Which star is loneliest? Most people would say the answer is Fomalhaut, a bright star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish.
The coming month or so is the best time to see this star. So go outside now — and learn to keep company with the loneliest star.
On this autumn night, at about 8 to 9 p.m., look for a solitary star that’s peeking out at you just above the southeast horizon. See it? No other bright star sits so low in the southeast at this time of year. That’s Fomalhaut. But don’t mistake the much brighter point of light in the east on these autumn 2011 evenings for Fomalhaut. That blazing world is the king planet Jupiter, shining way to the north (left) of the lonely autumn star.
Fomalhaut is a bright white star. It dances close the southern horizon until the wee hours after midnight on these early autumn nights.
What star flashes red and green in the northeast sky?
Fomalhaut is sometimes called the loneliest star because it is the brightest star in an otherwise empty-looking part of the sky. It is also sometimes called the Lonely One, or the Solitary One, or sometimes the Autumn Star. Depending on whose list you believe, Fomalhaut is either the 17th or the 18th brightest star in the sky. Roughly translated from Arabic, the star’s name means mouth of the fish or whale. Its constellation, Piscis Austrinus, represents the Southern Fish.
EarthSky’s guide to the five visible planets
Besides being one of the brighter stars in the night sky, Fomalhaut has interest to professional astronomers. In recent years, this star has been found to have a protoplanetary disk. This is a ring of dust that surrounds Fomalhaut and a companion star within one light-year. This dust ring surrounding these stars might someday form into planets. Perhaps planets are forming there now. Just think of that as you gaze upon Fomalhaut, the lonely autumn star!
More about Fomalhaut here.
Well it is an obvious and easily identifiable star, so you would think that it would be relatively important in any culture interested in the sky and located far enough South to see it reasonably well. But I am not an archaeoastronomer.
…driving north in Springfield, MO at 9:30, tonight we saw this most bright enlongated light. I thought it was landing lights on a plane headed for the airport. It didn’t move. When we got home we looked through binoculars and got a circular 4 lights. Was so glad to be introduced to Tonight EarthSky. Thank you. Would like to know if I was seeing more than one ‘light’. Was it just Venus or was it combined with the ‘lonely one’?
Marie
…sorry. Meant to say ‘Jupiter and not Venus. ;(
Marie,
Venus, Fomalhaut and Jupiter are in much different places in the sky. Venus sets soon after sunset. Fomalhaut is low in the southeast at evening whereas Jupiter shines way north (left) of Fomalhaut in the eastern sky.
Perhaps you were looking at a bright star near the horizon. A bright star hovering near the horizon tends to sparkle in a wide array of colors, which could be interpreted as more than one light.
Or perhaps you were looking at the moons of Jupiter . . .
Bruce
We saw the same changing light’s in the western sky, in eastern Colorado tonight. Totally awesome. Just from googling, it seems it is a supernova, a star dying out. Fabulous to see!
Lol, Fomalhaut is lonely all right, although the 2 brightest Grus’ stars aren’t so far from it… Now, that’s for most US latitudes –about 40 degrees north– but as for me at 20 degrees north latitude, no doubt the loneliest stars are Achernar first, and then Canopus, the latter less “lonely” since at a similar location but farther north is Sirius… I call Jupiter, Sirius and Canopus the -1 triangle, since all of them are AT LEAST mag -1, making it the most impressive “star” triangle in the sky, more brilliant than the Summer Triangle!
Thank you. Being able to find out what I am seeing is wonderful. I am a novice, so when my daughter called and said, “You have to get your binoculars and see this”, I was blown away. A supernova, spectacular, beautiful, and thanks to you, I was able to answer my daughter’s question, as well as my own. My gift to my self, a telescope…
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