Piscis Austrinus (Pronounciation:Pye-seas Ore-strin-us, Abbrev:PsA, Latin:Piscis Austrini) is a constellation, one of 88 constellations that the night sky is divided into. The sky is not divided up equally between the constellations. Piscis Austrinus takes up 245.375 sq. degrees of the night sky which equates to 0.59% of the night sky. Piscis Austrinus is the 60th largest in terms of size in the night sky.
The constellation name means The Southern Fish . The constellation is one of the original constellations that was devised by the Ancient Greco-Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy who lived between 90 A.D. and 168 A.D.
There are 7 stars that make up the main constellation. The hipparcos satellite scanned and detailed 667 stars. There are 26 stars that can be seen with the naked eye in the constellation on a very clear night sky.
Piscis Austrinus is not a member of the Zodiac group of twelve constellations that appear when the Sun sets. Piscis Austrinus is a southern hemispheric constellation which means it can't be seen easily or at all from the northern hemisphere.
There are 7 Extrasolar Planets (Exoplanets) in this constellation that are detailed on this site. There is a dedicated page for exoplanets in Piscis Austrinus.
There are no deep space objects that were identified by Charles Messier in this constellation. There are no non-Messier deep space objects in this constellation that are covered at present on this site.
The image at the top right of this page was generated using Night Vision, a free to use and download application by Brian Simspon.
You can't just go to one location and arrive at the constellation because the constellation is made up of stars at different locations and different distances. The nearest main star in the constellation is at a distance of 25.13 light years and the furthest main star is a distance of 486.81 light years. The average distance to the main stars is 194.91 light years.
The caveat of these stars are that they are catalogued on this site. If you know of a star that is nearer or further then do let me know in the comments and I'll add it to the site. The stars mentioned are from the Hipparcos catalogue or have been added because of their special status.
The furthest star that is located in the constellation is HIP 106229 and it is 81540.84 light years away from the Sun. The furthest figure is derived from either the 1997 or 2007 Hipparcos star catalogue parallax figure and it has been known to produce distances that are wrong.
The dimmest star that can be seen in Piscis Austrinus with the naked eye is 21 Piscis Austrini. The dim star has an apparent magnitude of 5.99. The dimmest star that a person is able to see with their naked eye is 6.0 magnitude based on the table in the reference. Ref: University of Michigan.
The bright star Fomalhaut is one of the earliest stars that scientists believe could have an orbit planet. It is a southern constellation and one that is known for its meteor shower in August albeit a not so bright one. Fomalhaut is the brightest start in the constellation and it has an exoplanet in orbit round it.
Piscis Austrinus is said to be the mother of Pisces. The Goddess Derecto was forced to marry a mortal by Aphrodite. After conceiving a daughter Semiramis, the spell wore off and she became a Goddess again. Derecto killed her daughter and jumped into the river therefore transforming herself into the Southern Fish.
There are 1 Meteor Showers that occur during the year within this constellation based on information gathered from Adam Mickiewicz University (Poland). The list below are major ones and which I have a date period for.
The Meteor Shower is known as the Piscis Austrinids.
The following list contains the stars that make up the constellation. For a larger list of stars in the entire constellation area, please visit the For a list of named stars, that is stars that don't start HD or HIP, please visit Piscis Austrinus Star List page.
| Name | Bayer | Distance (Lt.Yr.) | Right Ascension | Declination | Spectral Type | Colour |
| Fomalhaut | Alpha Piscis Austrini | 25.13 | 22h 57m 38.83 | -29d 37` 18.6 | A3V | White |
| Beta Piscis Austrini | Beta Piscis Austrini | 142.80 | 22h 31m 30.29 | -32d 20` 45.7 | A1V | White |
| Gamma Piscis Austrini | Gamma Piscis Austrini | 215.43 | 22h 52m 31.56 | -32d 52` 31.6 | A0III | White |
| Delta Piscis Austrini | Delta Piscis Austrini | 154.14 | 22h 55m 56.89 | -32d 32` 22.9 | G8III | Yellow |
| Epsilon Piscis Austrini | Epsilon Piscis Austrini | 486.81 | 22h 40m 39.33 | -27d 02` 37.0 | B8V | Blue/White |
| Iota Piscis Austrini | Iota Piscis Austrini | 204.24 | 21h 44m 56.79 | -33d 01` 32.0 | B9.5V | Blue/White |
| Mu Piscis Austrini | Mu Piscis Austrini | 135.84 | 22h 08m 22.95 | -32d 59` 18.2 | A2V | White |
| Name | Piscis Austrinus |
| Abbreviation | PsA |
| Is a Zodiac Sign | No |
| Brightest Star | Fomalhaut |
| Area | 245.375 sq. deg. |
| Percentage of Night Sky | 0.59% |
| Size Position | 60th |
| Hemisphere | Southern |
| Site Exoplanet Count | 7 |
| Meteor Shower Count | 1 |
| Nearest Star | Lacaille 9352 |
| Nearest Star with Exoplanet(s) | Fomalhaut |
| Brightest Star | Fomalhaut |
| Dimmest Star | 21 Piscis Austrini |
| Furthest Star | HIP 106229 |
| Bright Star Count | 26 |
| Hipparcos Star Count | 667 |
| Main Star Count | 7 |
| Messier Deep Space Object Count | 0 |
| Bordering / Neighbouring / Surrounding Constellations | Aquarius |
| Capricornus | |
| Microscopium | |
| Grus | |
| Sculptor |
*Note: The number of Non-Messier Deep Space Object Count relates to how many are covered on this site not how many there are.
| Name | Type | Distance | Declination | Right Ascension |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 7157 | Spiral Galaxy | -25 21 01.63 | 21 56 56m 697 | |
| NGC 7187 | Spiral Galaxy | -32 48 11.438947443 | 22 02 44m 4953796289 | |
| NGC 7267 | Barred Spiral Galaxy | -33 41 38.772795155 | 22 24 21m 8100748926 | |
| NGC 7277 | Spiral Galaxy | -31 08 42.96 | 22 26 10m 950 |
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