Pisces constellation lies in the northern sky. Its name means “the fish” (plural) in Latin.
Pisces is one of the largest constellations in the sky. It is one of the zodiac constellations, first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. Its symbol is .
Pisces lies between Aries constellation to the east and Aquarius to the west. The two celestial fish represent Venus and Cupid in Roman mythology, who transformed themselves into fish in order to escape the monster Typhon. The Vernal equinox, the point at which the Sun moves to the northern hemisphere across the equator every year, is currently located in Pisces.
Pisces constellation also contains a number of interesting deep sky objects, among them the face-on grand design spiral galaxy Messier 74 (NGC 628), the Pisces Dwarf galaxy, the double radio galaxy 3C 31, and the colliding galaxy pair Arp 284.
FACTS, LOCATION & MAP
Pisces is the 14th constellation in size, occupying an area of 889 square degrees. It is located in the first quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ1) and can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -65°. The neighboring constellations are Andromeda, Aquarius, Aries, Cetus, Pegasus and Triangulum.
Pisces belongs to the Zodiac family of constellations, along with Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus and Aquarius.
Pisces contains a single Messier object, the spiral galaxy Messier 74 (M74, NGC 628) and has ten stars with known planets. The brightest star in the constellation is Eta Piscium, with an apparent magnitude of 3.62. There is one meteor shower associated with the constellation; the Piscids.
MYTH
Pisces constellation is of Babylonian origin. The Babylonians saw it as a pair of fish joined by a cord. The constellation is usually associated with the Roman myth of Venus and Cupid, who tied themselves with a rope and transformed into fish to escape the monster Typhon. The star Alpha Piscium, also known by the traditional name Alrescha (“the cord” in Arabic) marks the knot of the rope.
The constellation is associated with a similar story in Greek mythology. After the Olympian gods had defeated the Titans and the Giants, Gaia, or Mother Earth, coupled with Tartarus, the region of the Underworld where Zeus held the Titans imprisoned, and they had Typhon, the scariest monster the world had ever seen. Typhon had a hundred dragon’s heads, with fire blazing from all his eyes. Gaia sent Typhon to defeat the gods. Pan was the first to see him coming.
He alerted the other gods and then transformed himself into a goat-fish and jumped into the river Euphrates to escape the monster. The goat-fish is represented by the constellation Capricornus.
The goddess Aphrodite and her son Eros called to the water nymphs for help and jumped into the river. In one version of the legend, two fishes came to the rescue and carried Aphrodite and Eros on their backs to safety. In another version, the mother and son were themselves transformed into fish.
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