Pisces - The Fish

Pisces is a large constellation of mostly faint stars lying on the edge of the huge region of the sky known as the Sea. It is a fall constellation. The best time to view Pisces is from October through January. The "circlet" of Pisces, which is the head of the "western fish", lies just to the south of the Great Square of Pegasus.

Currently, the Sun is within Pisces' boundaries from March 13 to April 19. This is where its path on the ecliptic crosses the celestial equator, around March 21. This marks the vernal equinox, which is the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere.

History and Mythology

Pisces has been known since Mesopotamian times as either one or two fish. One Greek story says the fish are Venus and her son Cupid, who escaped the fire-breathing giant Typhon by jumping into the Euphrates River. They turned themselves into fish and swam away. They tied their tails together so they would not be separated, and they are connected by a cord connecting them to Aries, the Ram, and to Aquarius, the Water Carrier.

Notable Objects

Alrischa, whose Arabic name means "the Knot," is a double star with components of magnitude 4.3 and 5.2. Alrischa marks the knot in the string which ties the two fish together. The eastern fish lies beneath Andromeda and runs south toward Cetus. The western fish is beneath Pegasus, lying east and west.

Even though Pisces is a large constellation, it contains few objects of interest. M 74 is a nearly face-on spiral galaxy located 35 million light-years away. It is about 10th magnitude, and is best seen with a 12 inch telescope or larger. NGC 488 is another face-on spiral of 10th magnitude. There are no prominent star clusters or nebulae in this constellation.