Constellations: Pegasus

Pegasus is easily recognised by 4 stars which form a large square known as The Great Square of Pegasus. One of the stars of the Great Square used to be delta Pegasi Alpheratz (Sirrah), but is now assigned to the constellation of Andromeda. Pegasus was the winged horse of mythology, created by Neptune, born of sand, sea-foam and Medusa’s (patron saint of Bad Hair Day 🙂 blood.

Messier object number 15 is a globular cluster which may be visible to eagle-eyed observers with the naked eye under very dark skies. This impressive cluster is easily seen with binoculars as a round fuzzy patch. M15 has a bright compressed core surrounded by a faint halo of stars. With a larger instrument more stars become visible in the outer periphery with some brighter members resolved in the centre. M15 is one of only a handful of globular clusters known to contain a planetary nebula.

Enif is a double star with components of widely unequal brightness. The main star is a 2nd-mag orange supergiant; its companion is of 8th-mag.

Scheat is a red giant irregular variable that fluctuates between 2nd and 3rd mag. with no set period.