TRIANGULUM AUSTRALE
The Southern Triangle
(TrA)


Generalities: it is the equivalent of the Triangle in the southern celestial hemisphere. It shows a rather bright star and it is overall brighter than its northern equivalent. Its transit at midnight takes place between May and June.

Origins and mythology: this constellation belongs to the “modern” ones. It was defined by Bayer in the seventeenth century.

Stars: the Southern Triangle has a star of average brightness, with magnitude 1.92. It is the star alpha, named Atria, of  orange color  and  55 light-years far. The other two stars that form the triangle have magnitude 2.85 and 2.89. Moreover there is  a fourth star under magnitude 4.

Table of stars brighter than magnitude 3.5
 
Star Proper name Magnitude Spectrum Colour Distance (light-years) Notes
Alpha Atria 1.92 K2 orange 55
Beta 2.85 F5 white-yellow 33
Gamma 2.89 A0 white 91

Other objects: it contains a rather interesting open cluster.


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