The Circlet

The constellation of Pisces represents a pair of fishes connected by a cord, and the western fish is formed by a rough oval of seven stars leading off towards Fumalsamakah, the westernmost major star of Pisces. This ring of seven stars is also sometimes called the Circlet due to its distinctive shape.

The seven stars that make up the Circlet are (clockwise from the north) Theta, b, Gamma, Kappa, Lambda, 19 and Iota Piscium. None of these are notably bright, and indeed b and 19 Piscium are so faint that they are only on the verge of naked-eye visibility. The brightest of the whole group is the westernmost, Gamma Piscium, is a yellow star with an apparent magnitude of +3.7.

As with most asterisms and constellations, the stars of the Circlet are not physically connected, though several of them occupy a region of space about 150 light years from the Solar System. Others are closer (the closest, Iota Piscium, is less than 45 light years from the Sun) while others are much more distant (19 Piscium is some 900 light years from the Solar System).