Pegasus

English name Pegasus

Major
stars alpha Pegasi Markab magn. 2,6 RA: 23h 04m 45.65s Dec: +15° 12' 19.0"
beta Pegasi Scheat magn. 2,6 RA: 23h 03m 46.43s Dec: +28° 04' 57.8"
gamma Pegasi Algenib magn. 2,9 RA: 00h 13m 14.16s Dec: +15° 11' 00.8"
epsilon Pegasi Enif magn. 2,5 RA: 21h 44m 11.16s Dec: +09° 52' 30.0"
eta Pegasi Matar magn. 3,1 RA: 22h 43m 00.14s Dec: +30° 13' 16.5"

Description The constellation of Pegasus is the seventh one of the whole sky in order of extension, but it doesn't contain any particularly bright stars. Its characteristic feature is a big square, whose angles are shown by stars of second and third magnitude, although only three of them belong to Pegasus: the fourth one is the first star of Andromeda and once it was also called delta Pegasi.
The brightest star of the constellation, however, is not a member of the big square, but it is in the southern part: it is Enif, an orange supergiant, approximately 500 light-years away.
M15 Near Enif there is also the globular cluster M15, visible with binoculars as an out-of-focus circular spot: looking at it with a telescope, you can see its center, where the stars thicken. M15 is 30.000 light-years away from the Earth: since it is a strong source of X-rays, it very probably contains a black hole.

Mythology
and history Pegasus was the winged horse born from Medusa's blood, when she was beheaded by Perseus. It was the mount of the hero Bellerophontes, until this latter, wanting to compete with the gods and to reach the sky, was punished by Zeus: the king of the gods, in fact, sent a horse-fly to sting the winged horse which, become restive, unsaddled Bellerophontes and crippled him.
In the sky it is represented only the anterior part of the animal: the square is the body, the two lines of stars that depart from Scheat are the anterior legs, the line that begins from Markab and finishes with Enif draws the neck and the face (in Arab, Enif means "nose").

English name	Pegasus

Major stars	alpha Pegasi	Markab	magn. 2,6	RA: 23h 04m 45.65s	Dec: +15° 12' 19.0"
	beta Pegasi	Scheat	magn. 2,6	RA: 23h 03m 46.43s	Dec: +28° 04' 57.8"
	gamma Pegasi	Algenib	magn. 2,9	RA: 00h 13m 14.16s	Dec: +15° 11' 00.8"
	epsilon Pegasi	Enif	magn. 2,5	RA: 21h 44m 11.16s	Dec: +09° 52' 30.0"
	eta Pegasi	Matar	magn. 3,1	RA: 22h 43m 00.14s	Dec: +30° 13' 16.5"

Description	The constellation of Pegasus is the seventh one of the whole sky in order of extension, but it doesn't contain any particularly bright stars. Its characteristic feature is a big square, whose angles are shown by stars of second and third magnitude, although only three of them belong to Pegasus: the fourth one is the first star of Andromeda and once it was also called delta Pegasi. The brightest star of the constellation, however, is not a member of the big square, but it is in the southern part: it is Enif, an orange supergiant, approximately 500 light-years away. Near Enif there is also the globular cluster M15, visible with binoculars as an out-of-focus circular spot: looking at it with a telescope, you can see its center, where the stars thicken. M15 is 30.000 light-years away from the Earth: since it is a strong source of X-rays, it very probably contains a black hole.

Mythology and history	Pegasus was the winged horse born from Medusa's blood, when she was beheaded by Perseus. It was the mount of the hero Bellerophontes, until this latter, wanting to compete with the gods and to reach the sky, was punished by Zeus: the king of the gods, in fact, sent a horse-fly to sting the winged horse which, become restive, unsaddled Bellerophontes and crippled him. In the sky it is represented only the anterior part of the animal: the square is the body, the two lines of stars that depart from Scheat are the anterior legs, the line that begins from Markab and finishes with Enif draws the neck and the face (in Arab, Enif means "nose").

Pegasus

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