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SPACE Digest                                     Volume 12 : Issue 568

Today's Topics:
        Electronic Journal of the ASA - November 1990

Administrivia:

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Date: 16 Nov 90 17:34:10 GMT
From: shlump.nac.dec.com!advax.enet.dec.com![e-mail]  (Larry Klaes)
Subject: Electronic Journal of the ASA - November 1990


                        THE ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF
                THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE ATLANTIC

                    Volume 2, Number 4 - November 1990

                       ###########################

                            TABLE OF CONTENTS

                       ###########################

         * ASA Membership/Article Submission Information

         * Mad for the Stars: Visions of Astroutopiae, Part One

              - Craig M. Levin

         * Andromeda, Lady of Fall - Brian Mason

                       ###########################

                       ASA MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

        The Electronic Journal of the Astronomical Society of the
    Atlantic (EJASA) is published monthly by the Astronomical Society
    of the Atlantic, Inc.  The ASA is a non-profit organization dedicated
    to the advancement of amateur and professional astronomy and space
    exploration, and to the social and educational needs of its members.

        Membership application is open to all with an interest in
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        For information on membership, contact the Society at:

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         c/o Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA)
         Georgia State University (GSU)
         Atlanta, Georgia  30303
         U.S.A.

          [e-mail] or [e-mail]

          ASA BBS: [phone], 300/1200 Baud.

        or telephone the Society recording at [phone] to leave
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        ASA Officers and Council -

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         Council - Jim Bitsko, Julian Crusselle, Toni Douglas, Eric Greene,
                   Larry Klaes, Max Mirot, Paul Pirillo, Patti Provost,
                   Michael Wiggs


        ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS -

        Article submissions to the EJASA on astronomy and space exploration
    are most welcome.  Please send your on-line articles in ASCII format to
    Larry Klaes, EJASA Editor, at the following net addresses or the above
    Society addresses:

        [e-mail]
        or - ...!decwrl!advax.enet.dec.com!klaes
        or - [e-mail]
        or - [e-mail]

        You may also use the above net addresses for EJASA backissue
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        Please be certain to include either a network or regular mail
    address where you can be reached, a telephone number, and a brief
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        DISCLAIMER -

        Submissions are welcome for consideration.  Articles submitted,
    unless otherwise stated, become the property of the Astronomical
    Society of the Atlantic.  Though the articles will not be used for
    profit, they are subject to editing, abridgment, and other changes.
    Copying or reprinting of the EJASA, in part or in whole, is encouraged,
    provided clear attribution is made to the Astronomical Society of the
    Atlantic, the Electronic Journal, and the author(s).  This Journal is
    Copyright (c) 1990 by the Astronomical Society of the Atlantic.


                            MAD FOR THE STARS:
                    VISIONS OF ASTROUTOPIAE, PART ONE

                            by Craig M. Levin

        The concept of astroutopiae - how human society will extend
    itself beyond Earth into the Universe - did not start with the
    launching of the first artificial satellite, SPUTNIK 1, into Earth
    orbit in 1957.  Its beginnings go back much further, to at least
    the early decades of the Twentieth Century.

        During those formative years, there appeared three men who stand
    out as being the catalysts for humanity's vision of its future beyond
    our home planet into the far vaster surrounding Cosmos.  These three
    pioneers were Robert H. Goddard of the United States, Konstantin Tsiol-
    kovsky of the Soviet Union, and Hermann Oberth of Germany.  Though none
    of these scientists ever met each other in person, their combined vis-
    ions lifted the human race on its way to the stars.

        The Fathers of Modern Rocketry

        Robert Goddard was born in Massachusetts on October 5, 1882,
    growing up in the city of Worcester.  Goddard's earliest dreams were
    of finding a way to explore the other planets of the Sol system, es-
    pecially Mars.  During the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Cen-
    turies, Mars was thought to harbor highly intelligent and civilized
    beings.  Goddard's first writings on space travel appeared when he
    was a high school student.  These early works were published in the
    periodical POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS in 1902.

        The writings that were to make Goddard famous, however, were to
    come out after he became a physicist at Clark University.  Published
    in SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS in 1919, Goddard carefully
    detailed the concept of launching an unmanned rocket to Earth's moon,
    Luna.  After a journey of several days, the rocket would explode a
    payload of flash powder upon impact with the lunar surface, letting
    astronomers on Earth observing Luna through telescopes know that the
    vehicle had successfully reached its target.

        When the popular media eventually learned of Goddard's proposal,
    the press allowed their own hype to blow the scientist's ideas out
    of proportion.  Rumors abounded that Goddard was ready to send such
    a rocket to Luna, and that even a manned expedition was also under
    development by the Massachusetts native.  Goddard was subjected to
    the ridicule and ignorance of both the general public and press.
    Though it seems almost absurd today, the concept of launching a
    craft to another world appeared beyond human capabilities to most
    people living in the era prior to World War Two.

        Publishing ideas on how to travel into space was but a part of
    Goddard's dream:  Building the forerunners of the machines which would
    actually reach into the realm above Earth's atmosphere was Goddard's
    primary focus.  This dream led to a historic reality in March of 1926,
    when Goddard's (and humanity's) first liquid-fueled rocket made a brief
    but significant flight from his Aunt Effie's garden in Auburn, Massa-
    chusetts.

        Despite having constructed and flown actual rockets, though,
    continued skepticism and apathy towards the dream of spaceflight
    eventually led Goddard to take his rocket research from New England
    and transplant it in the vast arid spaces of New Mexico, where his
    work could grow in relative privacy.  Goddard would remain in that
    state, quietly bringing about the birth of the modern rocket to the
    rest of the world, until his death in 1945.

        While Goddard remained relatively unknown to his fellow Americans
    during his lifetime, the Soviets all but idolized their rocket pio-
    neer, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.  Born in 1857 during the reign of the
    Russian Czars, Tsiolkovsky became a self-taught teacher in the town
    of Kaluga.

        Tsiolkovsky first thought of using rockets for space travel in
    1883.  Being a rather solitary man like Goddard, Tsiolkovsky did not
    publish his concepts until 1893, announcing his ideas in the form of a
    science fiction story titled ON THE MOON.  Among other things in this
    work, the Russian scientist spoke of artificial satellites.

        In 1903, Tsiolkovsky wrote his first scientific paper on astronau-
    tics, entitled "Investigating Space with Reaction Devices".  In it he
    mentioned the possibility of atomic-powered rockets, though in this
    case only radioactive decay would be used.  In later papers, Tsiolkov-
    sky discussed space suits, space stations, and various types of food
    suitable for the interplanetary environment.  He also predicted that,
    by the year 2017, there would be regular "passenger service" into space.
    For his efforts, Tsiolkovsky was elected into the Soviet Academy of
    Sciences in 1919, where he continued his theoretical space research
    until his death in 1935.

        The ideas of the third member of this unique group, Hermann Oberth,
    also paralleled with Tsiolkovsky's popularity during his lifetime by
    his countrymen.  Born on June 25, 1894, Oberth recognized even as a
    child that the giant "space cannon" used to send a manned vessel named
    COLUMBIAD to Luna in Jules Verne's science fiction story of 1865, FROM
    THE EARTH TO THE MOON, would not be feasible.

        Oberth's first ideas on attaining space included the magnetic rail
    gun, but he later abandoned this concept and went on to develop other
    astronautical theories.  By 1917, Oberth had come up with detailed
    plans for what would later become the German V-2 (A-4) rocket, used
    with deadly intent in World War Two and for more peaceful purposes
    in the years following the end of the war in 1945.

        Oberth's earliest space book, THE ROCKET INTO INTERPLANETARY
    SPACE, was published in 1923.  Wernher von Braun and Frederick Ordway
    would later remark that this book "...is a thorough discussion of
    almost every phase of rocket travel." [1]  The work became a best-
    seller in Germany.

        Half a dozen years later, Oberth published a sequel to his first
    book, THE ROAD TO SPACE TRAVEL.  In that same year, he helped found
    what would later become one of the greatest space societies on Earth,
    The Society for Space Ship Travel, usually known by its German acronym,
    VfR.  Oberth was also an active publicist.  He became scientific con-
    sultant to the film company UFA Pictures' FRAU IM MOND (THE WOMAN IN
    THE MOON), one of the first full-length modern science fiction films.
    Oberth made many other important contributions to the rocketry efforts
    of the VfR, which will be discussed in detail presently.

        The visions of Goddard, Tsiolkovsky, and Oberth helped to pave
    the way for the groups of dedicated dreamers and designers who
    would take their spaceships of the imagination and limited flight
    range and turn them into viable realities.  Humanity would extend
    itself into the ocean of space.  The astroutopiae was born.

        The Rocket Societies

        In the 1920s and 1930s, in the wake of advancing technology
    and the concepts of various individuals regarding the starry
    darkness around them, numerous clubs devoted to building and
    launching rockets and promoting space exploration were organized
    around the globe.  Most countries had at least one such group.
    The United States alone had more than four.  The people who were
    part of these endeavors were known as "rocketmen".

        Of all the space groups flourishing at that time, four came into
    major prominence.  The British Interplanetary Society (BIS), the
    American Rocket Society (ARS), the German Verein fur Raumschiffahrt
    (VfR, The Society for Space Ship Travel), and the Soviet groups under
    the umbrella title of GIRD.

        In Great Britain, despite the Explosives Act of 1875, which
    forbade any rocketry experiments or fabrication of such by civilians,
    the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) was formed in 1933 and has
    been a strong organization promoting the exploration of space ever
    since.  The BIS counts as one of its members Arthur C. Clarke, one of
    the foremost science fact and fiction authors.  Because they were barred
    from actively experimenting with rockets, the BIS instead turned to
    planning and speculation on humanity's future in space.  It is due to
    this society that the general public witnessed the first serious plans
    for a manned spacecraft that could travel to the surface of Luna and
    back.  The early members of the BIS, mostly amateur astronomers and
    science fiction fans, gave us a fairly accurate picture of how space
    travel would (and will) be accomplished in the coming decades.

        Of all the major rocket societies, it is perhaps the German groups
    to whom we owe the largest debt.  Among its founding members it counted
    Hermann Oberth, Wernher von Braun, and Willy Ley.  It was these men who
    designed rockets for scientific purposes (their original intent in 1927),
    commercial purposes (the expertise of the VfR was used to great effect
    in the early science fiction film FRAU IM MOND; they also attempted to
    construct a working rocket for the film's 1929 premiere), and military
    purposes (the V-2 was largely built by VfR members who had to work for
    the Nazi regime, which dominated Germany and a large part of Europe
    during World War Two).

        Oberth's early concepts regarding the human presence in space
    were the basis for much of the VfR's purpose for being brought into
    existence.  Numerous VfR pamphlets described journeys to the planets
    Venus and Mars, bases on Luna, wheel-shaped space stations, mail and
    passenger rockets, and even intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).
    The importance of their ideas cannot be underestimated:  Many of these
    men were later to become important figures in the early years of the
    United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),
    founded in 1958.

        The America Rocket Society (ARS) is perhaps not one of the best
    known of all these societies, but they are certainly as interesting.
    The ARS's foundation lay heavily in the realm of science fiction.  Out
    of its twelve founding members, almost all of them were connected to
    Hugo Gernsback, the original publisher of ASTOUNDING magazine, later to
    become known as ANALOG.  As a result, many of science fiction's major
    minds contributed to the ideas of the ARS.  Among them were Wyld's re-
    generative motor and ion drive.  Despite coming into existence during
    the Great Depression, which ravaged much of society in the 1930s, the
    members of the ARS remained hopeful for humanity's future.

        The Soviet Union have always claimed that their achievements in
    space were originally home-grown.  Little, however, has ever been
    revealed of their early space plans outside of repeating Tsiolkovsky's
    literary visions.  What information has been let out about the early
    history of Soviet rocketry says little about their plans for the future,
    aside from repeated hopes for expeditions to Mars (the planet's reddish
    color was used as a propaganda tool for the Red Army in World War Two).
    Perhaps with the growing openness of the Soviet political and social
    climate, more will become known to the rest of the world about the
    pioneers of Soviet space exploration and their founding organizations.

        There was one Soviet "rocketman" from those early days whose
    ideas and accomplishments on space travel compare quite well with
    his fellow pioneers.  Sergei Korolev, who became known by name to
    the West after his death in 1966, was a member of GIRD.  Korolev
    took part in the launch of the first Soviet liquid-fueled rocket.
    He also played a major role in helping his nation develop their own
    rocket program from the captured V-2s and German scientists after
    World War Two.  All of this led to Korolev becoming the major force
    behind the Soviet space program.  The "Chief Designer" lived to see
    the Soviet Union launch the first satellite into Earth orbit, the
    first probe to Luna, and the first man and woman in space.  Much of
    his original plans for the exploration of the Universe are carried
    on by the present Soviet space program.

        The "rocketmen" of these space societies eventually did more than
    just relate their dreams of seeing humans fly through space and walking
    on other planets.  Many members, especially those from Germany, made
    major contributions to the space programs of the United States and
    Soviet Union.  Flights to Luna, Earth-orbiting space stations, vessels
    circling alien worlds - all were described decades before they actually
    happened.  These societies brought the ideas of the first space pioneers
    to the public, leaving a world ready for the achievements of Earth's
    emerging space programs.

        Postwar Developments in Space

        When the Axis forces of Germany and Japan surrendered to the
    Allied nations in 1945, effectively bringing World War Two to a close,
    a new age was born from the technological spoils of that global
    struggle.

        Among the many advances produced by the needs of the various sides
    attempting to win the war, Germany developed the aforementioned V-2
    rocket, also known as the A-4.  Though it was used primarily by the
    Nazis to bomb Europe from 1944 to 1945, its origins were much more
    peaceful in nature.  Those who were made to build this new weapon had
    dreamed of using the science of rocketry to carry humans into space
    and to other worlds.  When World War Two ended, many of those German
    scientists and their technologies were taken by the United States and
    other Allied forces to help develop their own military and space
    programs.

        Looking at the majority of postwar astroutopiae, four names came
    into prominence during the early years of this period:  Arthur C.
    Clarke of the BIS, Willy Ley and Wernher von Braun, both former VfR
    members, and the American Chesley Bonestell, considered by many to
    be the father of modern space art.  Most of the astroutopians of the
    time took their inspiration from the ideas and designs of these men.
    Perhaps the most well-known of that era's astroutopiae was contained
    in the book THE CONQUEST OF SPACE, written in 1949 by Ley and illus-
    trated by Bonestell.

        In CONQUEST, Ley discussed the development of passenger rockets on
    ballistic trajectories between cities and nations, space stations, and
    long-term missions to Luna - concepts that had been part of many earlier
    astroutopiae.  But it was primarily the incredible art in this book that
    first caught its readers' attention and imagination.  Bonestell's art-
    work is prized today as accurate representations of what was known about
    many celestial places during his career, and still more as representa-
    tions of what our then-projected future in space would be like.  Bone-
    stell graphically depicted a realm plied by slim silver spacecraft with
    fins.  These machines essentially matched how later rockets would appear
    standing majestically on launch pads, slicing through interplanetary
    space, and discharging crews of space-suited astronauts on the ancient
    surfaces of Luna and other planets.

        In addition to the art in CONQUEST, there was also an urgency in
    Ley's writings.  Ley did not refer to interplanetary journeys as ifs,
    as he had before in Germany, but as whens.  Ley predicted the triumph
    of rocketry in less than a decade.  Future collaborations by Ley and
    Bonestell, occasionally with Wernher von Braun, became excellent fol-
    lowup work:  ACROSS THE SPACE FRONTIER, CONQUEST OF THE MOON, and THE
    EXPLORATION OF MARS are three fine examples of these combined efforts.
    These works gave detailed descriptions of possible expeditions to other
    worlds.  In particular, CONQUEST OF THE MOON deserves close examina-
    tion, for it was von Braun's engineering genius that accomplished such
    a goal just sixteen years after the book's initial publication.

        For starters, the authors of CONQUEST OF THE MOON assumed that a
    functioning space station would already exist in Earth orbit by 1967.
    The space station was to be a combination lab, observatory, and
    spacecraft drydock.  The first manned lunar expedition was to be
    attempted in 1978, with fifty personnel and three huge space vessels,
    two which would go to Luna and return, while the remaining one was
    crammed with supplies and all the materials required for building a
    lunar base.  The mission would last about forty days, landing in
    Sinus Roris near a convenient valley.

        The expedition would have chemists, physicists, astronomers, and
    geologists working in teams.  It is the spacecraft themselves which
    seem to be the most alien to our modern views, for they are not like
    the cramped Lunar Modules of APOLLO:  These ships consisted of spher-
    ical crew chambers riding atop curious assemblages of fuel and oxidi-
    zer tanks contained in skeletal metallic structures.  The space suits
    designed for the mission appear like those most often seen in pulp
    science fiction novels and films of the 1950s, with eyeslits and pro-
    truding antennae.  Unlike their fictional counterparts, however, these
    suits were truly meant to function in the icy near-vaccuum of space.

        Arthur Clarke's smaller work of 1951, INTERPLANETARY FLIGHT,
    contained many ideas that parallel Ley and von Braun's, particularly
    in that they emphasize the use of constructing large spacecraft in
    Earth orbit.  Clarke also gives a great deal of thought to ion and
    nuclear drives.  His work is further characterized by a more mathe-
    matical and analytical format than the various popular works of Ley
    and von Braun.

        Eventually it was the Soviet Union which brought the initial plans
    of the early space literature to reality.  One hundred years after the
    birth of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, a small spherical satellite was sent
    by the Soviets into a ninety-minute orbit around Earth.  This relatively
    simple craft, named SPUTNIK 1, created greater ramifications for human-
    ity than its diminutive size and abilities would have seemed capable of.
    In part, the Western world was placed into fear at the obvious techno-
    logical advancements of what it considered to be the enemy during the
    Cold War.

        Despite this concern, there was another side to SPUTNIK that spoke
    to a future humanity unburdened by petty greed and war, one that was
    destined to go both literally and figuratively beyond the planet of
    its birth.  Even in these first steps of the Space Age, there was un-
    deniable wonder and joy that human beings could actually reach for the
    stars by their own efforts.  The work and frustration of the first
    space pioneers, once considered "madmen" and optimistic dreamers by
    much of society, was finally vindicated.

        The Soviets had lain the foundation with SPUTNIK; now this nation
    and the rest of civilization had to construct its future home in the
    Universe.

        End of Part One.

        Footnote -

    1 - Von Braun, Wernher, and Frederick Ordway, HISTORY OF ROCKETRY AND
        SPACE TRAVEL, Fitzhenry and Whiteside, Ltd., Toronto, Canada, 1975

        Bibliography -

        Clarke, Arthur C., INTERPLANETARY FLIGHT, Harper and Row, New York,
         1951

        Ley, Willy, THE CONQUEST OF SPACE, The Macmillan Company of Canada,
         Ltd., 1949

        Ley, Willy, Fred Whipple, and Wernher von Braun, CONQUEST OF THE
         MOON, The Macmillan Company of Canada, Ltd., 1953

        Ley, Willy and Wernher von Braun, THE EXPLORATION OF MARS, The
         Macmillan Company of Canada, Ltd., 1956

        Stoiko, Michael, SOVIET ROCKETRY, Holt, Rinehart, & Winston of
         Canada, Ltd., 1970

        Von Braun, Wernher, and Frederick Ordway, HISTORY OF ROCKETRY AND
         SPACE TRAVEL, Fitzhenry and Whiteside, Ltd., Toronto, Canada, 1975

        Wilson, Andrew, SOLAR SYSTEM LOG, Janes's Publishing Co., Ltd.,
         Great Britain, 1987

        Winter, Frank, PRELUDE TO THE SPACE AGE, Smithsonian Institution,
         1983

        About the Author -

        Craig M. Levin began his involvement in astronomy when, in the
    second grade, he received H. A. Rey's book, FIND THE CONSTELLATIONS,
    as a birthday present.  From Rey's work, Craig was able to find those
    few constellations visible through the bright city lights of Chicago,
    Illinois.  Craig's initial interest in astronomy later flagged,
    though, and remained at a low level for a number of years.  Comet
    Halley pulled Craig out of his freshman high school doldrums in 1985-
    1986, as the tiny ball of ice and rock made its latest appearance
    through the inner regions of the solar system.  That January, Craig
    received his first telescope (he has since gone through four sets,
    including binoculars) and began to get involved in astronomy again.
    By his sophomore year in high school, Craig was a member of Chicago's
    Adler Planetarium and The Planetary Society.  As a junior, Craig had
    his first astronomy article published in the now-defunct Small Scope
    Observers' Association's newsletter, and by his senior year in high
    school was helping to establish the ASTRONOMICAL NEWSLETTER, a now-
    defunct periodical based in Atlanta, Georgia.  At present, Craig
    is a physics major at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, who
    intends to turn his first love, planetology, into his profession.

        If you would like to contact Craig over the network, please do
    so at the following net address:

        Craig\The Moonman\Levin      ===()===   //////
        [e-mail]       ``-----//
                                         ```````

        Craig is the author of "The Ice Moons of the Jovian Worlds" in
    the March 1990 issue of the EJASA.


                          ANDROMEDA, LADY OF FALL

                              by Brian Mason

        One of the most prominent constellations that can be seen in the
    autumn season of the Northern Hemisphere is the chained lady of the
    sky, Andromeda.  In Greek mythology, Andromeda was the daughter of
    Cepheus and Cassiopeia, the King and Queen of Ethiopia.

        Andromeda was punished due to the boasting of her mother,
    Cassiopeia.  In some traditions, Cassiopeia was boasting of her own
    beauty, while in others she spoke of the beauty of her daughter,
    Andromeda.  She was compared in beauty to the Nereids, the water
    nymphs, who complained to their father, Poseidon.  Poseidon sent the
    sea creature Cetus to destroy Ethiopia for this insult.  The only way
    King Cepheus could avoid this horror was to sacrifice his daughter to
    Cetus.  Cepheus had Andromeda chained to a rock by the sea to await
    her fate.  The fates had other intentions, though:  The hero Perseus
    came upon the scene and, after warning Andromeda to keep her eyes
    tightly shut, exposed Cetus to the severed head of Medusa.  This
    gruesome creature's gaze, even in death, would turn any living thing
    it met eyes with into stone.  Cetus saw Medusa's head and was trans-
    formed into solid rock.  Perseus then freed Andromeda from her bonds
    and the two were later married.

        While the Greek myth is certainly ancient, the story itself
    probably originated even earlier in the region of Mesopotamia (now
    modern Iraq) in the Babylonian "Epic of Creation".  Elements of the
    Greek myth tie in with the Babylonian story of the hero Bel Marduk
    and the evil dragon Tiamat.

        The Western constellation of Andromeda also shares its stars with
    the more complex Chinese constellations Koui-siou (the House of the
    Sandal), Kiun-nan-mun (the Southern Camp Gate), and T'ien-Ta-Tsiang-
    Kiun (the Great Celestial General).  All of these are part of Pe-Hou,
    the White Tiger of Autumn.  Koui-siou steps across the center of Andro-
    meda, then across the galaxy Andromeda (Messier 31, or M31), and fin-
    ally the star Mirach.  The appearance of this asterism indicated both
    the time of the harvest and the need to make footwear.  Kiun-nan-mun
    is near the star Adhil at the right foot of Andromeda.  Kiun-nan-mun,
    along with many other asterisms of this part of the White Tiger, is
    associated with the end of summer festivals.  T'ien-Ta-Tsiang-Kiun is
    near the star Almech at the left foot of Andromeda.  Gamma Andromeda
    represented the Great Celestial General, while surrounding stars
    represented his officers.

        The Marshall Islanders saw a porpoise design in the constellations
    Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Triangulum, and Aries.  The tail of the porpoise
    is the "W" shape of Cassiopeia, with Aries at the head.  Andromeda
    made up the mid-body and dorsal fin of this ocean mammal.

        Visually from Earth, Andromeda is found between the Milky Way band
    of stars and the ecliptic between twenty-three and three hours right
    ascension, and between twenty and fifty-five degrees north declination.
    The constellation starts at Alpheratz, or Alpha Andromedae, the north-
    east star of the Great Square of the mythic winged horse, Pegasus (which
    is at the head of Andromeda), and continues in a generally northeasterly
    direction.  Delta and Pi Andromedae mark the breasts of Andromeda, Mu
    Andromedae and Beta Andromedae (also known as Mirach) mark her waist,
    while 51 Andromedae and Gamma Andromedae (also known as Almech) mark
    the feet of the chained maiden.  Lambda Andromedae marks her right
    chained hand, while the princess' other hand is vaguely indicated in
    the opposite direction.  Cassiopeia and Lacerta are to the right of
    Andromeda, while the constellations Triangulum and Pisces are to her
    left.  Pegasus and Perseus are found above and below Andromeda,
    respectively.

        Alpheratz, or Alpha Andromedae, is a B9 spectral class spectro-
    scopic binary star system with a period of 97 days.  It is a white
    star of magnitude 2.1 located roughly one hundred light years from
    Earth.  Alpheratz means "the horse's navel", attesting to its former
    attachment to the constellation of Pegasus, where it was once known
    as Delta Pegasi.  Another bright star of the same magnitude is Mirach,
    or Beta Andromedae.  It is a M0 class star found 170 light years from
    Sol.  Its name means "girdle of the waist-cloth", which approximates
    its position in the constellation.  The third magnitude 2.1 star in
    Andromeda is Almech, or Gamma Andromedae.  It is probably the most
    interesting of the group.  A trinary star system with components of
    magnitude 2.1, 5.5, and 6.3, it consists of orange (K3), emerald (B9),
    and blue (A0) members, first recognized as being multiple by Frederich
    G. W. von Struve (1793-1864) in 1830.  The separation of the closer
    pair in the system is from one to ten seconds of arc.  Their orbit
    has a period of 61 years.  Almech is the name of a small predatory
    animal in Arabia.

        One of the most significant and stunning object in Andromeda is
    the galaxy Andromeda (Messier 31, or M31).  This spiral star structure
    is a relatively bright celestial object at magnitude 4.8.  The galaxy
    is found at zero hours, 42 minutes right ascension and 41 degrees
    north declination.  Andromeda is one of the few Messier objects which
    can be viewed clearly with binoculars, despite being over 2.2 million
    light years from our Milky Way galaxy.  At this distance, Sol would
    have an apparent magnitude of just 29.1.  It should be noted, though,
    that Andromeda is a next-door neighbor to the Milky Way compared to
    most other galaxies in the Universe.  When the light now seen from
    Andromeda left on its 730 kiloparsec intergalactic journey, one of
    humanity's most ancient ancestors, Homo Habilis, were roaming the
    grassy plains of East Africa.

        The Andromeda galaxy was first mentioned by the Persian astronomer
     al-Sufi (903-986) in the Tenth Century and was referred to as the
    "little cloud".  Andromeda is a spiral galaxy which is seen about
    fifteen degrees from edge on and was initially believed by earlier
    astronomers to be a cloud of gas or a forming solar system.  The
    true distance of Andromeda was determined in 1923 with the use of
    Cepheid variable stars.  This galaxy contains over three hundred
    billion suns and the absolute magnitude of the great spiral, almost
    twice the size of our own Milky Way galaxy, would be -20.3!  Sol's
    apparent magnitude in Earth's sky is -27 for comparison.  It is
    160 minutes by 40 minutes in diameter, with over one hundred novae
    having been discovered there since the invention of the astronomical
    telescope.  Andromeda is also a strong celestial radio source at
    158.5 megahertz.

        Twenty-four minutes south of Messier 31 is the galaxy Messier 32,
    an elliptical companion galaxy.  It is faint (magnitude 8.7) and small,
    only 3.6 by 3.1 minutes in size.  M32 was discovered in 1749 by Le Gen-
    tilin.  Another even smaller companion to M31 is Messier 110, thirty-
    five minutes to the northwest.  M110 was discovered in 1773 by Charles
    Messier (1730-1817) and its stellar magnitude is only 9.4.

        There are three annual meteor "showers" associated with Andromeda,
    as they appear to emanate from the constellation.  Those occurring on
    August 31 and October 3 are relatively minor, but the Andromedids of
    November 14 can be quite impressive.  The radiant of these is near
    Gamma Andromedae, and they are best seen in very dark skies at a usual
    rate of five to fifteen meteors per hour.  This display is thought to
    be the remains of the comet Biela, which failed to reappear in 1872.
    In 1885 the Andromedids produced from five thousand to seventy-five
    thousand meteors per hour!

        The chained princess of mythology is one of the larger
    constellations in the Northern sky and possesses one of the most
    spectacular objects in all of observational astronomy.  The history of
    Andromeda and her many surrounding constellations form a fascinating
    story, well suited for late night observing sessions under clear and
    dry autumn skies.

        References and Further Reading -

        Allen, Richard H., STAR NAMES: THEIR LORE AND MEANING, Dover
         Books, New York, 1963 (1899)

        Bishop, Roy L., OBSERVER'S HANDBOOK, The Royal Astronomical
         Society of Canada (RASC), 1988

        Burnham Jr., Robert, BURNHAM'S CELESTIAL HANDBOOK (three volumes),
         Dover Books, Mineola, New York, 1978

        Menzel, Donald H., and Jay M. Pasachoff, FIELD GUIDE TO THE
         STARS AND PLANETS, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1983

        Moore, Patrick, EXPLORING THE NIGHT SKY WITH BINOCULARS,
         Cambridge University Press, 1986

        Murdin, Paul, CATALOGUE OF THE UNIVERSE, Crown Publishers, 1979

        Staal, Julius D. W., THE NEW PATTERNS IN THE SKY, McDonald and
         Woodward, Blacksburg, 1988

        Staal, Julius D. W., STARS OF JADE, Writ Press, 1984

        About the Author -

        Brian Mason is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in astronomy with
    CHARA while teaching physics at Avondale High School in Atlanta,
    Georgia.  Brian's interests include binary star astrometry and
    photometry, as well as speckle interferometry.  He is also active
    in astronomical computing.

        Brian is the author of "Pegasus: Winged Horse of Autumn" in
    the September 1990 issue of the EJASA.


      THE ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE ATLANTIC

                       November 1990 - Vol. 2, No. 4

                          Copyright (c) 1990 - ASA

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End of SPACE Digest V12 #568
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