From the Northern Hemisphere, Fomalhaut arcs in solitary splendor across the southern sky in autumn. From the Southern Hemisphere, you’ll look higher up to see Fomalhaut in your season of spring. Two brighter planets, Jupiter and Saturn, appear near it in the sky. Fomalhaut will be the one that’s twinkling. Help EarthSky keep going! Please donate what you can to our annual crowd-funding campaign at. Keep reading to learn more about this young star. It’s of special interest to astronomers because it has a debris ring around it. Astronomers think new worlds are forming in Fomalhaut’s ring, at an early stage in the planet-forming process. How to see itįomalhaut is the 18th brightest star in the night sky. It’s part of the faint constellation Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish. In a dark sky, you’ll see a half-circle of faint stars of which bright Fomalhaut is a part.

This star pattern marks the open mouth of the Southern Fish. In early September, Fomalhaut is more or less opposite the sun.

Here are just a few approximate times and dates of culmination: It reaches its culmination – its highest point in the sky – around local midnight in mid-September.įomalhaut culminates (reaches its highest point in the sky) at different times on different dates. daylight saving time (DST)įrom the Northern Hemisphere, you can see Fomalhaut from as far north as 60 degrees latitude (southern Alaska, central Canada, northern Europe), where it just skims the southern horizon.

From the Southern Hemisphere, Fomalhaut appears much higher in the sky. You can use one of several stargazing smartphone apps, some that are free, to help you find it. Or visit, the free online planetarium, and enter your location and time. Stars in Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish, including Fomalhaut. Image via International Astronomical Union/ Sky & Telescope/ Wikimedia Commons. | A wide view of the sky from Austin, Texas, 30 minutes past midnight as it will be on September 15, 2021. Fomalhaut, marked in this chart with crosshairs, is approximately 30 degrees above the horizon at its highest altitude.

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