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PsA - Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish

  • Aqr - Aquarius the Water Carrier

    IAU Constellation
    Aqr - Aquarius the Water Carrier

    Size

    10 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Zodiac
    Southern
    Equatorial

    Intro and Visual description

    Water jar pattern near Pegasus.

  • Cap - Capricornus the Sea Goat

    IAU Constellation
    Cap - Capricornus the Sea Goat

    Size

    40 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Zodiac
    Southern

    Intro and Visual description

    Between Sagittarius and Aquarius. Dim stars; look for a laughing mouth.

  • Gru - Grus the Crane

    IAU Constellation
    Gru - Grus the Crane

    Size

    45 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern

    Intro and Visual description

    Partially visible low in the south in August and September from 35 degrees north latitude.

  • Mic - Microscopium the Microscope

    IAU Constellation
    Mic - Microscopium the Microscope

    Size

    66 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern

    Intro and Visual description

    One needs a telescopium to see Microscopium, for it contains no star brighter than 4.6. 

  • PsA - Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish

    IAU Constellation
    PsA - Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish

    Size

    60 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern

    Intro and Visual description

    Unlike Pisces, the zodiac constellation which consists of two fish held together by a string, Piscis Austrinus is a single fish. Piscis Austrinus is a very faint constellation located south of Aquarius, and is often depicted as drinking from Aquarius’ water jar (but why would a fish want to drink water??). Except for the bright star Formalhaut, Piscis Austrinus is rather unremarkable.

  • Scl - Sculptor the Sculptor's Workshop

    IAU Constellation
    Scl - Sculptor the Sculptor's Workshop

    Size

    36 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern

    Intro and Visual description

    Located south of the flukes of Cetus the Whale. Trace to it by following a line southward from Alpheratz (the corner of Pegasus and Andromeda) through gamma-Pegasi, across Pisces and Cetus. This line will run through Beta-Ceti (Diphda) just before reaching the faint stars of Sculptor (alpha-Sculptoris is only magnitude 4.3). Look for it from northern latitudes barely visible low in the south during September and October.

  • Pisces Notius

    Asterism Origin and History

    Called Piscis Notius by Bode, to be distinguished from Bode’s Piscis Volans also shown next to Argo Navis.

  • Hyginus (1485) figure: Pisces Austrinus

    Image

    Hyginus-1485-PiscesAustrinus

    Note the smaller fish, upside-down, beneath, in the river.

  • Bode (1801), Plate 16

    Image

    Bode-1801-16-plate
  • Bode (1801), Plate 16: Piscis Notius

    Image

    Bode-1801-16-PiscisNotius

    From Bode, Tab 16.

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IAU Constellation Main Page

Tau - Taurus the Bull

IAU Constellation
Tau - Taurus the Bull

Size

17 of 88
Astronomical Regions
Zodiac
Northern
Equatorial

Intro and Visual description

Taurus the Bull is easily spotted. Its head is the Hyades, a V-shaped cluster of stars. His horns point outward from the V. Aldebaran is the red eye of the Bull as he charges down upon us.

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Kerry Magruder, Brent Purkaple, and Aja Tolman, editors, "The Sky Tonight: Cultural Archaeology of the Stars" (December 21, 2019 - ongoing), skytonight.org.


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