|
PISCES
The Fish
Pisces - Alexander Jamieson - 1822
|
|
It is said that when the goddess Aphrodite (Venus), and her son Eros (Cupid) were attacked by the monster, Typhon, they transformed themselves into fish, joined by a cord tied to their tails so they wouldn't become separated, and escaped into the river Euphrates, their daring adventure recorded forever in the stars.
As ancient as it is, Pisces is a faint constellation. The easiest way to find it is to look for the unmistakable Great Square Of Pegasus. The circlet of Pisces will be very nearby, and from there you should be able to trace the outline of the two fish and the cord that joins them.
With a magnitude of 4.33, the alpha star in the constellation is far from the brightest, and perhaps allotted the prime designation because of its vital role in keeping the goddess and her son from becoming separated in the waters of the Euphrates. It is named Al Rischa, Arabic for the cord, and is a binary system 139 light years away.
The beta star is likewise not amongst the brightest of the constellation, and most likely also named for its import, Fum Al Samakah, Arabic for the mouth of the fish. It has a magnitude of 4.53, and is 495 light years away.
Continuing the tradition of naming the dimmer stars, and not the brighter ones, we have Omicron Piscium with a magnitude of 4.26, and the name of Torcularis Septentrionalis, which is Latin for the northern press. It has been suggested that it is a reference to a grape, or olive press, but the true origins of the name are no longer known. The star is 250 light years away.
Pisces is one of the thirteen constellations that occupy the ecliptic, the path the Sun, Moon and planets travel across the sky. Twelve of these constellations make up the Zodiac, of which astrologers place so much import. Pisces also has the distinction of containing the point of vernal equinox. Known to the ancients as the first point in Aries, it is the point in the sky where the Sun crosses the celestial equator at the moment of the vernal equinox. Due to the slight wobble of Earth's axis called precession, this point has moved from Aries into Pisces over the last 2,000 years.
Nine planetary systems have been discovered so far in Pisces. The stars are beyond visual magnitude and the planets are all gas giants.For the latest information on exoplanets, visit NASA's Planet Quest.
|
|
|
|