Today's featured article
|
Andromeda is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations. Located north of the celestial equator, it is named for the princess in the Greek legend, who was chained to a rock to be eaten by the sea monster Cetus. Its brightest star, Alpha Andromedae, is a binary star, as is bright Gamma Andromedae, a colorful binary and a popular target for amateur astronomers. The constellation's most obvious deep-sky object is the naked-eye Andromeda Galaxy (M31, also called the Great Galaxy of Andromeda), the closest galaxy to the Milky Way and one of the brightest Messier objects. In Chinese astronomy, the stars that make up Andromeda were members of four different constellations that had astrological and mythological significance; a constellation related to Andromeda also exists in Hindu mythology. Andromeda is the location of the radiant for the Andromedids, a weak meteor shower that occurs in November. (more...)
Recently featured: Mumia Abu-Jamal – Halifax Gibbet – Cross of Gold speech
|
Did you know...
|
|
|
|
In the news
|
|
On this day...
|
|
|
Other areas of Wikipedia
- Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
- Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
- Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
- Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
- Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
- Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.
Wikipedia's sister projects
Wikipedia is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other projects:
Wikipedia languages