Pisces Constellation Astronomy - A Quick Read
Monday, August 3rd, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
There was a time when astronomy, and in fact all science, was a mixture of strange ideas and even superstition along with any real provable ideas. But stalwart men of science continued to look up into the night sky and consider the universe beyond the world upon which they stood. These were men such as Isaac Newton, who recognized that other stars are suns just like ours, Galileo who first used a telescope to gaze into the heavens, and even people as far back as Ptolemy who formulated the geocentric planetary system around 100 AD. The universe is infinite, which means astronomy is infinite. So a choice has to be made to zero in on a smaller sub-set of astronomy. Let’s pick a constellation, Pisces, and discuss Pisces constellation astronomy.
How can there be a whole discussion of a Pisces constellation astronomy? A constellation isn’t just some figure in the night sky. Every constellation contains a number of interstellar objects and phenomenon including stars, nebulae, and even entire galaxies. Pisces, for example, contains very few bright stars but does contain a unique galaxy from our point of view. M74, also known as galaxy NGC 628, is a face on spiral galaxy. That means we see it from the top, from a perspective that shows its spiral arms reaching out into space. It looks like a spiral to observers from Earth, in other words. Not with the naked eye, of course. And through most amateur telescopes it would appear as little more than a blurry spot. But with a telescope of 12 inches aperture or more the spiral details will be visible.
Another unique feature of Pisces constellation astronomy is that an important part of the Sun’s path passes through Pisces today, where it did not when the constellations were first mapped. 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. When Pisces was first established the 1st point of Aries was not within it. But it has moved into Pisces over time. The drift of celestial objects as seen from Earth is called precession. All the objects in the universe, including our home planet, move. Our sun and its home, the Milky Way galaxy move rapidly through the universe. Our solar system orbits the galactic center at about 220 kilometers per second. In all of human history, the solar system has moved 1/1250th of a complete revolution. Not only is the solar system moving, but so is the galaxy itself as well as every object in the night sky. So the constellations are always moving and changing. Aries and Pisces show this well.
See how interesting Pisces constellation astronomy can be?
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