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Pisces

Constellation
List of stars in Pisces
Abbreviation	Psc
Genitive	Piscium
Pronunciation	/ˈpaɪsiːz/; genitive /ˈpɪʃiəm/
Symbolism	the Fishes
Right ascension	1
Declination	+15°
Quadrant	NQ1
Area	889 sq. deg. (14th)
Main stars	18
Bayer/Flamsteed stars	86
Stars with planets	13
Stars brighter than 3.00	0
Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly)	8
Brightest star	η Psc (Alpherg) (3.62)
Messier objects	1
Meteor showers	Piscids
Bordering constellations	Triangulum Andromeda Pegasus Aquarius Cetus Aries
Visible at latitudes between +90° and −65°. Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of November.

Pisces is a constellation of the zodiac. Its vast bulk – and main asterism viewed in most European cultures per Greco-Roman antiquity as a distant pair of fishes connected by one cord each that join at an apex – are in the Northern celestial hemisphere. Its old astronomical symbol is (♓︎). Its name is Latin for "fishes". It is between Aquarius, of similar size, to the southwest and Aries, which is smaller, to the east. The ecliptic and the celestial equator intersect within this constellation and in Virgo. The Sun passes directly overhead of the equator, on average, at approximately this point in the sky, at the March equinox.

The right ascension/declination 00 is located within the boundaries of Pisces.

Features

The March equinox is currently located in Pisces, due south of Psc, and, due to precession, slowly drifting due west, just below the western fish towards Aquarius.

Stars

Although Pisces is a large constellation, there are only two stars brighter than magnitude 4 in Pisces. It is also the second dimmest of the zodiac constellations.

• Alrescha ("the cord"), otherwise Alpha Piscium (α Psc), 309.8 lightyears, class A2, magnitude 3.62, variable binary star
• Fumalsamakah ("mouth of the fish"), otherwise Beta Piscium (β Psc), 492 lightyears, class B6Ve, magnitude 4.48
• Delta Piscium (δ Psc), 305 lightyears, class K5III, magnitude 4.44. Like other stars near the ecliptic, Delta Piscium is subject to lunar occultations.
• Epsilon Piscium (ε Psc), 190 lightyears, class K0III, magnitude 4.27. Has a candidate exoplanet.
• Revati ("rich"), otherwise Zeta Piscium (ζ Psc), 148 lightyears, class A7IV, magnitude 5.21. Quintuple star system.
• Alpherg ("emptying"), otherwise Eta Piscium (η Psc), 349 lightyears, class G7 IIIa, magnitude 3.62. It is a Gamma Cassiopeiae variable with a weak magnetic field.
• Torcular ("thread"), otherwise Omicron Piscium (ο Psc), 258 lightyears, class K0III, magnitude 4.2. It is an evolved red giant star on the horizontal branch.
• Omega Piscium (ω Psc), 106 lightyears, class F4IV, magnitude 4.03. It is an F-type star that is either a subgiant or on the main sequence.
• Gamma Piscium (γ Psc), 138 lightyears, magnitude 3.70. The star hosts an exoplanet which was discovered in 2021. It has a spectral type of G8 III.
• Van Maanen's Star is the closest-known solitary white dwarf to us, with a dim apparent magnitude. It is located about 2° to the south of the star Delta Piscium, with a relatively high proper motion of 2.978″ annually along a position angle of 155.538°. It is closer to the Sun than any other solitary white dwarf. It is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. Like other white dwarfs, it is a very dense star: its mass has been estimated to be about 67% of the Sun's, yet it has only 1% of the Sun's radius. The outer atmosphere has a temperature of approximately 6,110 K, which is relatively cool for a white dwarf. As all white dwarfs steadily radiate away their heat over time, this temperature can be used to estimate its age, thought to be around 3 billion years. It was originally thought to be an F-type star before the properties of white dwarfs were known.

Due to the dimness of these stars, the constellation is essentially invisible in or near any major city due to light pollution.

Deep-sky objects

M74 is a loosely wound (type Sc) spiral galaxy in Pisces, found at a distance of 30 million light years (redshift 0.0022). It has many clusters of young stars and the associated nebulae, showing extensive regions of star formation. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain, a French astronomer, in 1780. A type II-P supernova was discovered in the outer regions of M74 by Robert Evans in June 2003; the star that underwent the supernova was later identified as a red supergiant with a mass of 8 solar masses. It is the brightest member of the M74 Group.

NGC 488 is an isolated face-on prototypical spiral galaxy. Two supernovae have been observed in the galaxy.

NGC 520 is a pair of colliding galaxies located 105 million light-years away.

CL 0024+1654 is a massive galaxy cluster that lenses the galaxy behind it, creating arc-shaped images of the background galaxy. The cluster is primarily made up of yellow elliptical and spiral galaxies, at a distance of 3.6 billion light-years from Earth (redshift 0.4), half as far away as the background galaxy, which is at a distance of 5.7 billion light-years (redshift 1.67).

History and mythology

Pisces originates from some composition of the Babylonian constellations Šinunutu₄ "the great swallow" in current western Pisces, and Anunitum the "Lady of the Heaven", at the place of the northern fish. In the first-millennium BC texts known as the Astronomical Diaries, part of the constellation was also called DU.NU.NU (Rikis-nu.mi, "the fish cord or ribbon").

Greco-Roman period

Pisces is associated with the Greek legend that Aphrodite and her son Eros either shape-shifted into forms of fishes to escape, or were rescued by two fishes.

In the Greek version according to Hyginus, Aphrodite and Eros while visiting Syria fled from the monster Typhon by leaping into the Euphrates River and transforming into fishes (Poeticon astronomicon 2.30, citing Diognetus Erythraeus). The Roman variant of the story has Venus and Cupid (counterparts for Aphrodite and Eros) carried away from this danger on the backs of two fishes (Ovid Fasti 2.457ff).

There is also a different origin tale that Hyginus preserved in another work. According to this, an egg rolled into the Euphrates, and some fishes nudged this to shore, after which the doves sat on the egg until Aphrodite (thereafter called the Syrian Goddess) hatched out of it. The fishes were then rewarded by being placed in the skies as a constellation (Fabulae 197). This story is also recorded by the Third Vatican Mythographer.

Modern period

In 1690, the astronomer Johannes Hevelius in his Firmamentum Sobiescianum regarded the constellation Pisces as being composed of four subdivisions:

• Piscis Boreus (the North Fish): σ – 68 – 65 – 67 – ψ – ψ – ψ – χ – φ – υ – 91 – τ – 82 – 78 Psc.
• Linum Boreum (the North Cord): χ – ρ,94 – VX(97) – η – π – ο – α Psc.
• Linum Austrinum (the South Cord): α – ξ – ν – μ – ζ – ε – δ – 41 – 35 – ω Psc.
• Piscis Austrinus (the South Fish): ω – ι – θ – 7 – β – 5 – κ,9 – λ – TX(19) Psc.

"Piscis Austrinus" more often refers to a separate constellation in its own right.

In 1754, the botanist and author John Hill proposed to sever a southern zone of Pisces as Testudo (the Turtle). 24 – 27 – YY(30) – 33 – 29 Psc., It would host a natural but quite faint asterism in which the star 20 Psc is the head of the turtle. While Admiral Smyth mentioned the proposal, it was largely neglected by other astronomers, and it is now obsolete.

Western folklore

The Fishes are in the German lore of Antenteh, who owned just a tub and a crude cabin when he met two magical fish. They offered him a wish, which he refused. However, his wife begged him to return to the fish and ask for a beautifully furnished home. This wish was granted, but her desires were not satisfied. She then asked to be a queen and have a palace, but when she asked to become a goddess, the fish became angry and took the palace and home, leaving the couple with the tub and cabin once again. The tub is sometimes recognized as the Great Square of Pegasus.

In non-Western astronomy

The stars of Pisces were incorporated into several constellations in Chinese astronomy. Wai-ping ("Outer Enclosure") was a fence that kept a pig farmer from falling into the marshes and kept the pigs where they belonged. It was represented by Alpha, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Mu, Nu, and Xi Piscium. The marshes were represented by the four stars designated Phi Ceti. The northern fish of Pisces was a part of the House of the Sandal, Koui-siou.

See also

• List of star names in Pisces
• Pisces (Chinese astronomy)

References

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13. Sion, Edward M.; et al. (June 2014), "The White Dwarfs within 25 pc of the Sun: Kinematics and Spectroscopic Subtypes", The Astronomical Journal, 147 (6): 11, arXiv:1401.4989, Bibcode:2014AJ....147..129S, doi:10.1088/0004-6256/147/6/129, S2CID 119184859, 129.
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Sources

• Ridpath, Ian (1988). Star Tales. James Clarke & Co. ISBN 978-0-718-82695-6.
• Ridpath, Ian; Tirion, Wil (2007). Stars and Planets Guide (4th ed.). Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-13556-4.
• Eratosthenes; Hyginus; Aratus (2015). Hard, Robin (ed.). Constellation Myths: with Aratus's Phaenomena. OUP Oxford. pp. 83–85. ISBN 978-0-191-02652-2.
• Richard Hinckley Allen, Star Names, Their Lore and Legend, New York, Dover: various dates.
• Staal, Julius D. W. (1988). The New Patterns in the Sky: Myths and Legends of the Stars. The McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-939923-04-5.
• Thomas Wm. Hamilton, Useful Star Names, Strategic Books, 2008.

External links

• The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Pisces
• Ian Ridpath's Star Tales – Pisces
• Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (medieval and early modern images of Pisces)

v t e Constellation of Pisces
List of stars in Pisces Pisces in Chinese astronomy
Stars	Bayer α (Alrescha) β (Fumalsamakah) γ δ ε ζ (Revati) η (Alpherg) θ ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο (Torcular) π ρ σ τ υ φ χ ψ ψ ψ ω Flamsteed 1 2 3 5 (A) 7 (b) 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 20 21 22 24 25 26 27 29 30 31 32 (c) 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 (d) 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 51 52 53 54 55 57 58 59 60 61 62 64 65 (i) 66 67 (k) 68 (h) 70 72 73 75 76 77 78 80 (e) 82 (g) 87 88 89 (f) 91 (l) 92 94 95 96 97 100 101 103 104 105 107 109 112 4 Cet 5 Cet Variable RZ SZ TX (19) UV VY (3 Ari) VZ ZZ AR BR DV GU HR 2 107 222 8734 HD 1502 (Citadelle) 3167 4203 4313 8574 (Bélénos) 9986 217107 217786 218566 (Ebla) Other Gliese 12 Gliese 900 GJ 9827 2MASS 0036+1821 NGC 33 NGC 46 NGC 316 NGC 400 NGC 401 NGC 402 NGC 408 NGC 552 NGC 730 SIMP J013656.5+093347 van Maanen 2 WASP-32 (Parumleo) WASP-76
Exoplanets HD 1502 b (Indépendance) HD 3167 b HD 4203 b c HD 4313 b HD 8574 b (Bélisama) HD 217107 b c HD 217786 b c HD 218566 b (Ugarit) γ Piscium b GU Piscium b 54 Piscium b WASP-76b
Galaxies	Messier 74 NGC 3 12 36 38 57 60 63 75 78 95 99 100 105 106 125 126 127 128 130 137 138 139 141 164 180 182 186 190 193 194 198 199 200 202 203 204 208 213 234 236 240 250 251 257 266 282 287 296 311 313 315 316 318 326 332 338 354 370 372 373 374 375 379 380 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 390 392 394 396 397 398 399 400 401 403 407 410 414 420 437 443 444 446 447 449 452 455 459 462 463 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 479 483 485 486 488 489 490 492 493 494 495 496 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 511 514 515 516 517 518 520 522 524 525 532 553 575 606 645 656 660 664 665 676 706 741 766 7459 7499 7501 7503 7537 7541 7544 7583 7603 7679 7682 7714 7716 7816 7835 7837 7838 7840 Other 3C 459 Andromeda II Andromeda XXII IC 64 IC 1481 I Zwicky 1 KIDS J232940-34092 Pisces A Pisces B Pisces Dwarf UGC 224 UGC 477 UGC 717 UGC 934
Category

v t e Constellation history
v t e 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy after 150 AD Andromeda Aquarius Aquila Ara Argo Navis Aries Auriga Boötes Cancer Canis Major Canis Minor Capricornus Cassiopeia Centaurus Cepheus Cetus Corona Australis Corona Borealis Corvus Crater Cygnus Delphinus Draco Equuleus Eridanus Gemini Hercules Hydra Leo Lepus Libra Lupus Lyra Ophiuchus Orion Pegasus Perseus Pisces Piscis Austrinus Sagitta Sagittarius Scorpius Serpens Taurus Triangulum Ursa Major Ursa Minor Virgo Category
v t e The 41 additional constellations added in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries Vespucci or Corsalius early 16c: Crux Triangulum Australe Vopel 1536: Coma Berenices Keyser & de Houtman 1596: Apus Chamaeleon Dorado Grus Hydrus Indus Musca Pavo Phoenix Tucana Volans Plancius 1613: Camelopardalis Columba Monoceros Habrecht 1621: Reticulum Hevelius 1683: Canes Venatici Lacerta Leo Minor Lynx Scutum Sextans Vulpecula de Lacaille 1763: Antlia Caelum Carina Circinus Fornax Horologium Mensa Microscopium Norma Octans Pictor Puppis Pyxis Sculptor Telescopium Vela
v t e Obsolete constellations (including Ptolemy's Argo Navis) Anguilla Anser Antinous Apes Aranea Argo Navis Asterion Bufo Cancer Minor Cerberus Chara Custos Messium Felis Honores Friderici/Gloria Frederici Gallus Globus Aerostaticus Hippocampus Hirudo Jordanus Leo Palatinus Lilium Limax Lochium Funis Lumbricus Machina Electrica Malus Manis Mons Maenalus Musca Borealis Noctua Officina Typographica Patella Phaethon Polophylax Psalterium Georgianum/Harpa Georgii Quadrans Muralis Ramus Pomifer Robur Carolinum Rosa Scarabaeus Sceptrum Brandenburgicum Sceptrum et Manus Iustitiae Solarium Tarandus/Rangifer Taurus Poniatovii Telescopium Herschelii Testudo Tigris Triangulum Minus Turdus Solitarius Vespa obsolete constellation names Apis Phoenicopterus Serpentarius Xiphias Vultur cadens Vultur volans

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