Pisces constellation
Latin Pisces, genitive Piscium, abbreviation Psc
North up, east to the left, as you see the sky. The lines are a common figure; the stars are from the catalogue.
The myth
Aphrodite and her son Eros, who escaped the monster Typhon by turning into fish in a river, tied together with a cord so as not to lose each other. A faint V of star chains below Pegasus. Here lies today's vernal equinox, where the sun crosses the celestial equator in March; hence the 'Age of Pisces'.
When can Pisces be seen?
It stands highest around 10 pm in October. It can be seen from everywhere north of 70°S, and it never sets north of 89°N.
The brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpherg | η Psc | 3.62 | yellow |
| – | γ Psc | 3.69 | yellow |
| – | ω Psc | 4.01 | yellowish white |
| – | ι Psc | 4.13 | yellowish white |
| Torcular | ο Psc | 4.26 | yellow |
| – | ε Psc | 4.28 | yellow |
| – | θ Psc | 4.28 | orange |
| – | α Psc | 4.33 | white |
The smaller the number, the brighter: below 1 are the brightest stars of the sky, 4 is hard to see under a city sky. Greek letters after Johann Bayer (1603).
Constellation and zodiac sign
The constellation Pisces and the zodiac sign of the same name are not the same. The signs divide the Sun's path into twelve equal parts of 30 degrees, counted from the vernal equinox; the constellations differ in size, and because the Earth's axis slowly wobbles, they now lie almost one sign further on.