Peixe Austral
Southern Fish (Piscis Austrini)
Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish, is a small constellation dominated by the bright star Fomalhaut, one of the brightest stars in the night sky. This ancient constellation was known to Babylonian and Greek astronomers and represents a fish drinking the water poured by Aquarius. Fomalhaut is surrounded by a famous debris disk with a confirmed exoplanet.
📜 Mitologia
Piscis Austrinus is one of the oldest recognized constellations, known to the Babylonians and included in Ptolemy's 48 constellations. It represents a fish drinking the water flowing from Aquarius's jar (the stream of water is sometimes depicted as a line of stars). In Syrian mythology, this fish saved the goddess Derceto when she fell into a lake. The fish was placed among the stars in gratitude, and Derceto became a mermaid goddess.
💡 Fatos curiosos
- ✦Fomalhaut is one of the four Persian 'Royal Stars' that marked the seasons 5,000 years ago
- ✦Fomalhaut b was one of the first exoplanets directly imaged, announced in 2008
- ✦Fomalhaut's debris disk is often compared to a 'ring of fire' in infrared images