And now thing get very scary. Please don’t look at the image until you are well informed and braced for what may come! At Halloween we are allowed to indulge ourselves in these spooky matters.
The bright star in the image is called Algol, a triple star in the constellation of Perseus that is highly variable. Its changes in brightness are highly regular (a period of just under 3 days) and are easily seen with the naked eye. Algol is also known as Beta Persei – it is the second brightest star in the constellation Perseus.
Now the scary part…
The name Algol is from Arabic, al-ghul, or The Ghoul. Classical depictions of the constellation show Perseus holding the severed head of the Gorgon Medusa that he had killed. In the second century Ptolemy noted it was one of the brightest stars in the Gorgon’s head. To Hipparchos (circa 150 BC) Algol was the Head of Medusa. The Gorgon Medusa had had her hair changed into hissing serpents and she was so terrifying that everyone who looked at her turned to stone.
Algol has been called the Demon Star in English, associated with bloody violence. Hebrews knew the star as Satan’s Head. The Chinese may have called Algol “Tseih She”, or the piled-up corpses, part of a set of stars known as Da Ling, or the mausoleum.
Astrologers have referred to it as “Caput Larvae”, or the Spectre’s Head. They associate the star with both Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran and Stephen King (horror novels) and consider it the most evil star in the heavens.
There is a story that Arabic war leaders would not go into battle when Algol was dim. I’ve also read that in some places in Europe (in the past) people never allowed infant children to be exposed to the night sky because of the evil things that might come to them.
You have had fair warning… you may now look upon the Demon Star.
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