- Algol
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/al"gol, -gawl/, n.a star of the second magnitude in the constellation Perseus: the first known and most famous eclipsing binary star. Also called Demon Star.[1350-1400; ME < Ar, equiv. to al the + ghul GHOUL; as trans. of Gk (Ptolemy) gorgónion the head of the Gorgon Medusa, held by Perseus]
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High-level algebraic computer programming language developed in the late 1950s as an international language for the expression of algorithms (its name is derived from ALGOrithmic Language) between humans as well as between humans and machines.Used especially in mathematical and scientific applications, ALGOL was more popular in Europe than in the U.S., but it was an important precursor of Pascal and it influenced the development of C language.* * *
▪ staralso called Beta Perseiprototype of a class of variable stars called eclipsing binaries (eclipsing variable star), the second brightest star in the northern constellation Perseus. Its apparent visual magnitude changes over the range of (approximately) 2.2 to 3.5 with a period of 2.87 days. Even at its dimmest it remains readily visible to the unaided eye. The name probably derives from an Arabic phrase meaning “demon,” or “mischief-maker,” and the Arabs may have been aware of the star's variability even before the invention of the telescope.The first European astronomer to note the light variation was the Italian Geminiano Montanari in 1670; the English astronomer John Goodricke (Goodricke, John) measured the cycle (69 hours) in 1782 and suggested partial eclipses of the star by another body as a cause, a hypothesis proved correct in 1889. The comparatively long duration of the eclipse shows that the dimensions of the two stars are not negligible in comparison with the distance between them. A third star, which does not take part in the eclipses, revolves about the other two with a period of 1.862 years.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
