Find it in the sky
Two distant fishes, each on a cord that meets at one end: the western fish’s head is a small ring, and the knot is Alrescha. Between Aquarius and Aries, on November evenings.
Zodiac
Pisces
Pisces: the Sun stands before it at the March equinox today.
Best in November, around 9 p.m.No. 14 of the 88 constellations by areaBrightest star Alpherg (magnitude 3.61)9 stars in this guide
The drawings on these maps are the game’s, and don’t show exact positions in the sky.
Legend
In the Greek tale Aphrodite and her son Eros turned into fishes to escape the monster Typhon, or two fishes rescued them. The Babylonians saw here “the great swallow” and the “fish cord” that ties the two fishes.
Sign
19 February to 20 March. In the real sky the Sun passes in front of Pisces from about 12 March to 19 April.
Its stars
Magnitude says how bright a star looks from here: the smaller the number, the brighter the star.
Yunyu
Gamma Piscium
- Type
- Yellow giant
- Distance
- about 135 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 3.70
- Name
- From the Chinese asterism “Cloud and Rain”
A yellow giant shining with the light of 63 Suns.
Kappa Piscium
Kappa Piscium
- Type
- White star
- Distance
- about 153 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 4.94
- Name
- No official name; known by the Greek letter kappa
A peculiar star whose light shows lines of uranium, and maybe rare holmium.
Theta Piscium
Theta Piscium
- Type
- Orange giant
- Distance
- about 149 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 4.27
- Name
- No official name; known by the Greek letter theta
An orange giant, cooler than the Sun yet 51 times as bright.
Puwuh Atarung
Iota Piscium
- Type
- Yellow-white star
- Distance
- about 45 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 4.13
- Name
- “Battling quails”: the constellation of these stars in Bali
The nearest of these nine Pisces stars: about 45 light-years away.
Lambda Piscium
Lambda Piscium
- Type
- White star
- Distance
- about 107 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 4.49
- Name
- No official name; known by the Greek letter lambda
A member of the Ursa Major Stream: it travels with the Great Bear’s stars.
Pili
Omega Piscium
- Type
- Yellow-white star
- Distance
- about 104 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 4.01
- Name
- From the Chinese asterism “Thunderbolt”
The March equinox point lies just south of it today.
Waiping
Delta Piscium
- Type
- Orange giant
- Distance
- about 300 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 4.42
- Name
- From the Chinese asterism “Outer Fence”
It sits near the ecliptic, so the Moon now and then passes in front of it.
Alrescha
Alpha Piscium
- Type
- White star
- Distance
- about 157 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 3.82
- Name
- “The cord” (Arabic); also Okda, “the knot”
The knot where the two fishes’ cords meet; a triple star system.
Alpherg
Eta Piscium
- Type
- Yellow giant
- Distance
- about 350 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 3.61
- Name
- Its Babylonian name, Kullat Nūnu: “the cord that binds the fish”
The brightest star of Pisces: a yellow giant.
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Sources: constellation areas follow the International Astronomical Union (IAU) boundaries; star values come from Wikipedia’s articles, based on Hipparcos and Gaia; the Sun’s dates come from EarthSky. Distances are rounded.