Piscis Austrinus constellation
Latin Piscis Austrinus, genitive Piscis Austrini, abbreviation PsA
North up, east to the left, as you see the sky. The lines are a common figure; the stars are from the catalogue.
The myth
A fish drinking the water the Water Bearer pours from his jar. Its star Fomalhaut, 'the mouth of the fish', stands alone and bright low in the southern sky in autumn for northern observers, high overhead for southern ones.
When can Piscis Austrinus be seen?
It stands highest around 10 pm in September. It can be seen from everywhere south of 49°N, and it never sets south of 63°S.
The brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fomalhaut | α PsA | 1.16 | white |
| – | ε PsA | 4.17 | bluish |
| – | δ PsA | 4.21 | yellow |
| Fum al Hui | β PsA | 4.29 | white |
| – | ι PsA | 4.34 | bluish |
| – | γ PsA | 4.46 | bluish |
| – | μ PsA | 4.50 | white |
| – | τ PsA | 4.92 | yellowish white |
The smaller the number, the brighter: below 1 are the brightest stars of the sky, 4 is hard to see under a city sky. Greek letters after Johann Bayer (1603).