Triangulum Australe - Southern Triangle

Learn about the constellation Triangulum Australe - Southern Triangle, location, facts, mythology, meteor showers and deep space objects.

Triangulum Australe is a small southern constellation whose three brightest stars, of second and third magnitude, form an approximately equilateral triangle. This constellation was introduced by Johann Bayer in 1603.

Location: Southern Constellation 16h RA -65° Dec

Triangulum Australe is a small constellation, it's name is Latin for "the southern triangle", which distinguishes it from Triangulum in the northern sky and is derived from the acute, almost equilateral pattern of its three brightest stars.

Triangulum Australe Mythology

Being a modern constellation there is no mythology surrounding Triangulum Australe. The first depiction of the constellation appeared in 1589 on a celestial globe by the Flemish cartographer and astronomer Petrus Plancius, where it was called Triangulus Antarcticus and incorrectly placed to the south of the constellation Argo Navis, which has since been split into three smaller constellations. Johann Bayer gave the constellation the name Triangulum Australe in his Uranometria in 1603.

Triangulum Australe Deep Space Objects

NGC 6025 is an open cluster with an apparent magnitude of 5.1. It is approximately 2.700 light years distant from the solar system. The cluster was discovered by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1751-1752 while he was mapping the southern skies in South Africa.

NGC 5938 is a spiral galaxy approximately 300 million light-years from Earth. It lies 5 degrees to the south of the star Epsilon Trianguli Australis.

In this table, the observation month represents the month in which the object reaches its highest point in the sky. It can also be viewed a few months before and after depending on your location. Direction is the compass direction in which the object is located, with Z meaning Zenith or overhead.