Alpha Piscium (Al Rischa, The Cord) ties the two fish together.

Locating Al Rischa could be a problem if you don't enjoy the best skies. It's found far to the southeast of the constellation.

First find Alpheratz (alpha Andromedae) and Aldebaran (alpha Tauri).

     Draw a line from Alpheratz to Aldebaran; you'll find Hamal (alpha Arietis) midway along this line. Now from Hamal drop straight south twenty degrees (three fields of view): binoculars.

In early Autumn skies Pisces is to the southeast around one or two a.m.; during the last week of October it is due south at midnight.

Al Rischa is actually a double system, with the companion making an orbit every 933 years (considerably more than the 720 years previously believed).

The combined magnitude of both stars is only 3.8. In fact most stars in this constellation have a magnitude of only fourth- or fifth-magnitude.

Also, to make matters a bit more difficult, the stars are widely scattered, and don't form a distinctive asterism. With the naked eye you might discern a line of stars to the northwest of alpha and another one stretching out westward. These two faint lines represent the two fish.