dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (11/25/84)
The constellation Pisces is overhead in November. More on the two fish of Pisces -- right after this. November 25 The Constellation Pisces The constellation Pisces is faint -- but very graceful. Although you need a dark sky to see it, Pisces is high overhead each evening now. The constellation consists of two delicate streams of stars which come together in a point, to form a "V". The point of the V is sometimes called the Heavenly Knot. Starlore says it's the knot that ties two fish together by their tails. In the lore of the sky, these fish started out as gods -- Venus and Cupid. A Greek myth describes the two strolling along a river bank. As they walked, they encountered a terrible giant -- Typhon. Venus and Cupid were startled. They lept into the river and assumed the form of two fish. To preserve the memory of this event, the other gods are said to have elevated the fish to the sky. They myth accounts for the fact that the constellation Pisces once was known by the name "Venus and Cupid." The Pisces legend may sound familiar. Another constellation, Capricornus, also came to be when the god Pan lept into a river and transformed himself into a sea goat. Strangely enough, Pan also was frightened by Typhon, who seems to have no purpose in mythology other than to scare people. But, even in Greek myths, justice is served. It's said that the king of the gods crushed Typhon beneath a mountain -- and that his struggles still can be heard today, whenever a volcano erupts. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1983, 1984 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin