Piscis Austrinus

star chart of PsA (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg)

One of the 88 IAU constellations with a very old history: The original Greek name was The Great Fish was given to an earlier Babylonian constellation The Fish. When the constellation Pisces (two fish) was invented in Hellenistic times (possibly in Egypt) as a super-constellation from parts of neighbouring Babylonian originals (see Anunītu, Nunu, KU₆, ...), the original constellation of The Fish needed to be specified. To distinguish the two fish of Pisces from the traditional The Fish south of Aquarius, it was named Piscis Austrinus (or Notius as a Latinized Greek term for "south").

Etymology and History

The Greek constellation ...

Origin of Constellation

Almagest

	Ἰχθύος νοτίου ἀστερισμός
id	Greek (Heiberg 1898)	English (Toomer 1984)	ident.
1	ὁ ἐν τῷ στόματι ὁ αὐτὸς τῇ ἀρχῇ τοῦ Ὕδατος	The star in the mouth, which is the same as the beginning ofthe water	alf PsA
2	τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς φοτίου τῆς κεφαλῆς περιφερεύας γ’ ὁ ἠγούμενος	Thc most advanced of thc 3 stars on the southcrn rim of the head	bet PsA
3	ὁ μέσος αὐτῶν	The middlc onc	gam PsA
4	ὁ ἑπόμενος τῶν τριῶν	The rearmost of the three	del PsA
5	ὁ πρὸς τῷ βράγχω	The star hy thc gills	eps PsA
6	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς νωτιαίας νοτίου ἀκάνθης	The star on the southcrnmost spine on the back	mu PsA
7	τῶν ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ β ὁ ἑπόμενος	The rearmost of the 2 stars in the belly	zet PsA
8	ὁ προηγούμενος αὐτῶν	The more advanced of them	lam PsA
9	τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς βορείου ἀκάνθης ἢ’ ὁ ἐπόμενος	The rearmost af the 3 stars on the northern spine	eta PsA
10	ὁ μέσος αὐτῶν	The middle one	tet PsA
11	ὁ προηγούμενος τῶν τριῶν.	The most advanced of the three	iot PsA
12	ὁ ἐπ’ ἄκρας τῆς οὐρᾶς	The star on the tip of the tail	gam Gru
	ἀστέρες ἴα, ὧν δ’ μεγέθους θ, ε β	{11 stars, 9 of the fourth magnitude, 2 of the fifth}
	Οἱ περὶ τὸν νότιον Ἰχθὺν ἀμόρφωτοι.
	τῶν προηγουμένων λαμπρῶν φ τοῦ Ἰχθύος ὁ ἠγούμενος	The most advanced ofthe 3 bright stars in advance ofPiscis [Austrinus]	eta Mic
	ὁ μέσος αὐτῶ	The middle one	tet1 Mic
	ὁ ἐπόμευος τῶν τριῶη	The rearmost of the three	xi Gru
	ὁ τούτου προηγούμενος ἀμαυρός	The faint star in advance of this	tet2 Mic
	τῶν λοιπῶν πρὸς ἄρκτους β’ ὁ νοτιώτερος	The southernmost of the remaining 2 stars to the north	gam Mic
	ὁ βορειότερος αὐτῶν	The northernmost of them	alf Mic
all	ἀστέρες ξ, ὥν γ’ μεγέθους γ, δ’ β, εα.

Weblinks

• Ridpath, Ian, “Star Tales: online edition”.

References

• References (general)
• References (Babylonian)
• References (ancient Greco-Roman)
• References (medieval)