Pegasus

constellation · mythology · night sky

Named after a winged horse. Pegasus the constellation gets its name from a magical flying horse in ancient Greek myths. The Greeks saw this pattern of stars in the sky and thought it looked like the legendary creature.

One of the oldest constellations. Pegasus was listed as one of the 48 constellations by Ptolemy, a super famous astronomer from around 2,000 years ago. It's still recognized today as one of 88 official constellations we use to map the night sky.

Visible in the northern sky. If you live in the northern hemisphere, you can find Pegasus up in the sky just north of an imaginary line called the celestial equator. This makes it a great constellation to spot during certain times of the year.

Easy to find pattern. Pegasus has a distinctive square shape made of four bright stars that form what astronomers call the Great Square. Once you know where to look, this pattern makes the constellation easier to spot among all the other stars.