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Algol (Beta Persei)
Algol
Image from Steve Bowers
Star in the constellation Perseus, 93 light years from Sol. Algol was the first known eclipsing binary star, its nature determined by the deaf astronomer John Goodricke. The A and B stars together have a magnitude that ranges from 3.4 to 2.1 as seen from Earth, because the dimmer but larger B component passes in front of the A component; the period is 2.9 days. The stars form a so called semi-detached binary.

The A component is a bright blue-white B-Class star; the B component is a K-Class giant star. The K-class star has transferred much of its mass to the other star, and is much less massive than it would be otherwise.

There is a third component, an A-type star which orbits the pair at a mean distance of nearly one astronomical unit.

The star system Algol produces a great deal of power, and material from the accretion disk can be relatively easily extracted, making this one of the richest systems in the inner Middle Regions. A number of NoCoZo corporations are based here, most notably the Algol Broadcasting Federation.
 
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Appears in Topics
Middle Regions/Hinter-regionsSystems & Worlds A - B
 
Development Notes
Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Steve Bowers
Initially published on 31 December 2001.

 
 
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