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Salt Lake Community College
Astronomy Paper 2
Pisces Constellation
Matt Hape
S00717044
Astronomy 1040
24 November 2014
Matt Hape
Professor Harrison
Astronomy 1040
24 November 2014
Pisces Constellation
Pisces is a constellation of the zodiac and it is an interesting constellation. It is
particularly interesting to me because I happen to believe in astrology to some extent and, being
born on March fifteenth, my zodiac sign is Pisces. Astrology is one of those controversial things
that some people think is complete bogus and others actually believe that there can be some sort
of correlation. Astrology is based on the premise that there is a relationship between
astronomical phenomena and events in the human world (Wikipedia). Many people and cultures
actually relate astronomical events with things that impact daily human life. One good example
would be the Mayans and the use of the Mayan calendar. It was based on astronomy and was
thought to have been used to predict events that would happen on our very own Earth. Obviously
it is one of those things in history that is very hard to support with facts and evidence, but it is
definitely interesting to think about the possibility that the constellations and stars in our galaxy
that we see in the night sky could possibly have a greater meaning.
The Pisces constellation was named because it is supposed to depict two fish tied together
so they will never be separated. In fact, the name Pisces is plural form in Latin for fish (Gods).
The mythological story behind the creation of the Pisces constellation is an interesting one. In
short, a monster known as Typhon, attacks Mount Olympus threatening all of the lives of the
Greek gods and goddesses who eventually end up fleeing for their lives. The goddess Aphrodite
and her son Eros are in need of an escape. They turn into fish and are aided by two other fish in
their flee from the assault of Typhon. Aphrodite and Eros were said to be tied together so they
would not lose one another. These two fish were later honored by being placed in the heavens as
the constellation Pisces. In Roman mythology it is a very similar story, but with Venus and
Cupid rather than Aphrodite and Eros who are turned to fish. Regardless who tells the tale it is
always involving the two fish that escape. It is certainly a very interesting explanation of how
this constellation came to be.
Although the mythology is a very important piece of the Pisces constellation history, I
believe the astrology is equally important. Astrology is the study of the movements and relative
positions of celestial bodies interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural
world (Plotner). The Pisces constellation is the last of the zodiac making it fairly unique. People
are considered a Pisces if they were born between February 19th and March 20th. Pisces are
known to be very spiritually and emotionally connected people. They put great emphasis on what
they are feeling and that is how they act. When they are angry it is a harsh anger, and when they
are sad it can be a very deep sadness. There emotions can be as vast as the ocean, which is
significant because Pisces is sometimes associated with water. Pisces are a very intuitive kind of
people and have very good instincts. The relation between the constellation and humans has to
do with the fish. Pisces are known to “go with the flow”, and not “make a big splash.” Many
things can describe the personality of a Pisces, but overall, they are very easy going and
emotionally connected people.
The mythology and astrology of this constellation are very interesting and always
enjoyable to think about, but with advances in science and technology, we now know a lot more
information that is astronomically significant, rather than stories that are told to explain the
Pisces constellation. Astronomers have determined that Pisces is the fourteenth largest
constellation in the sky. It occupies an approximate area of 889 degrees, which is in the night sky
seems small, but really it is quite significant. It is located in the first quadrant of the northern
hemisphere (Constellation Guide). Unfortunately, it is impossible to give a right ascension and
declination for Pisces because it covers a large area of sky, just as you can't give a longitude and
latitude for the United States. But according to Steve Coe, “Pisces stretches in right ascension
from about 23h to 2h, and in declination from about 6 degrees south to 33 degrees north.”
Because it is so large, and in both the northern and southern hemispheres of the sky, some of the
constellation can be seen during the summer and the fall time. The constellations bordering
Pisces are Andromeda, Pegasus, Aquarius, Cetus, Aries, and Triangulum (Wikipedia). One last
fact about Pisces is that the Vernal equinox, the point where the sun moves across the northern
hemisphere, is currently located in Pisces. All in all, the Pisces constellation has quite a lot of
astronomical significance.
(Above is a map of the Pisces constellation including bordering constellations. This map
depicts the RA and Dec, the area of the sky Pisces covers, and also some of the main stars the
constellation consists of.)
The Pisces constellation is clearly a very interesting and important thing in space. It
contains many things that are scientifically significant, but there are two things in particular that
make the Pisces constellation unique. The first object of interest is a Messier object known as
Messier 74, or M74. It was discovered by Pierre Mechain in 1780. Mechain communicated his
finding to Charles Messier who then listed M74 as a Messier object in his catalog (Messier). It is
a very faint face on spiral galaxy. When it is observed, you can clearly see two spiral arms that
extend from the galaxy. Its calculated distance away from Earth is about 32 million light-years
away. This is a very unique galaxy because it has the second lowest surface brightness out of all
of the Messier objects. M74 has a right ascension of 01:36.7 and a declination of +15:47. From
our point of view from earth, it is close to the brightest star in the Pisces constellation, Eta
Piscium. As mentioned earlier, Messier 74 is not a very bright object and only has a magnitude
of 9.4.
The next deep sky object that is significant is a large galaxy cluster named CL
0024+1654. It doesn’t have the most impressive name, but it is something that is studied quite
often. It can be observed by images from the Hubble Telescope. It consists mainly of yellow
elliptical galaxies, along with a few spiral galaxies. It is 3.6 billion light years away making it
difficult to observe (Constellation Guide.)
Another deep sky object that was particularly interesting to me is a white dwarf star
known as Van Maanen’s star. This star is unique because it is the third closes white dwarf to Sun
after Sirius B and Procyon B. It has a stellar classification of DZ8 meaning it has heavier
elements than helium in its spectrum. From this information we can deduct that at one point this
was a very massive hot star. This star was discovered in 1917 by an astronomer named Adriaan
Van Maanen. Due to the fact that it is a white dwarf, it has a very low apparent brightness. It was
calculated to have a visual magnitude of 12.374 and is approximately 14.1light years away from
Earth. This white dwarf star has a mass that is 63 percent of our Sun and is estimated to be
around three billion years old, and it is quite interesting (Constellation Guide.)
Fixed stars in Pisces
Star
1900
omega (ω)
01ARI12 02ARI35 23h 59m 18.7s +6° 51' 48"
2000
RA
Decl 2000
Lat
+06 21 51 4.03 F3
delta (δ)
12ARI46 14ARI09 0h 48m 41s
+7° 35' 6"
+02 10 32 4.55 K5
epsilon (ε)
16ARI09 17ARI32 1h 2m 56.6s
+7° 53' 24"
+01 05 26 4.45 G5
nu (ν)
24ARI08 25ARI31 1h 41m 25.9s
+5° 29' 15"
-04 41 52 4.68 K4
Al Pherg eta (η)
25ARI25 26ARI49 1h 31m 29s
+15° 20' 45" +05 22 28 3.72 G3
sigma (σ)
25ARI50 27ARI13 1h 2m 49.1s
+31° 48' 16" +23 04 41 5.46 B9
xi (ξ)
26ARI08 27ARI31 1h 53m 33.3s
+3° 11' 15"
-07 55 31 4.84 G7
omicron (ο)
26ARI22 27ARI45 1h 45m 23.6s
+9° 9' 28"
-01 37 26 4.50 C6
tau (τ)
26ARI56 28ARI19 1h 11m 39.6s
+30° 5' 23"
+20 44 11 4.70 K1
upsilon (υ)
27ARI24 28ARI47 1h 19m 28s
+27° 15' 51" +17 27 44 4.67 A2
Alrisha alpha (α)
27ARI59 29ARI23 2h 2m 2.8s
+2° 45' 49"
-09 03 52 3.94 A2
beta (β)
17PIS12 18PIS35 23h 3m 52.6s
+3° 49' 12"
+09 03 15 4.58 B5
gamma (γ)
20PIS04 21PIS27 23h 17m 9.9s
+3° 16' 56"
+07 15 42 3.85 G5
kappa (κ)
21PIS31 22PIS54 23h 26m 56s
+1° 15' 20"
+04 26 04 4.94 A3
theta (θ)
23PIS49 25PIS12 23h 27m 58.1s +6° 22' 44"
+09 02 00 4.45 K0
lambda (λ)
25PIS13 26PIS36 23h 42m 2.8s
+1° 46' 48"
+03 25 07 4.61 A5
iota (ι)
26PIS16 27PIS39 23h 39m 57s
+5° 37' 35"
+07 09 40 4.28 F5
The table above shows the most important stars in the Pisces constellation. These are the
stars that you actually see that make up the two fish and the string that attaches them. The table
shows the right ascension, the declination, the latitude, the magnitude, and the star classification
of each of the fixed stars that make up this constellation. If you look in the map of the Pisces
constellation above this table, you can see where each of these stars are located because they are
labeled with the corresponding Greek symbol. This table provides a lot of relevant information
and is very useful when studying this constellation (Wright.)
Mag Sp
In conclusion, I learned a lot about Pisces. It was particularly interesting to me because I
am a Pisces and I follow astrology a little bit and I wanted to learn more about it, and I learned a
lot. For example, I know that the Pisces constellation is one of the largest ones and the
dimensions it takes up in the sky are quite significant. It contains a few unique deep sky objects
that I found very interesting. Pisces has an interesting story of origin and the mythology behind
the constellation is what makes it exciting. Lastly, it was mind boggling to learn about the
astrology and how connections are made between celestial objects and human behavior and
interaction. All in all, the Pisces constellation is significant in the world of astronomers, and
quite possible the daily lives of people making it a very unique and awesome constellation.
Bibliography
"Messier 74." Messier Object 74. SEDS, 14 Aug. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
<http://messier.seds.org/m/m074.html>.
"Pisces Constellation." Constellation Guide. 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/pisces-constellation/>.
"Pisces (constellation)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Nov. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisces_(constellation)>.
Plotner, Tammy. "Pisces." Pisces. 30 Dec. 2008. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.universetoday.com/22882/pisces/>.
Wright, Anne. "Pisces." Pisces. 1 Jan. 2008. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
<http://constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/Pisces.html#Fixed_stars_in_>.