The brightest star in Pisces is Eta Piscium, also known as Alpherg or Kullat Nunu. It’s a brilliant massive star (G class) 294 light years away from Earth with a brightness 316 times that of the sun. Gamma Piscium, the constellation’s second brightest star, is a yellow giant around 130 light-years from Earth.
Alpha Piscium is the third brightest star in Pisces, and it is composed of two white dwarf stars that are very close together. It’s also known as Alrescha (“the rope”) since it illuminates the area where the two fish’s tails appear to be connected together.
Beta Piscium is also known as Fum al Samakah, which means “mouth of the fish” in Arabic. It has a magnitude of 4.53 and is 492 light-years away from Earth.
Van Maanen’s Star, named after Adrian van Maanen, a Dutch astronomer who discovered it in 1917, is also seen in Pisces. At only 14.1 light-years away, it is the 31st closest star system and the closest solitary white dwarf to the sun.
Pisces also has a Messier object, which are galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier in the 18th century. Between the stars alpha Arietis and eta Piscium, Messier 74 is a spiral galaxy.
In This Article...
What are the zodiac signs of Pisces’ primary stars?
- In his 2nd century Almagest, the Greco-Roman astronomer Ptolemy included the constellation of Pisces as one of the first 48 constellations.
- Pisces is the 14th largest constellation in the sky, with an area of roughly 889 square degrees, and is one of the 88 modern constellations.
- The constellation Pisces is related with the fable of Aphrodite and her son Eros, who were either saved by two fishes or transformed into fishes to escape the demon Typhon.
- The spiral galaxy Messier 74 is the sole Messier object in the constellation of Pisces.
- The Piscids are the only prominent meteor shower connected with Pisces.
- Alpherg, a G-type evolved massive star, is the brightest star in Pisces. The apparent magnitude of this star is +3.611.
- Alpherg has a companion star, a young star of magnitude 7.51, circling it.
- Apart from its brightest star, Van Maanen’s star, Alrescha, Fumalsamakah, Delta Piscium, Epsilon Piscium, Revati, Torcular, Omega Piscium, and Gamma Piscium are some of the other interesting stars in Pisces.
- Apart from the aforementioned Messier item, the colliding galaxies NGC 520, the spiral galaxy NGC 488, the CL 0024+1654 galaxy cluster, the radio galaxy 3C 31, the Pisces Dwarf Galaxy, or the CGCG 436-030 spiral galaxy are among the many deep-sky objects visible in Pisces.
- November is the greatest month to see stars and deep-sky objects in Pisces.
Pisces is derived from a combination of the Babylonian constellations Sinutu4 the big swallow in current western Pisces and Anunitum the Lady of the Heaven in current northern Pisces.
The Greek myth of Aphrodite and her son Eros, who either shape-shifted into fishes to avoid the Titans’ monster Typhon, or were saved by two fishes, is typically connected with Pisces.
Venus and Cupid, the Roman equivalents of Aphrodite and Eros, are carried away from danger on the backs of two fishes in the Roman version of the narrative.
In Pisces, what is the second brightest star?
Gamma Piscium, a yellow giant, is the second-brightest star in Pisces, and it’s around 130 light-years away. The 5.5 billion-year-old star is 61 times brighter than the Sun and ten times larger.
What is the Zodiac constellation’s brightest star?
Antares. Antares, also called Alpha Scorpii, red, semiregular variable star, with apparent visual magnitude about 1.1, the brightest star in the zodiacal constellation Scorpius and one of the largest known stars, having several hundred times the diameter of the Sun and 10,000 times the Sun’s luminosity.
Is Jesus a Pisces or a Capricorn?
An astrological age is a period of time in astrology that corresponds to fundamental changes in the development of Earth’s inhabitants, particularly in culture, society, and politics, and there are twelve astrological ages that correlate to the twelve zodiac signs. The precession of the equinoxes causes astronomical ages, and one whole phase of this precession is called a Great Year or Platonic Year, which lasts around 25,920 years.
The age of Pisces began around the year 1 and will finish around the year 2150. Many Christian icons for Christ include the astrological symbol for Pisces, the fishes, because the narrative of Christ’s birth falls on this date. Christ is regarded an archetype of the Piscean since he has many of the temperaments and personality qualities of a Piscean. Furthermore, the twelve apostles were known as “fishers of men,” early Christians were known as “little fishes,” and “Ikhthus,” the Greek word for fish, was used as a code term for Jesus. The beginning of the era, or the “Great Month of Pisces,” is seen as the start of the Christian religion as a result of this. Saint Peter is the apostle of the Piscean zodiac sign.
Pisces is a Greek god.
The 12th and final sign of the zodiac, Pisces, is a water sign controlled by the planet Neptune, and one of the earliest zodiac signs on record, dating back to 2300 BC.
The ancient Greek tale of Aphrodite and Eros is related with this Zodiac sign, which is represented by two fish (often koi fish).
Aphrodite and Eros were out walking along the banks of the Euphrates River when they were attacked by Typhon, an enormous serpent and the deadliest creature in Greek mythology.
They were able to flee thanks to Zeus, who transformed them into fish, which they then jumped into the river and swam away to safety. (For further information, scroll below.)
Why are there two fish in Pisces?
The water sign Pisces is the zodiac’s final constellation. Two fish swimming in opposite directions are used to depict Pisces’ continual divide of attention between fantasy and reality. As the last sign, Pisces has absorbed all of the lessons gained by the other signs, including the pleasures and sorrows, hopes and anxieties. As a result, these fish are the astrological wheel’s most intuitive, empathic, and caring creatures. Pisces can quickly become engulfed by emotions because to their high sensitivity, therefore they must remember to stay grounded in the material realm (appropriately, Pisces rules the feet).
Are Pisces similar to sirens?
Pisces is the sign of illusions, darting in and out of the shadows, and is ruled by the charming and elusive Fish. Is it real…or just a trick of the light? Pisces excels in celestial sleight of hand. Pisces energy, like a siren, entices you into its depths, but it may also leave you drowning in the emotional sea. Pisces is compassionate and sensitive, absorbing and reflecting the feelings of everyone it comes into contact with. This is the zodiac’s “old soul”: Pisces, as the last sign, is supposed to have absorbed the energy of all the other signs before it. Pisces energy is soulfully deep and never just skims the surface. In truth, the subconscious is ruled by this sign, which governs our dreams, fancies, and unhealed scars. Pisces energy is romantic, helpful, knowledgeable, consoling, and artistic in nature. Negative Pisces energy can be naive, self-pitying, delusional, addicted, self-destructive, clinging, and masochistic. We must set boundaries and avoid playing the martyr, codependence, and rescuing damaged folks during a Pisces planetary transit.
What is the constellation’s 15th star?
Spica, also known as Alpha Virginis, is the brightest star in the Virgo the Maiden constellation. Spica appears to us on Earth as a lone bluish-white star in a peaceful part of the sky at a distance of 262 light-years. Spica, on the other hand, has at least two stars and possibly more. They’re both bigger and hotter than our sun, and they’re barely 11 million miles apart (less than 18 million km). They only take four days to orbit their same gravitational center.
The distance between the Earth and the sun is 93.3 million miles (150 million kilometers, or 1 astronomical unit, or AU). Spica’s two stars are only.12 AU apart, a fraction of the distance between the Earth and the sun.
As a result, even with a telescope, the two stars in the Spica system are indistinguishable from a single point of light. Only by analyzing its light with a spectroscope, a device that breaks light into its component hues, was the dual nature of this star found.
Hot, hot, hot
Spica’s two stars are so close together and orbit each other so swiftly that their mutual gravity bends each star into an egg form. The pointed extremities of these egg-shaped stars are considered to face each other as they spiral around.
Spica is one of the brightest first-magnitude stars. 22,400 Kelvin is the warmest of the two (about 40,000 F or 22,000 C). In comparison to the sun’s 5,800 Kelvin, that’s scorching (about 10,000 F or 5,500 C). This star has the potential to become a supernova at some point in the future.
The light from Spica’s two stars is on average more than 2,200 times brighter than the light from our sun. Their sizes are believed to be 7.8 and 4 times the diameter of the sun, respectively.
The moon can obscure several bright stars, including Spica (eclipse). Some astronomers believe it isn’t just a spectroscopic binary star because of observations of how the star’s light dims when the moon passes in front of it. Instead, they believe there could be up to three more stars in the system. Spica would be a quintuple star, not a single or even a double!
How to find Spica
From northern spring until late northern summer, when this star arcs across the southern sky in the evening, the greatest views of Spica are possible. Spica can be found in the southeast in the early evening in May, as seen from the Northern Hemisphere. Spica is closer to due east from the Southern Hemisphere. Spica looks to be moving westward from all of Earth in May as the night passes. Spica rises sooner each evening, and towards the end of August, it can only be seen momentarily as night descends in the west to west-southwest sky.
Using the Big Dipper as a reference, there’s a foolproof way to find Spica. Scouts and stargazers remember this tactic by saying, “Follow the arc to Arcturus, then speed on to Spica (or drive a spike).”
In the northern sky, look for the Big Dipper. In the northern spring and summer, it reaches its highest point in the evening sky. The Big Dipper has a bowl and a long, curved handle, as you can see. Follow the outward arc of the Dipper’s handle out from the basin. Arcturus, the orange star, is the first bright star you see. Then, along this curving course, drive a spike (or accelerate). Spica is the next bright star you’ll see.
Spica is the brightest star in Virgo, with a brightness of 1.04. It’s the 15th brightest star seen from any location on the planet. Because Antares in the constellation Scorpius is nearly the same brightness as Spica, Antares is frequently ranked as the 15th brightest star and Spica as the 16th. It doesn’t matter.
Identify this lovely blue-white star in the sky with the guidance of the Big Dipper. If you succeed, this star will become your lifelong companion.
History and mythology of Spica
Spica is derived from the Latin word for “hearing” (of grain). Spica has a generic meaning of a woman “Wheat ear.” Indeed, Demeter, the Greek goddess of the harvest, was sometimes identified with the star and constellation Virgo.
Spica’s constellation, Virgo, has various names and stories in mythology, as well as by relation with Spica. Spica is mentioned in fewer stories on its own. Due to the fact that the sun passes through Virgo in the fall, many classical allusions refer to Virgo’s stars as a goddess or with some relation with wheat or the harvest. In ancient Greece and Rome, she was Astraea, the embodiment of Justice, or Persephone, Demeter’s daughter. Virgo was associated with Isis in Egypt, while Spica was her lute bearer. Spica was a magnificent spring star known as the Horn in ancient China.
Azimech was an Arabic name formed from terms that meant “Defenseless One” or “Solitary One.” Spica’s solitary state, with no other bright stars nearby, may have inspired its title. Spica, on the other hand, isn’t the most lonesome of stars. Fomalhaut, often known as the Autumn Star, is the recipient of this award.
Spica is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. Spica is made up of at least two stars orbiting in close proximity and bending each other into egg shapes.

