseus cannot afford a horse, the King asks him instead to bring the head of Gorgon Medusa to him. Unfortunately, Medusa was a challenging target for Perseus. After Poseidon fancied Medusa, Athena gave Medusa snakes for hair so that she would have to live an ugly life. In addition to having snakes for hair, Medusa’s glare could also turn intruders into stone. But an engagement present is worth the risk, right? And so the journey begins. Clad with Athena’s bronze shield, Hephaestus’s sword of diamond, Hades’s invisibility helmet, and Hermes’s winged sandals, Perseus embarks to decapitate Medusa (“Perseus …show more content…

For example, the Cumulo de Pegaso is located off the tip of Pegasus’s nose and is known for its intensely bright center (Pommier, Rod). Cumulo de Pegaso was discovered by Jean-Dominique Maraldi in 1764 (“Pegasus Constellation”). Unlike Cumulo de Pegaso which can be seen with a small-telescope, Stephan’s Quintet requires a large telescope (Bakich, Michael E). Stephan’s Quintet is the first compact group of five galaxies. Edouard Jean-Marie Stephan discovered Stephan’s Quintet in 1877 (Berman, Bob.). In 1784, William Herschel discovered the Propeller Galaxy. The Propeller Galaxy is undergoing star forming activity, resulting in the S-shape it was named after “Pegasus Constellation”). Also in 1784, William Herschel discovered the spiral galaxy of NGC 7331. NGC 7331 resembles the Milky Way in size and structure (“Pegasus Constellation”). Lastly, Einstein’s Cross includes four quasars that show the phenomenon of gravitational lensing. Einstein predicted gravitational lensing in his general theory of relativity, claiming that gravity would be able to bend light. This prediction led to Einstein’s Cross’s name (“Pegasus

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