Pisces Constellation Astronomy

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Astronomy hasn’t always been a science, it was at one time more closely connected to astrology than it currently is. But stalwart men of science continued to look up into the night sky and consider the universe beyond the world upon which they stood. This included men like Isaac Newton who realized our sun was a star like any other, and even Ptolemy who way back in 100AD realized our Earth was part of a planetary system. Astronomy includes the entire universe as its subject – that’s incredibly huge. Thus an enthusiast has to decide the limits of their interest in the subject. This article will zero in on Pisces constellation astronomy.

How can there be a whole discussion of a constellation and its astronomy? The constellations aren’t just mythical beings imagined by ancient people. Constellations are made up of a large number of interstellar objects like stars and galaxies. While we can’t see many stars in Pisces, we do see a very interesting galaxy. Galaxy NGC629, or M74, is a spiral galaxy like our own Milky Way, and we can see its facing side. To us it’s like an octopus reaching into space in all directions. To us it looks like a spiral someone might draw. That doesn’t mean we can view it unaided. Even with a hobbyist’s telescope it would look like a tiny, blurred spot. If the telescope is 12 inches or more aperture, suddenly its seen as a spiral.

When Pisces was first seen the sun didn’t take the same important path through it that it now takes. Pisces (Aries specifically) sees the sun pass through it, over the equator, as it makes its way north. This is counted as the first day of spring in the Northern half of the world, the Vernal Equinox. Aries’ first point was some distance from Pisces when it was first drawn. But over the years it has moved west into Pisces. This is an example precession, the movement of stars and objects in relation to Earth. It happens, of course, because none of these objects are stationary, and neither is the Earth. Even our sun and the galaxy that contains it travel quite quickly. Our solar system orbits the galactic center at about 220 kilometers per second. Since humans have kept records the solar system has traveled about 1/250th of a complete orbit. The entire galaxy is also on the go. So the constellations are always moving and changing. The movement of Aries relative to Pisces reminds us of this fact.

See how interesting Pisces constellation astronomy can be?

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