March 9, 2022
The constellation Perseus is visible in the northwest sky tonight at 8 pm. The second brightest star in this constellation is called Algol, which is an eclipsing binary star system. It is comprised of a hot, more massive star and a cooler, less massive star. When the cooler star passes in front of the hotter one, part of the latter’s light is blocked, and we see a dimming effect occur. The min-max cycle of Algol occurs once every 2.87 days and is noticeable to the naked eye.
To determine the nearest minimum in this cycle, visit: https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/the-minima-of-algol/
Algol is the second brightest star in the constellation of Perseus. It is an eclipsing binary star which varies in brightness over periods of 2.87 days. Star map created using Stellarium