At the heart of the Fall constellations is Pegasus, the Winged Horse. It is easy to find because the body of the horse consists of four bright stars that form a large asterism known as the Great Square of Pegasus.
The other parts of the horse are easy to find but only if you are good as seeing things upside down. From Markab, follow the line of stars down and to the right and then up to Enif. This is the neck and head with Enif forming the nose. From Scheat, follow the two lines of stars to the right -- the front legs.
Are there back legs to Pegasus? Yes and no. Find Alpheratz and see the two lines of stars that appear to be hind legs. But notice that these stars including Alpheratz are part of the constellation Andromeda, not Pegasus. Andromeda is the Chained Princess and these stars represent her body chained to the beach as the sea monster Cetus is rising from below to devour her. Check out the constellation Perseus for more details on this epic myth.
Here's something to try: on a clear, moonless night, count the number of stars you can see naked-eye within the Great Square of Pegasus. If you are viewing from a location with a lot of light pollution, you probably won't see any. If you can see ten or more, count yourself lucky!
The brightest DSO in Pegasus is the globular cluster known as M15. A globular cluster is a group of hundreds of thousands of stars that orbit our galaxy as a group. Using a binocular, scan the sky upwards from Enif until you find this glowing orb. With a telescope you may see thousands of individual stars.
One of the night sky's most famous targets is the Andromeda Galaxy, our Milky Way's sister galaxy. From a dark site, this enormous galaxy can be seen naked-eye but is it better viewed using a binocular or telescope. Find a link below.
Viewing Andromeda & Pegasus
Level
Easy
Rating
Best Viewing
September through February
Find
Look east on any Fall evening and find the four bright stars that make up the Great Square of Pegasus. The square will appear rotated counter-clockwise a bit. Use Markab to find the neck and head. Use Scheat to find the front legs. Use Alpheratz to find the two long lines of stars that form Andromeda.
Try drawing Andromeda and Pegasus with all bright stars, lines and labels.
Try to find Andromeda and M15. See the link below. Take time and enjoy.
