- The Great Bug Hunt (allenpike.com)
On occasion, you will hit a Bug. Not a mundane bug, some trifle you can fix in an hour, or even a day. This is a true Bug. One that defies reason. One that evokes a “that’s not possible,” a “how could this even happen?”, or most dreadfully, a “could there be a bug in the compiler?” Hold on kids, we’re going hunting.
- Almach (stars.astro.illinois.edu)
ALMACH (Gamma Andromedae). You take your new telescope to the back yard perhaps wondering what to examine. When finished with the Moon and the bright planets you turn to the stars, first perhaps to the grand Orion Nebula, next maybe to the magnificent Andromeda Galaxy. Then it is time for double stars. The sky abounds with them, northern winter’s Castor, springtime’s Mizar and Alcor, summer’s Albireo (the seasons reversed for the southern hemisphere), dozens of others easily found. Among the best of all, however, is the last star of the string of bright beauties that helps make the constellation Andromeda, second magnitude (2.16) Almach, Andromeda’s Gamma star.
