Pegasus

Greek mythology · one version

The winged horse

The flying horse Pegasus helps Bellerophon defeat the fire-breathing Chimaera. When the rider later attempts to reach Olympus and falls, Pegasus continues to the gods and becomes a bearer of Zeus’s thunderbolts.

The traditional figure is a horse with wings. The connecting lines are a simplified way to recognise its position among the stars.

People around the world have given these stars different figures and stories. This is one interpretation. Lines are recognition aids, rather than official constellation boundaries.

Finding Pegasus

Above the horizon. Clear skies and a dark enough view are still needed. The figure’s centre is toward the southwest in this preview.

Use the bright reference stars below to recognise the shape. A complete drawing can extend outside the current camera window, even when its stars are above the horizon. Open its guide in Sky Timeline to compare the stars with an illustrated interpretation where available.

Bright reference stars

Alpheratz

Magnitude 2.1

Enif

Magnitude 2.4

Lower magnitude numbers mean brighter stars. Clouds, nearby lighting and moonlight change what your eyes can pick out.

Explore another night

Visibility changes with place, season and time. Move through the night to see the object rise, cross the sky and set, while weather remains a separate estimate.