Positioned north of the ecliptic plane, the constellation of Pegasus was one of the original 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy, and endures as one of the 88 modern constellations.adopted by the IAU. It covers 1121 square degrees of sky and ranks 11th in size. Pegasus contains between 9 and 17 main stars in its asterism (depending on how you depict it) and has 88 Bayer Flamsteed designated stars within its confines. Pegasus is bordered by the constellations of Andromeda, Lacerta, Cygnus, Vulpecula, Delphinus, Equuleus, Aquarius and Pisces. It is visible to observers located at latitudes between +90° and ?60° and is best seen at culmination during the month of October.
There is one annual meteor shower associated with the constellation of Pegasus which peaks on or about November 12 of each year – the Pegasids. The radiant – or point of origin – for the meteor shower is near the asterism of the “Great Square”. Activity begins around October 10 and lasts to late November. The average fall rate at maximum during the peak is 10 per hour. This particular meteor used to be spectacular, but Jupiter has perturbed the meteor stream over the years and lessened the activity.
In mythology, Pegasus represents the Winged Horse, and child of Medusa who was slain by the hero Perseus. According to Greek mythology, Pegasus was delivered to Mount Helicon by Bellerophon, where the magnificent horse kicked the source of poetic inspiration – the Spring of Hippocrene – into flowing. When Bellerophon defeated Chimaera, he became so proud he ordered Pegasus to fly him to Mount Olympus. This action angered Zeus, who ordered an insect to sting Pegasus, resulting in Bellerophon’s fatal fall to Earth. Zeus then went on to recognize Pegasus in the stars as the “Thundering Horse of Jove” – carrier of his lightning bolts.
Let’s begin our binocular tour of Pegasus with its brightest star – Alpha – the “a” symbol on our map. Alpha Pegasi’s proper name is Markab and it marks the southwestern corner of the asterism of the Great Square. Located 140 light years from Earth, Markab is a hot class B (B9) dwarf star which shines about 205 times brighter than our own Sun and is about three times larger. This fast rotator completes a full turn on its axis in just about 36 hours! Right now, Markab sits on the edge of the main sequence, about to die and become a much cooler orange giant star. It’s about as “normal” as a star can be!
Now, turn your binoculars towards Beta – the “B” symbol. Named Scheat, you’ll find this particular star located in the northwestern corner of the Great Square and about 200 light years from our solar system. Scheat is unusual among bright stars in having a relatively cool surface temperature of 3700 degrees Kelvin, compared to stars such as our Sun. Scheat is a red giant star some 95 times larger than Sol and has a total stellar luminosity of 1500 times solar. It is also an irregular variable star, its brightness changing from magnitude 2.31 to 2.74.
You’ll need a telescope to reveal the mysteries surrounding Eta Pegasi – the “n” symbol on our map. Named Matar and located about 215 light years away, this spectral class G2II-III star has a close binary star companion of class F0V. There are also 2 class G stars further away that may or may not be physically related to the main pair. According to Jim Kaler, “Matar is double star and may well be quadruple, consisting of a very unequal pair of pairs, an unbalanced double-double. The brighter of the bright pair is on its way to becoming a much larger giant, and will eventually expand to a radius of a quarter the distance that now separates the two stars, streams of matter running from the brighter to the dimmer creating quite a sight from the smaller pair. Eventually the bright star of the brighter pair will fade to become a white dwarf, this double perhaps looking something like Sirius does today.”
Next up? Epsilon Pegasi – the backwards “3” symbol on our map. Located 670 light years away, Enif is a cool star for more than one reason! To begin with, Enif is orange class K (K2) supergiant star whose stellar temperature only averages about 4460 degrees Kelvin. Even in binoculars you’ll notice the reddish hue. It’s big, too… About 150 times the size of our Sun and if located in our solar system would fill out the space about halfway to the orbit of Venus. This supergiant star’s fate awaits it as a supernova, but there is always a possibility it could become a heavy, rare neon-oxygen white dwarf whose size would be no larger than the Earth. What makes Enif so cool is that it is very unpredictable. According to records, in 1972 Enif had a flare event which caused it to brighten 5 times more than its normal stellar magnitude!
Keep your binoculars handy, because following the trajectory from Theta to Epsilon just another third of the way will bring you to awesome globular cluster – Messier 15 (RA 21:29:58.3 Dec +12:10:01). Located almost equidistantly from both the galactic center and from us, this superior globular cluster was first discovered by Jean-Dominique Maraldi on September 7, 1746 and later listed by Charles Messier on his famous Messier Catalog list of “objects which are not comets”. It ranks third in variable star population and M15 is perhaps the oldest and most dense of all globulars located in the Milky Way Galaxy. Its compact central core may be the result of mutual gravitational interaction, or it could contain a dense, supermassive object – a black hole. One thing we do know that M15 contains is a planetary nebula known as Pease 1 – only four known planetary nebulae in Milky Way globular clusters! Another curiosity is M15 also contains 9 pulsars, the remnants of ancient supernova explosions leftover from its youthful beginnings. While you can easily see M15 with binoculars, even a small telescope can begin resolution on this great deep sky object!
For telescopes, have a look at spiral galaxy NGC 7217 (RA 22:07.9 Dec +31:22). This magnitude 10 jewel displays a bright nucleus and hazy frontier over its generous 3.7 arc minute size. Taken photographically this particular galaxy exhibits very tight spiral galaxy structure and is sometimes considered an “unbarred” spiral galaxy with a dark ring of obscuring material around the nucleus.
Try your hand at spiral galaxy NGC 7814 (RA 0:03.3 Dec +16:09), too. At magnitude 10 and a huge 6.3 arc minutes in diameter, this particular galaxy is easily seen in small telescopes and larger binoculars. Often referred to as Caldwell 43, it’s located about 40 million light years from Earth and gives a great edge-on presentation! It is sometimes referred to as the a miniature version of Messier 104, or “the Little Sombrero”.
Now, it’s time for NGC 7331 (RA 22:37.1 Dec +34:25). Easily spotted in big binoculars and small telescopes under dark skies, it was first discovered by Sir William Herschel. This beautiful, 10th magnitude, tilted spiral galaxy is very much how our own Milky Way would appear if we could travel 50 million light-years away and look back. Very similar in structure to both our own Milky Way and the Great Andromeda Galaxy, this particular galaxy gains more and more interest as scope size increases – yet it can be spotted with larger binoculars. At around 8″ in aperture, a bright core appears and the beginnings of wispy arms. In the 10″ to 12″ range, spiral patterns begin to emerge and with good seeing conditions, you can see “patchiness” in structure as nebulous areas are revealed, and the western half is deeply outlined with a dark dustlane. But hang on… Because the best is yet to come!
Return to NGC 7331 with a big telescope. What we are about to look at is truly a challenge and requires dark skies, optimal position and excellent conditions. Now breathe the scope about one half a degree south-southwest and behold one of the most famous galaxy clusters in the night. In 1877, French astronomer Edouard Stephan was using the first telescope designed with a coated mirror when he discovered something a bit more with NGC 7331. He found a group of nearby galaxies! This faint gathering of five is now known as “Stephan’s Quintet” and its members are no further apart than the diameter of our own Milky Way galaxy.
Visually in a large scope, these members are all rather faint, but their proximity is what makes them such a curiosity. The Quintet is made up of five galaxies numbered NGC 7317, 7318, 7318A, 7318B, 7319 and the largest is 7320. Even with a 12.5″ telescope, this author has never seen them as much more than tiny, barely-there objects that look like ghosts of rice grains on a dinner plate. So why bother? Because I’ve seen them with large aperture… What our backyard equipment can never reveal is what else exists within this area – more than 100 star clusters and several dwarf galaxies. Some 100 million years ago, the galaxies collided and left long streamers of their materials which created star forming regions of their own, and this tidal pull keeps them connected. The stars within the galaxies themselves are nearly a billion years old, but between them lie much younger ones. Although we cannot see them, you can make out the soft sheen of the galactic nuclei of our interacting group. Enjoy their faint mystery!
There are many more faint galaxies and deep sky objects in Pegasus to be enjoyed, so grab a good star map and fly with the “Winged Horse”!
Sources:
Chandra Observatory
SEDS
Wikipedia
Chart Courtesy of Your Sky.