Every time I write about Fomalhaut I call it βlonesome,β because it is the only bright star seemingly in the middle of nowhere with no other bright stars nearby.
When I look at Fomalhaut above the sky glow over Tucson, it is by itself. If you look at Fomalhaut from a dark sky location, you will see it is surrounded by many fainter stars in the constellations of Piscis Austrinus, Sculptor, Capricornus, and Aquarius.
Hereβs how to find it: Thursday, Nov. 19, look at the moon at 7:30 p.m. when it is almost directly south. The moon is a pointer to Fomalhaut, which will be 22 degrees below the moon. Fomalhaut is the 18th brightest star in the sky and should be visible even with the bright moon.
Fomalhaut is a favorite star for amateur astronomers, because it has a catchy name (fishβs mouth in Arabic).
Despite its seeming isolation, Fomalhaut is bigger and brighter than the sun with luminosity 16 times that of the sun. Fomalhaut is 25 light years away and has a large ring of icy dust particles that may be forming planets. Fomalhaut is a star worth seeing.
