Star profile

Fomalhaut

Alpha Piscis Austrini · Piscis Austrinus

Nearby star

3D likeness based on its real data · class A · ~8,500 K

What is Fomalhaut

Fomalhaut — «the mouth of the fish» in medieval Arabic — burns alone in a sparse patch of the southern sky, earning it the old nickname «the solitary star of autumn». At 25 light-years it is a close neighbour, a young white A-type ringed by a vast dust disc where astronomers hunt for worlds still taking shape. Its light, a recent traveller in cosmic terms, set out barely a quarter of a century ago.

Where it is and when to see it

Fomalhaut lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is one of the brightest stars in the sky: visible even from a city. Its best month of the year is August: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.

Find it on the sky map

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The signature wall

Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.

A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works

If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, no password.

Write my signature

A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.

Astronomical data for Fomalhaut

Constellation: Piscis Austrinus
Apparent magnitude: 1.17
Distance: 25.1 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 344.413° · Dec -29.622°
Catalogue: HIP 113368 · HD 216956

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Piscis Austrinus

Piscis Austrinus has 26 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 26 stars in Piscis Austrinus