Pegasus
This is probably the main northern autumn sky constellation.
On maps Pegasus looks easy to find. Its four main stars make up a square and
one might think it is easy to see. However none of these four stars are really
bright and the square is also very large meaning that Pegasus is not that easy
to find at first.
The ‘W’ of Cassiopeia makes a good pointer since a line
drawn through Gamma and Alpha point towards Pegasus. The brightest star in the
square is Alpheratz. For some reason this star has been given a free transfer
to the neighbouring constellation of Andromeda. It has now become Alpha
Andromeda which seems bizarre as it clearly fits in to the square of
Pegasus.
The most notable star Beta whose name is Scheat which means
the horse’s shoulder and is an enormous red giant star around 200 light years
away. The other stars that make up the square are Alpha which is called Markab
which means saddle and Gamma which is called Algenib and means wing or side.
The square provides a good opportunity to show how uncrowded
the night sky really is. It covers a large area, try to count how many stars
you can see inside the square without using binoculars or a telescope. You
might be surprised!
One last star to mention is 51 Pegasi which in 1995 was the
first star similar to the Sun to be found to have planets orbiting it. The star
which is of the fifth magnitude and just visible to the naked eye on clear
nights is about 50 light years distant.
In mythology Pegasus carried Perseus to the rescue of the
princess Andromeda who was about to be eaten by the Kraken.
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