Pegasus (constellation) - Visualizations

Visualizations

Pegasus is dominated by an asterism in the shape of a rough square, although one of the stars, Delta Pegasi or Sirrah, is now officially considered to be part of Andromeda, (α Andromedae) and is more usually called "Alpheratz". Traditionally, the body of the horse consists of a quadrilateral formed by the stars α Peg, β Peg, γ Peg, and α And. The front legs of the winged horse are formed by two crooked lines of stars, one leading from η Peg to κ Peg and the other from μ Peg to 1 Pegasi. Another crooked line of stars from α Peg via θ Peg to ε Peg forms the neck and head; ε is the snout.

H.A. Rey has suggested an alternative way to connect the stars into the shape of a winged horse, as seen in the diagram at right. In this visualization, the Square of Pegasus is broken into a triangle, representing the horse's wings, by the removal of Alpha Andromedae.