Are you curious about the names of stars in the Pisces constellation? This constellation is known as the ‘Fish’, which started out as gods. Delicate streams of stars come together and form a V which is commonly called the Heavenly Knot. This knot ties the fish together by their tails.
While there aren’t many known stars in Pisces, these are a few of the notable ones you will find. If you are an astronomy buff, you will enjoy searching out these stars in the night sky using your binoculars or telescope.
Al Rischa is one of the brightest stars you will find in Pisces. It is located at the point where the fish are tied together. The name descends from the Arabic word for ‘cord’. Al Rischa is actually a double star, with magnitudes of 4.2 and 5.1. These stars orbit each other one time in every 720 years. They are green and blue in color, and contrast magnificently.
The star known as Wolf 28 or Van Maanen’s star is one of our closest neighbors. At only 14 light years from earth, there are very few stars any closer. This star is named for Adrian Van Maanen, an astronomer who discovered this star in 1917. Wolf 28 is a white dwarf star that is very faint.
Today, there is one star that is slightly brighter than Al Rischa, the Alpha star of Pisces. This star is Alpherg, or Eta Piscium. The meaning of this star is ‘pouring point of water’. Eta Piscium lies in the northern section of the cord and is a double star.
Pisces is one of the more curious of star groups. The stars in this constellation don’t form a distinctive asterism, and are dim. Only 3 stars in Pisces shine slightly brighter than the 4th magnitude. You may need a high powered telescope to study these stars.
Enjoy the beautiful clear night skies! Hopefully, you have enjoyed learning more about the names of stars in the Pisces constellation.
