Mirfak | Murk |Special

Name History
Mirfak, the prime member of the Alpha Persei cluster, is an F-class supergiant star about 65 times bigger than the Sun. Before it began running low on hydrogen in its core — expanding and cooling into the yellow-white behemoth it is today — Mirfak was likely a smaller, hotter B-class star, like others in its cluster. .
Mirfak lies in the constellation Perseus, the Hero. This constellation is a major player in a complex Greek tale involving multiple nearby constellations: Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Pegasus, Cetus, and Cepheus. In short, Perseus, the story’s brave and shrewd hero, performs a daring rescue to save Andromeda (daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia) from a whale-like sea monster named Cetus. In at least some versions of the story, Perseus performs the rescue with the help of the winged equine Pegasus. In the end, the thankful Andromeda marries Perseus and the two become the ancestors of the Persians.