A Quilt of Stars

Celebrating "amateur" astrophotography

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The constellation of Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish // E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani

Click below for some info about this solitary fish as well as an annotated image!

Piscis Austrinus, which is Latin for "the southern fish," is one of the original 48 constellations described by Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.

Originally known as "the Fish" by the Babylonians, it was introduced to the Greeks around 500 BC. In Greek mythology, this is "the Great Fish," swallowing the water being poured out by Aquarius. The two fish of Pisces are its offspring.

Piscis Austrinus seen at the bottom of this depiction of Aquarius.

There are two named stars here:

Fomalhaut (α Piscis Austrini) is the brightest star in this constellation and the 18th-brightest star in the night sky. It is a triple star system, consisting of a blue-white giant, and two red dwarfs. The entire system lies about 25 light years away. Fomalhaut is notable for being surrounded by several "debris disk," disks of dust that might be forming planets. Its name comes from the Arabic phrase fam al-ḥūt meaning "the mouth of the fish."

Sāmaya (HD 205739) is a Sun-like star about 303 light years away. It has one confirmed exoplanet orbiting it, about 1.3 times the mass of Jupiter, named Samagiya. Both names were given by the people of Sri Lanka: Sāmaya means "peace" in the Sinhalese language, while Samagiya means "togetherness" or "unity".

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NGC 1553 (bottom) and NGC 1549 (top) // Rolf Olsen

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M58 // Jerry Macon

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Comet 10P/Tempel // Peter Butler & Chuck's Astrophotography

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The Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888 // Eric Williams

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The Ring Nebula, M57 // RICHARDS ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY

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NGC 3109 // Michele Bayliss

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The Cat's Paw Nebula, NGC 6334 // Zihan Chen

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The Northern Trifid, NGC 1579 // Brian Diaz & Insight Observatory

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NGC 3603 // Michal Wierzbinski

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The Fighting Dragons of Ara (NGC 6188, right) and the Dragon's Egg Nebula (NGC 6164, left) // Jorge Vaccaro

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The Flaming Star Nebula, IC 405 // Andytoby7007

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The Fiddlehead Galaxy, NGC 772 // Chris Sullivan

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The Prawn Nebula, IC 4628 // SouthernSkyShooter

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Saturn's moon Tethys transiting on July 14, 2026 // aikenji

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The Rotten Fish Nebula, LDN 1251 // Thomas Henson

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The Triangulum Galaxy, M33 // Luigi_morrone_1979