Constellation, Hero
Perseus
The Greek hero who beheaded Medusa and rescued Andromeda. He holds the Gorgon’s head, marked by the star Algol, and his sword hand holds the Double Cluster.
From New York on October 13, 2026, the centre of Perseus rises at 4:59 PM, is highest at 2:56 AM (86° above the horizon in the N) and sets at 12:57 PM.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Perseus. Drag to look around.
Loading 3D view...
Drag to look around, pinch or scroll to zoom.
Evening visibility over the year
Height of the constellation’s centre above the horizon at 10 pm local time on the 15th of each month, from New York. Above about 30° it is well placed.
Name and history
Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danaë. As a baby he was cast out to sea in a chest with his mother, because an oracle had warned that he would kill his grandfather. A fisherman raised him. Later a king who wanted to be rid of him sent him to fetch the head of Medusa, the Gorgon whose gaze turned people to stone. With gifts from the gods, including winged sandals and a helmet that made him invisible, he cut off her head while looking only at her reflection in his shield. On his way home he rescued Andromeda from a sea monster.
His whole story fills the nearby sky, with Andromeda, her parents Cepheus and Cassiopeia, Cetus the monster and Pegasus. Algol, in the Gorgon’s head, comes from Arabic for ‘the demon’s head’. Its brightness changes as two stars eclipse each other, which Geminiano Montanari first reported in 1671. The name is older than that discovery, and the idea of a ‘winking eye’ seems to be a modern myth. Ptolemy noted a ‘nebulous mass’ at the hero’s sword hand, now known as the Double Cluster.
Sources: Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Perseus
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mirfak | α Per | 1.79 | 507 light-years |
| Algol | β Per | 2.09 | 90 light-years |
| ζ Per | ζ Per | 2.84 | 752 light-years |
| Aldu | ε Per | 2.90 | 638 light-years |
| γ Per | γ Per | 2.91 | 243 light-years |
| Sarvvis | δ Per | 3.01 | 516 light-years |
| ρ Per | ρ Per | 3.32 | 308 light-years |
| Miram | η Per | 3.77 | 879 light-years |
| ν Per | ν Per | 3.77 | 557 light-years |
| Misam | κ Per | 3.79 | 113 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 613 square degrees (24 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Per |
| Sky | Northern sky |
| Origin | One of the 48 constellations listed in Ptolemy’s Almagest, about AD 150 |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 40 |
| Centre (J2000) | 3.5 h, 44° |
Deep-sky objects
Galaxies, clusters and nebulae brighter than magnitude 9, from the OpenNGC catalogue. Most need binoculars or a telescope and a dark sky.
| Object | Type | Magnitude |
|---|---|---|
| NGC0869 · h Persei Cluster | Open cluster | 3.7 |
| NGC0884 · chi Persei Cluster | Open cluster | 3.8 |
| NGC1499 · California Nebula | Nebula | 5.0 |
| M34 | Open cluster | 5.2 |
| NGC1545 | Open cluster | 6.2 |
| NGC1528 | Open cluster | 6.4 |
| NGC1444 | Open cluster | 6.6 |
| NGC1342 | Open cluster | 6.7 |
| NGC1582 | Open cluster | 7.0 |
| NGC0957 | Open cluster | 7.6 |
Boundaries: International Astronomical Union, via Astronomy Engine. Areas are computed from the boundaries by sampling (within about one percent). Names and lines: Stellarium. Stars: HYG Database. Deep-sky objects: OpenNGC. Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. Data sources
How to use this page
Choose your place and a night at the top. The answer and the 3D view show where the constellation is, when it is highest and whether it rises at all from where you are. The chart shows its stars and lines, and the tables list its brightest stars and the deep-sky objects inside it.
Frequently asked questions
When is a constellation best seen?
When it is highest in a dark sky, which the page gives for the night you pick. Each constellation is best placed in a particular season, because the stars rise about four minutes earlier every night.
Why can I not see a constellation from my place?
Constellations far south of the celestial equator never rise from northern places, and those far north never rise from southern ones. The page says when this is the case.
What are the constellation boundaries?
The International Astronomical Union divides the sky into 88 areas with official boundaries. The stick figures are only a drawing aid, the boundaries say which constellation a point in the sky belongs to.
Related guides
- How to learn the constellationsStart with one bright pattern you cannot miss, use it as a signpost to its neighbours, and come back a month later: the sky will have turned, and you will know a little more of it.
- Altitude and azimuth: finding things in the skyTwo angles tell you exactly where to look: which direction, and how high.
- Light pollution and dark skies: the Bortle scaleFrom a city centre you can count a few dozen stars. From a truly dark site you can count a few thousand, with the Milky Way bright enough to cast a shadow. The Bortle scale puts a number on the difference.
- Binoculars for stargazing: what to buy and what to look atA pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars shows the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, dozens of star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy, for a fraction of the cost of a telescope.