Pegasus
Pegasus is a constellation recorded in ancient times by Ptolemy and is one of the 88 official constellations established by the International Astronomical Union. It is a constellation of the northern hemisphere of the celestial sphere and is bordered by eight constellations, namely: Andromeda, Jura, Swan, Alopex, Delphin, Hippopotamus, Aquarius and Pisces.
Mythologically, Pegasus was the white-winged horse, a child of Medusa and Poseidon, who was created from the blood of the first by Poseidon's order when Perseus defeated her. The name comes either from Source, or from the adjective source = strong. Pegasus stayed in the stars when the Velelephonus horseman wanted to reach him as the sky, so Zeus, annoyed by the hurricane, commanded an insect and thrust Pegasus, so he was fleeing and threw his rider down on Earth. The imposing constellation of Pegasus was not always, as one would think, our well-known horse. Older texts refer to him as plain "Horse" or "Holy Knight", according to Arato. Other names given to him are "Libyan Horse" or even "Libyan Hippopotamus". It is only from the classical age that the constellation begins to be identified with the mythological flying Pegasus.
Astronomer Eratosthenes appears to be the first to give the constellation the name "Pegasus Hippodrome". It is worth noting that Eratosthenes was a supporter of a heliocentric theory and already at that time had managed to compute with astonishing accuracy the current magnitude of the Earth. As has already been mentioned from the Classical era, then the constellation is totally identical to the mythological Pegasus, which appears in the coins of many ancient cities, such as Corinthus and others.
The constellation of Pigasos is easily recognized by the almost perfect square of four stars, the famous Pegasus Big Square, which is located in a relatively nude of the sky. All four stars are of second size. * A-Pegasus or Marcab, a white star that has always been a basic guide to navigation. * B-Pegasus or Shetland, deep yellow. * γ-Pegasus or Algerini, white. * d-Pegasus, Alferac or Shirah, a white star, which the Pegasus constellation shares with the constellation of Andromeda. So it belongs to both constellations at the same time. The ancient Greek astronomer, Aratos, called Cirah the "rude star", the "common star". His official name, however, is "a-Andromeda" and the modern astronomical maps place it on the territory of the constellation of the chained Princess of Ethiopia Andromeda. Star a Pigasu is not the brightest of the constellation, with an apparent magnitude of 2.49. Despite its designation as "a", it is actually the third one in brightness by the stars of its constellation. The name of Markab originates from the Arabic phrase "Al Markab al Faras", meaning "the Samaris of the Horse". The b Source is a variable star, whose brightness changes over time, exhibiting a rupture of its apparent magnitude.
But important in Pegasus constellation
- Star 51, with a phenomenon of 5.49, and G2 IVa, has an extra-solar planet, the first one ever discovered (1995) in a landmark discovery for modern astronomy. - The M15 or NGC 7078 spherical cluster, easily visible with binoculars (apparent size 6.4), is perhaps the densest of all of our Milky Way clusters. Its distance from the Earth is estimated at 35,000 light-years and its diameter at 140 light-years. - The PSR B2127 + 11C, which also appears to belong to the M15 as well as eight other pulsars, is a double neutron star system with a run time of 8.05 hours and a 0.681 eccentricity. It is expected to collide at 220 million Earth years. - NGC 7317 to 7320 galaxies are members of the galaxy group known as the "Stephan's Quintet". Within a short distance is the glittering spiral galaxy NGC 7331. - Qazar QSO 2237 + 0305 also called the Cross of Einstein a classic example of a gravitational lens. In this case, the gravitational field of the Zwicky 2237 + 030 galaxy bends the light from the QSO 2237 + 0305 quasar pointing toward us in such a way that the astronomers' telescopes appear in a quadruple image of the quasar that forms a almost the perfect cross (with the galaxy at its center), hence the name (the gravitational lenses are predicted by Einstein's general Theory of Relativity)
Many scholars in the history of civilization have argued that the hips of the horses were written in the history of mankind and are not at all unfair. The horse was mythologized early, not only by its natural charisma but also by its invaluable practical offer to man. It is not surprising, therefore, that the supernatural forces from the very early myths of the horse were attributed to the horse early on.
Phedias Hadjicharalambous
Cyprus Astronomy Organisation
