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Andromeda Galaxy
M31 is the closest galaxy to the Milky Way. It is a
big spiral galaxy, even visible at naked eye in the
costellation of Andromeda, from which it takes its
name. In the past, it was called 'the Great Nebula in
Andromeda', for it was similar to a cloud when, about
fifty or sixty years ago, telescopes were not
powerful enough to discern individual stars in
galaxies. Same as our Milky Way, M31 is part of the
Local Group, with its satellite galaxies (M32 and
M110, two dwarf elliptical galaxies), M33 and others.
If you want to learn more,
click here. Thanks to
NASA.
The Tale of the Enchained Princess
Greek mithology talks about the princess Andromeda as the daughter of Cepheus, king of Ethiopia, and
her wife Cassiopeia. They say that the queen Cassiopeia was
a very vain woman, thinking herself the most beautiful woman
in the world, even more beautiful than the sea nymphs and
Aphrodite herself. So, Aphrodite and Poseidon got angry for
this reason, and the god of the oceans Poseidon created a
terrifing monster, a sea dragon or a big whale, and sent it
to destroy Ethiopia. The only way to stop its rage and
Poseidon's revenge, a seer sad, was to sacrifice Cepheus and
Cassiopeia's daughter, the beautiful Andromeda. And so, the
Princess was chained on a rock on the coast, waiting for the
monster to come. But, when the monster appaired, the great
hero Perseus arrived, riding the mighty Pegasus, taking with
him the head of Medusa. Medusa's eyes petrified the monster,
and Andromeda was finally safe. For having rescued her,
Perseus asked for her to become her daughter, and Andromeda
and her parents accepted gladly.
This is a version of the tale about
Andromeda, which so gave her name to the famous costellation
in the sky |
