{"id":48676,"date":"2023-08-16T08:19:07","date_gmt":"2023-08-16T08:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/a828d5df-7af3-4eeb-b372-10a6cbb5722f"},"modified":"2023-08-16T08:32:31","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T08:32:31","slug":"a-guide-to-the-constellation-pisces","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/a-guide-to-the-constellation-pisces\/","title":{"rendered":"A guide to the constellation Pisces"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Pete Lawrence\n <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 16 August 2023 at 08:19 AM<\/p>

\n\n

A guide to the constellation Pisces<\/h1>

Pisces is a large faint constellation of autumn. It\u2019s the 14th largest constellation by area but its brightest star is only mag. +3.6, which makes it harder to see from a location marred by light pollution<\/a>.<\/p>

The constellation Pisces represents two fish tied together by a cord, this slightly odd scenario being a less common thing to visualise and adding to the difficulty in imagining where Pisces is in the sky.\u00a0<\/p>

In this guide we’ll look at how to find Pisces in the night sky, and what you can observe around it.<\/p>

How to find Pisces in the sky<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Use the Great Square of Pegasus to help you find Pisces. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The trick to locating the constellation Pisces is to first use the large asterism<\/a> known as the Great Square of Pegasus<\/a>.<\/p>

Once this has been located, look below the southern edge where you should be able to make out a ring of faint stars, the brightest of which is Gamma (\u03b3) Piscium at mag. +3.7.<\/p>

This is the Circlet<\/a> asterism and despite its relative faintness, it does stand out fairly well.<\/p>

This is probably due to the fact that the Circlet is 7 wide and 5 high, compact compared to the Great Square to its north.\u00a0<\/p>

The Circlet asterism<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"The
The Circlet asterism. Credit: John Sanford, David Parker \/ Science Photo Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Circlet represents one of the tied fish, the western fish to be exact.<\/p>

The stars that form the ring range in brightness from Gamma at +3.7 to 7 Piscium at +5.0. In total, seven stars define the ring.<\/p>

The star marking the Circlet\u2019s eastern side is 19 Piscium also known as TX Piscium.<\/p>

This is an interesting star that appears quite red through binoculars or a telescope.<\/p>

It\u2019s a carbon star, which shows a small variability on an irregular timescale between mag. +4.8 and +5.2.\u00a0<\/p>

The cord tying the fish together is attached to the Circlet at mag. +4.1 Iota (\u03b9) Piscium, and usually drawn from this star to mag. +4.0 Omega (\u03c9) Piscium.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Circlet asterism (bottom right) makes up one of the two fish in Pisces. Credit: John Sanford, David Parker \/ Science Photo Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From Omega, extend the line parallel with the southern edge of the Great Square of Pegasus for a similar length to that edge, to arrive at mag. +4.4 Delta (\u03b4) and +4.3 Epsilon (\u03b5) Piscium.<\/p>

Keep the line going but angled down slightly to define the next section of the cord, passing through +5.2 Zeta (\u03b6), +4.8 Mu (\u03bc), +4.4 Nu (\u03bd) and, bending south a little further, +3.8 Alpha (\u03b1) Piscium, which is named Alrescha meaning \u2018the cord\u2019.<\/p>

It should be apparent Pisces doesn\u2019t obey the Bayer lettering order where the brightest star is alpha and subsequently dimmer ones follow the order of the Greek alphabet.<\/p>\n

\"Double
Double star Psi1 Piscium is a fine binary, the two components similar in brightness and separated by an easy 29 arcseconds. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alrescha, the cord<\/strong><\/h2>

Alrescha is a close binary star with a component separation of 1.7 arcseconds.<\/p>

Both are A-class stars and appear off-white and bluish when seen together, exhibiting magnitudes of +3.8 and +4.9, the dimmer component being the one that looks bluish.\u00a0<\/p>

Once you\u2019ve reached Alrescha, head northwest to locate mag. +4.3 Omicron (\u03bf) and on to mag. +3.6 Eta (\u03b7) Piscium.<\/p>

The cord continues on this line for the same distance as Alpha to Eta, eventually arriving at the very ill-defined northern fish.<\/p>

This is traditionally depicted as a triangle formed from mag. +4.7 Phi (\u03c6), +5.4 68 and +4.5 Tau (\u03c4) Piscium.<\/p>

The faintness of these stars combined with others of similar brightness in the region, make identifying this fish quite a challenge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The
M74 is a face-on spiral galaxy near Eta (\u03b7) Piscium with low surface brightness, which makes it appear quite faint through the eyepiece. Credit: Rob Johnson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To the naked eye, the region bounded by the cord towards the Great Square of Pegasus appears empty of stars.<\/p>

Despite its size, no part of Pisces clips the Milky Way. Hence, there aren\u2019t any local deep-sky objects to view.<\/p>

Instead, this is a window to fine double stars and galaxies outside our own, with the brightest being M74, a face-on spiral which sits 1.3\u00b0 to the east to Eta Piscium.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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