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Piscis Austrinus
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Ursa major constellation illustration art. (Big Dipper) stars, space, night sky)
Stars: Explosions in Space
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Latin:
“Southern Fish”
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Piscis Austrinus

constellation
Written by
Erik Gregersen
Erik Gregersen is a senior editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica, specializing in the physical sciences and technology. Before joining Britannica in 2007, he worked at the University of Chicago Press on the...
Erik Gregersen
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

Piscis Austrinus, constellation in the southern sky at about 22 hours right ascension and 30° south in declination. Its brightest star is Fomalhaut (from the Arabic for “the fish’s mouth”), the 17th brightest star in the sky, with a magnitude of 1.16. The connection of this constellation with a fish probably came to Greece from Syria or Phoenicia, since Piscis Austrinus was identified as a fish that saved the Syrian fertility goddess Derceto from drowning.

Erik Gregersen
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