Perseus comes to the rescue in November! This constellation contains the star Algol, representing the head of Medusa—the legendary monster slain by Perseus. Algol varies in brightness in a predictable pattern, which led to the discovery that it’s not just one star, but two in a system known as an eclipsing binary. When the dimmer of the two stars passes “in front” of the brighter star, a dimming effect occurs. The opposite happens when the brighter star is in front. A pair of twin star clusters located near the “sword” of Perseus is a good target for binoculars.