Triangulum Australe

Origin

The constellation Triangulum Australe, which represents the Southern Triangle, is a celestial formation introduced by the French astronomer Abbé Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century as part of his pioneering work to chart the skies of the southern hemisphere from South Africa. Lacaille's interest in naming constellations after geometric shapes led to the creation of Triangulum Australe, reflecting its triangular pattern of stars. As a symbol of precision and mathematical simplicity, this constellation pays homage to the Enlightenment's focus on reason and knowledge. Triangulum Australe remains a testament to Lacaille's contributions to modern astronomy and the exploration of the southern celestial sphere.

Bright Stars

Triangulum Australe is relatively small and doesn't contain any particularly bright stars.

Photo of the constellation Triangulum Australe produced by NOIRLab in collaboration with Eckhard Slawik, a German astrophotographer. The annotations are from a standardized set of 88 western IAU constellations and stick figures from Sky & Telescope. Please find here a non-annotated version of the image.

Credit: E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani