Pisces Constellation Astronomy For Beginners
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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. The universe is infinite, which means astronomy is infinite. Therefore it becomes necessary to specialize in one small part of astronomy. For our purposes, let’s focus on Pisces constellation astronomy..
Doesn’t this limit us to almost nothing? 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. Pisces, for example, contains very few bright stars but does contain a unique galaxy from our point of view. Galaxy NGC629, or M74, is a spiral galaxy like our own Milky Way, and we can see its facing side. We see all of it’s arms extending out from its center. To us it looks like a spiral someone might draw. That doesn’t mean we can view it unaided. 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 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 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. For instance our sun and solar system move at about 220 kilometers per second around the center of the Milky Way. In all of human history, the solar system has moved 1/1250th of a complete revolution. The galaxy too, as well as everything in the universe, also moves at a breakneck pace. Constellations are always shifting and in flux. The movement of Aries relative to Pisces reminds us of this fact.
See how interesting Pisces constellation astronomy can be?
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