Mirfak (Alpha Persei) is the brightest (mag 1.8) star in the constellation Perseus and the brightest member of the Alpha Persei Moving Group, a loose cluster of stars also known as Melotte 20. This cluster comprises about a dozen bright stars and perhaps several hundred stars total depending on how the boundary is defined. It is about 600 ly distant. It is an easy sight with binoculars.
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Mirfak and its associated cluster is on the left. The Pleiades (M45) is on the right. E-M5iii + Sigma 30mm f/1.4 + softon filter. ISO 1600, 30s.
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Mirfak and Melotte 20. E-M1iii + Olympus 75mm f/1.8 + softon filter. ISO 1600, 30 s.
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Mirfak (left) and Algol (right). E-M1iii + 75mm f/1.8 + softon filter. ISO 1600, 30 s.
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| MIrfak and Melotte 20. Olympus E-P5 + Rokinon 135mm f/2 + Kase starblast filter. ISO 1600, 30 s. |
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A 2-deg close-up of Mirfak and surroundings without the softening filter. E-P5 + Rokinon 135mm f/2. ISO 1600, 30 s.
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Mirfak is a yellow-white supergiant with an estimated mass of about 8.5 solar masses. This is very near the mass threshold that separates future supernovas from future white dwarfs. Stars more massive than this will eventually collapse and then explode as a supernova. Less massive stars will shed their outer layers as a planetary nebula and then fade away as a white dwarf.
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