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The Line Connecting the Fish

The zodiacal constellation of Pisces depicts two fish connected by a ribbon or cord. Some older star atlases label this cord separately from the fish. German astronomer Johann Elert Bode (1747–1826) labelled the cord as Linum Piscium in his groundbreaking celestial atlas Uranographia in 1801. However, German/Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius (1611–1687) also named the cords in his posthumously-published Uranographia of 1690, calling the southern ribbon Linum Austrinum and the northern one Linum Boreum.