Neptune and the Circlet of Pisces

 That title sounds like a good name for a fantasy-adventure movie.  The Circlet of Pisces is an asterism.  An asterism is an easily recognized pattern of stars which may have one or several traditional or popular names.  Examples are the "Big Dipper", the "Square of Pegasus", the "Summer Triangle", or the "Sword of Orion".  The Circlet of Pisces comprises a ring of seven 4th to 5th magnitude stars in the constellation Pisces just below the Square of Pegasus.  In this age of light pollution it is not a widely known asterism because the stars are not particularly bright.  Even in Creede's dark skies it is necessary to let your eyes adjust after stepping outside before it becomes recognizable.

The Circlet of Pisces.  Olympus E-M1iii + 75mm f/1.8 + Softon diffusion filter.

This asterism serves as a convenient signpost for finding the planet Neptune in its current location.  In the above image Neptune is at the center of the white circle near the bottom of the frame. Neptune is magnitude 7.8 and is about 7' from the 7.3 magnitude star HD 222878. The close proximity to a star of similar brightness makes it much easier to find this planet visually - just look for the pair and you know you have it.  I was able to spot Neptune easily with 10x50, 7x35, and 8x32 binoculars.  I also tried a wide-field 2x54 binocular but was unsuccessful with that optic.

The green airglow that has been plaguing us recently seems to have abated somewhat last night.  I measured a sky brightness of sqml=21.45, which is getting closer to what I consider a normal dark sky (21.6) for this area.