Piscis Austrinus
| Constellation | |
|
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| Abbreviation | PsA |
|---|---|
| Genitive | Piscis Austrini |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpaɪsᵻs ɒsˈtraɪnəs/ or /ɒsˈtreɪlᵻs/, genitive /ˈpaɪsᵻs ɒˈstraɪnaɪ/ |
| Symbolism | the Southern Fish |
| Right ascension | 22 |
| Declination | −30 |
| Family | Heavenly Waters |
| Quadrant | SQ4 |
| Area | 245 sq. deg. (60th) |
| Main stars | 7 |
|
Bayer/Flamsteed stars |
21 |
| Stars with planets | 3 |
| Stars brighter than 3.00m | 1 |
| Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly) | 3 |
| Brightest star | Fomalhaut (α PsA) (1.16m) |
| Nearest star |
Lacaille 9352 (10.74 ly, 3.29 pc) |
| Messier objects | 0 |
| Meteor showers | ? |
| Bordering constellations |
Capricornus Microscopium Grus Sculptor Aquarius |
|
Visible at latitudes between +55° and −90°. Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of October. |
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Piscis Austrinus (also known as Piscis Australis) is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere. The name is Latin for "the southern fish", in contrast with the larger constellation Pisces, which represents a pair of fishes. Prior to the 20th century, it was also known as Piscis Notius. Its only star brighter than fourth magnitude is Fomalhaut, which is a first-magnitude star and is the eighteenth-brightest star in the night sky.
Piscis Austrinus was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. The stars of the modern constellation Grus once formed the "tail" of Piscis Austrinus. In 1597 (or 1598), Petrus Plancius carved out a separate constellation and named it after the crane.
In Greek mythology, this constellation is known as the Great Fish and it is portrayed as swallowing the water being poured out by Aquarius, the water-bearer constellation. The two fish of the constellation Pisces are said to be the offspring of the Great Fish. In Egyptian mythology, this fish saved the life of the Egyptian goddess Isis, so she placed this fish and its descendants into the heavens as constellations of stars.
Pisces Austrinus originated with the Babylonian constellation simply known as the Fish (MUL.KU). Professor of astronomy Bradley Schaefer has proposed that ancient observers must have been able to see as far south as Mu Piscis Austrini to define a pattern that looked like an fish.
Piscis Austrinus is a constellation bordered by Capricornus to the northwest, Microscopium to the southwest, Grus to the south, Sculptor to the east, Aquarius to the north. The recommended three-letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922, is 'PsA'. The official constellation boundaries, as set by Eugène Delporte in 1930, are defined by a polygon of four segments. In the equatorial coordinate system, the right ascension coordinates of these borders lie between 21h 27.3m and 23h 06.5m, while the declination coordinates are between -24.83° and -36.46°.
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