#beta pegasi

Pegasus, named after the winged horse from Greek mythology, is one of the original 48 constellations set down by Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. It is easily recognizable thanks to the square shape four of its brightest stars form.

In Greek mythology, Pegasus was born from the head of Medusa, after Perseus cut it off. He was said to have magical powers: his hooves dug out a spring, Hippocrene, that blessed those who drank its water with the ability to write poetry.

In order of brightness, the named stars are:

Enif (ε Pegasi), a solitary orange supergiant star about 690 light years away. Its name comes from the Arabic word meaning "nose" since it marks the muzzle of Pegasus.

Scheat (β Pegasi) is a solitary red giant star about 196 light years away. Its name comes from the Arabic word Al Sā'id meaning "the upper arm," marking its position in Pegasus. It is the upper right corner of the Great Square of Pegasus.

Markab (α Pegasi) is a solitary blue-white giant star about 133 light years away. Its name comes from the Arabic word markab meaning "the saddle of the horse." It is the lower right corner of the Great Square of Pegasus.

Algenib (γ Pegasi) is a binary star system about 470 light years away. The primary star is a blue giant star. Its name comes from the Arabic word al-janb meaning "the side." It marks the lower left corner of the Great Square of Pegasus.

Matar (η Pegasi) is a binary star consisting of a yellow giant and a yellow-white giant star. The system lies about 214 light years away. The name comes from the Arabic phrase Saʽd al Maṭar meaning "lucky star of rain."

Homam (ζ Pegasi) is a solitary blue giant star about 204 light years away. Its name comes the Arabic phrase sa'd al-humam meaning "the lucky star of the hero."

Sadalbari (μ Pegasi) is a solitary yellow giant star about 113 light years away. Its name comes from the Arabic phrase saʿd al-bāriʿ meaning "the lucky star of the splendid one."

Biham (θ Pegasi) is a binary star system consisting of a blue-white giant and a red dwarf star. The system lies about 92 light years away. Its name comes from the Arabic phrase s'ad al Biham meaning "the lucky stars of the young beasts."

Alkarab (υ Pegasi) is a solitary yellow giant star about 170 light years away. Its name comes from the Arabic word Al Karab meaning "the bucket-rope."

Salm (τ Pegasi) is a solitary blue-white giant star about 162 light years away.

Helvetios (51 Pegasi) is a Sun-like star about 51 light years away. It was the first Sun-like star found to have an exoplanet orbiting it, named Dimidium. Both names come from the people of Switzerland: "Helvetios" is the Latin word for the Celtic tribe that lived in Switzerland, and "Dimidium" is Latin for "half", since this planet has half the mass of Jupiter.

Solaris (BD+14 4559) is a red dwarf star about 161 light years from Earth. It has a single confirmed exoplanet orbiting it, named Pirx. Both names were given by the people of Poland: "Solaris" refers to a 1961 sci-fi novel written by Stanisław Lem, and "Pirx" refers to the character "Pilot Pirx" in Stanisław Lem's novels.

Tangra (WASP-21) is a Sun-like star about 834 light years away. It has a single exoplanet orbiting it, named Bendida. Both names were given by the people of Bulgaria: "Tangra" is a god of heaven worshiped by early Bulgars, and "Bendida" is a lunar goddess worshiped by the Thracians.

Anadolu (WASP-52) is a red dwarf star about 570 light years from Earth. It has a single confirmed exoplanet orbiting it, named Göktürk. Both names were given by the people of Turkey: "Anadolu" is the Turkish word for Anatolia, and "Göktürk" is a historical group of Turkic people.

Starting with Pegasus first, in order of brightness:

Scheat (β Pegasi) is a red giant star that forms the upper right corner of the Great Square. It is about 196 light years away and has swelled to over 100 times the size of the Sun. Its name comes from the Arabic phrase Al Sā'id meaning "the upper arm".

Markab (α Pegasi) is a blue-white star located about 133 light years away, marking the lower right corner of the Great Square. Its name comes from an Arabic word markab meaning "the saddle of the horse".

Algenib (γ Pegasi) is a blue subgiant star about 470 light years away and marks the lower left corner of the Great Square. It has a mass of about 9 times that of the Sun. Its name comes from the Arabic word al-jānib meaning "the flank".

Matar (η Pegasi) is a yellow-white star about 196 light years away. It is a binary system, with the primary being about 25 times larger than the Sun. Its name comes from the Arabic phrase Saʽd al Maṭar meaning "lucky star of rain".

Homam (ζ Pegasi) is a blue star about 204 light years away. It is only about 4 times as large as the Sun, but is emitting over 200 times the light. The origin of the name is unclear, but it likely comes from the Arabic phrase Sa'd al Humam meaning "lucky star of the hero."

Sadalbari (μ Pegasi) is a yellow giant star about 113 light years from Earth and is about 9 times the size of the Sun. Its name comes from the Arabic phrase saʿd al-bāriʿ meaning "the lucky star of the splendid one."

ι Pegasi is a binary star system about 39 light years away. The primary is a yellow-white star about the mass of the Sun but 1.5 times the size.

λ Pegasi is a yellow giant star about 365 light years away. It is about 1.5 times the mass of the Sun, but over 28 times the size of the Sun.

Next up are the few stars in Andromeda, in order of brightness:

Alpheratz (α Andromedae) is a binary star system that forms the upper left corner of the Great Square. The primary is a blue-white star with about 3.5 times the mass of the Sun. The entire system is located about 97 light years from Earth. Its name comes from the Arabic phrase surrat al-faras meaning "navel of the horse".

Mirach (β Andromedae) is a red giant star about 200 light years from Earth. It is only about 2.5 times as massive as the Sun, but has swelled to over 85 times that of the Sun. Its name comes from the Arabic word mīzar meaning "girdle".

δ Andromedae is a triple star system about 105 light years from Earth. The primary is a orange giant star about the mass of the Sun, but about 13 times the size.

μ Andromedae is a blue-white star about 130 light years from Earth. It is about twice the mass and three times the size of the Sun.

ν Andromedae is a binary star system about 620 light years from Earth and appears very close to the Andromeda Galaxy on the sky. The primary is a blue star about six times as massive as the Sun.

Finally, two stars in Pisces:

ν Piscium is a binary star system about 365 light years away. The primary is an orange giant star about 1.6 times the mass of the Sun with almost 35 times the size.

τ Piscium is an orange giant star about 169 light years away. It is slightly more massive than the Sun, but 10 times the size.