How to Identify the Zodiac Constellation Pisces

Instructions

1. • 1
     Look for Pisces in late September and early October. Pisces is a fall constellation and is best viewed in early autumn. It will rise in the east and can be seen by 10 p.m. However, due to the lack of prominent stars, Pisces shows up much better on moonless nights.
   • 2
     As with many autumn constellations, use the Great Square of Pegasus as a point of reference to locate Pisces. The Great Square looks just the way it sounds, and cannot be missed. It comes up over the horizon as the sun sets and the Earth's rotation brings it into view. Always picture the square as a baseball diamond, with second base rising first, followed by the rest of the constellation. Pegasus is a winged horse in mythology and the square is the main part of the horse's body.
   • 3
     Look for Pisces in what would be the first base box seats. If the Great Square is a baseball diamond, then the most recognizable part of Pisces is in back of the first base line. This would be what is called the "Circlet," a group of faint stars that form a circle. Pisces represents two fish held together by a cord on their tails. The Circlet is one of those fish.
   • 4
     Try to find the other fish of the Pisces duo on the opposite side of the Great Square. There is no circle of stars to form this fish; if anything, it would be an eel, because it is mostly a straight line of unremarkable and dim stars. However, if you have a small telescope, you can see the spiral galaxy known as M74, about halfway up the line of stars and to their left.
   • 5
     See if you can make out a "V." Both of these heavenly fish are connected at their tails. Pisces has a "V" shape, with the Circlet at the top of the upper right portion of the "V." The lack of bright stars in Pisces makes it, along with Aquarius and Aries, the hardest Zodiac constellation to locate in the sky. Pisces lies between these two in the Zodiac, but trying to find it based on that information is not of much help to the novice stargazer.