Piscis Austrinus - Notable Features

Notable Features

Fomalhaut traditionally represents the mouth of the fish. Its companion Fomalhaut b was thought to be the first extrasolar planet ever detected by a visible light image, thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, but infrared observations have since retracted this claim: it is instead a spherical cloud of dust. TW Piscis Austrini can be seen close by and is possibly associated with Fomalhaut as it lies within a light year of it. Of magnitude 6.5, it is a BY Draconis variable.

Beta, Delta and Zeta constitute the Tien Kang ("heavenly rope") in China. Beta is a white star of apparent magnitude 4.29 and spectral type A0, and lies 130 light years away. Delta Piscis Austrini is a double star with components of magnitude 4.2 and 9.2.

S Piscis Austrini is a long period Mira-type variable red giant which ranges between magnitude 8.0 and 14.5 over a period of 271.7 days, and V Piscis Austrini is a semi-regular variable ranging between magnitudes 8.0 and 9.0 over 148 days.

Lacaille 9352 is a faint red dwarf star which is a mere 10.74 light-years away. At magnitude 7.34, it is too dim to be seen with the naked eye.

NGC 7172, NGC 7174 and NGC 7314 are three galaxies of magnitudes 11.9, 12.5 and 10.9 respectively.

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