Andromeda travels close to Ursa Minor and the North star Polaris and is often times seen near the horizon during the fall and winter months. She shares her star Alpheratz with Pegasus and the famous Andromedan Galaxy is the closest galaxy to our own Milky Way.
The Greek story of Andromeda says that Andromedan's mother, Cassiopeaia, boasted that she was more beautiful than the sea goddess Nereus' daughters, so Nereus sent out a giant sea monster, Cetus, to destroy Cassiopeaia's kingdom. An oracle had advised Cassiopeaia and her husband Cepheus to leave their daughter Andromeda as a sacrifice to Nereus. At the last possible moment in time, Andromeda was saved from Cetus by none other than Perseus, who was able to turn the sea monster into stone because he held the ill-fated dead head of Medusa. |
