Pisces
What is Pisces?
Constellations· Autumn evenings (N) · a wide V wrapping the Great Square. Two fish with their tails tied by a cord. Its stars are faint, but the spring equinox point now lies here, so each year around 20 March the Sun crosses the celestial equator in Pisces. The Circlet, a small ring of stars south of the Great Square, is the way in.
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Stars of the figure
| Star | Magnitude |
|---|---|
| Kullat Nunu | 3.6 |
| Gamma Piscium | 3.7 |
| Alrescha | 3.8 |
The 3 brightest of the 10 stars used in the figure (10 lines). Lower magnitude means brighter.
Constellation basics
| Season | autumn evenings, October–December |
|---|---|
| Brightest star | Eta Piscium (3.6) |
| How to find | a long V hugging the south and east sides of the Great Square |
| Area rank | 14th of 88 |
Figures are representative approximations. Source: compiled from NASA and IAU public data.
M74, the Phantom Galaxy that barely shows
Near the eastern fish of Pisces lies the spiral galaxy M74, about 32 million light-years away. It faces us almost head-on, so its spiral arms appear fully spread out. Its light, though, is spread over a wide area, and its surface brightness is among the lowest in the Messier catalogue. That earned it the nickname Phantom Galaxy: in a small telescope it is easy to miss even when its position is known.
In 2022 the James Webb Space Telescope photographed it in infrared light. Infrared shows dust well, so thin lanes of dust along the arms and an empty region near the centre stood out clearly. Combined with the Hubble Space Telescope's visible-light image, the picture shows both the starry regions and the dusty skeleton. This has made M74 a useful example for studying the structure of spiral galaxies.
The constellation in depth
In Greek myth Pisces is Aphrodite and her son Eros, who turned into fish and leapt into a river to escape the monster Typhon. They tied their tails together with a cord so as not to lose each other, and the star at the knot is Alrescha. The two fish swim in different directions: one west beneath Pegasus, the other north toward Andromeda.
The Sun's position at the spring equinox is called the equinox point. Because Earth's axis slowly changes direction over about 26,000 years, that point drifts. Around the first century BC it moved from Aries into Pisces, and around AD 2600 it will pass into Aquarius. Since the Sun sits here around the March equinox, Pisces is hidden in spring and best seen on autumn nights.
On autumn evenings, the Circlet, a small ring of stars just south of the Great Square of Pegasus, is the western fish. From there a long line of faint stars runs east, bends at Alrescha and climbs beneath Andromeda to the eastern fish. All the stars are faint, so a dark site is needed. With the Sky view set to a November night, the long V-shaped line appears.
Frequently asked
- When can I see Pisces?
- Pisces is best seen in autumn evenings, October–December.
- How do I find Pisces?
- To find Pisces, look for a long V hugging the south and east sides of the Great Square.
- What is the brightest star in Pisces?
- The brightest star in Pisces is Kullat Nunu, at magnitude 3.6.
Related
Figures are representative approximations. Simulated positions use J2000 mean elements.