Almach

Its story

Almach marks the western foot of Andromeda, a hot B-type star whose bluish light crosses 393 light-years to reach us. The photon visible tonight left its surface before Galileo first turned his spyglass to the sky. Its Arabic name, «Al-‘Anaq al-Arḑ», refers to a small desert mammal akin to a caracal or lynx. To the naked eye it appears as a single jewel, but under a telescope it reveals a colour contrast so famous it has graced astronomy manuals for more than two centuries.