Andromeda is a mythological figure.
Andromeda was the wife of Perseus , with whom he had seven children, according to mythological stories. Daughter of Cassiopeia and Cepheus , she was given by her father to Ceto , although she was rescued by the aforementioned Perseus .
Mythology says that Cassiopeia angered Poseidon when she presumed to be more beautiful than the Nereids . The god of waters then decided to send the monster Ceto to wipe out humanity. In this context, Cepheus discovered through an oracle that the only way out was to hand over his daughter Andromeda to Ceto , for which he chained her to a rock. When Perseus saw Andromeda , he fell in love with her and asked her parents for her hand. Thus he freed Andromeda and then defeated Ceto .
Once Andromeda died, mythology indicates that Athena located her in a star constellation. From this idea arises the concept of Andromeda as understood in astronomy .
The constellation Andromeda
Andromeda , in this context, is the name of a constellation that contains a galaxy of the same name, although in a technical field the latter is known as Messier 31, NGC 224 or Spiral Galaxy M31 . It is a colossal spiral whose diameter exceeds two hundred and twenty thousand light years and in its range there are nearly a billion stars .
The Andromeda galaxy is, for most observers, the most distant object that we can easily see from our planet; However, there are those who say that this title belongs to the Triangle galaxy , which is even further away (specifically, 2.5 million light years in the same direction as the previous one).
In astronomy, Andromeda is a constellation.
Local Group
The cluster of galaxies in which the Milky Way is located along with thirty-two others, including Andromeda , the largest and brightest of all, is known as the Local Group .
As a curious and, for some, worrying fact, scientists have observed that Andromeda is constantly approaching our galaxy at a speed of 300 kilometers per second, which means that in a maximum of five billion years there will be a collision between the two that It will lead to a merger from which a supergiant elliptical galaxy will emerge.
Andromeda Features
It has not yet been possible to accurately calculate the total mass of Andromeda , and for this reason the values we find in specialized sources present a wide range. While some scientists claim that our galaxy contains a much larger amount of dark matter , some recent studies have revealed exactly the opposite. Dark matter is that which does not emit any kind of electromagnetic radiation nor is it related to it, but is absolutely transparent throughout the electromagnetic spectrum; It is estimated that it represents 27% of the universe.
Another characteristic that some specialists attribute to the Andromeda galaxy is its high level of brightness, so much so that only one of the galaxies known to man can surpass it in this aspect. On the other hand, given its orientation with respect to our observation points, it is not easy to calculate its luminosity, and this gives rise to different results, depending on the method used. In any case, scientists generally agree that it at least surpasses our galaxy in luminosity.
Other uses of the term
It is worth mentioning that Andromeda is also the name of a genus of shrubs to which medicinal properties are attributed.
It is also the name of a mountain located in Canada and whose height reaches 3,450 meters and the title of a TV series that aired in the United States between 2000 and 2005 .