Constellation Piscis Austrinus (Southern Fish)

Piscis Austrinus
Piscis Austrinus: IAU Constellation Map [150]

Properties

Piscis Austrinus is located south of Aquarius. The most striking feature is the bright star formal skin, otherwise it does not have a particularly distinctive shape. A zigzag line of stars flows from the jug of Aquarius in the direction of the formal skin. The area of the constellation is 245 degrees and the center culminates around midnight on August 25th. [9, 15]

Stars with Proper Names [154]
α PsA Fomalhaut, Os Piscis Meridiani, Os Piscis Notii, Difda Al Auwel, The "First Frog
Data for constellation Piscis Austrinus [150]
IAU NamePiscis Austrinus
IAU GenitivePiscis Austrini
IAU Abbr.PsA
English NameSouthern Fish
Season (47° N)July … October
Right Ascension21h 27m 14s … 23h 06m 55s
Declination-36° 27' 33" … -24° 49' 30"
Area245 deg2
Neighbours (N↻)Aqr, Cap, Mic, Gru, Scl

Catalogues

Constellation Piscis Notius
Constellation Piscis Notius: Illustration from «Uranometria» by Johann Bayer, copper engraving by Alexander Mair, 1603 [28]

Mythology and History

The old constellation, sometimes also called Piscis Australis or Pisces Australis, was often depicted as a fish standing on the water stream of the neighboring Aquarius refreshes - actually strange, since fish don't drink water. The southern fish belongs together with Aquarius, Capricornus and Cetus on the constellations associated with water. He is associated with the Babylonian fish god Oannes and is considered the ancestor of the ecliptic fish. In ancient Greece and Rome, the cult of the Egyptian goddess Isis spread. The name is related to the legend according to which the goddess was saved from drowning by a fish. [7, 21, 64]

References

  • [7] «Der grosse Kosmos-Himmelsführer» von Ian Ridpath und Wil Tirion; Kosmos Verlag; ISBN 3-440-05787-9
  • [9] «Drehbare Sternkarte SIRIUS» von H. Suter-Haug; Hallwag-Verlag, Bern
  • [15] «Hartung's Astronomical Objects for Southern Telescopes» by David Malin and David J. Frew; Melbourne University Press 1995; ISBN 0-522-84553-3
  • [21] «Taschenatlas der Sternbilder» von Josef Klepesta und Antonin Rükl; Verlag Werner Dausien; ISBN 3-7684-2384-0
  • [28] «Uranometria omnium asterismorum continens schemata, nova methodo delineata aereis laminis expressa» Johann Bayer, Augsburg, 1603; DOI:10.3931/e-rara-309
  • [64] Eye On The Sky: Piscis Austrinus by Deborah Byrd; Astronomy 9/93, p.48
  • [150] IAU: The Constellations, 11. Oktober 2020; iau.org/public/themes/constellations
  • [154] Yale Bright Star Catalog, 15. Oktober 2020; tdc-www.harvard.edu/catalogs/bsc5.html