List of stars in Triangulum Australe facts for kids
The Triangulum Australe is a small but bright constellation in the southern sky. Its name means "the Southern Triangle," and it really does look like a triangle! This article tells you about some of the most interesting and brightest stars you can find in this constellation.
Brightest Stars in Triangulum Australe
These are the most noticeable stars in the Southern Triangle, listed from brightest to dimmest as we see them from Earth.
Atria (Alpha Trianguli Australis)
Atria, also known as Alpha Trianguli Australis (α TrA), is the brightest star in the Triangulum Australe constellation. It shines with a brightness of about 1.91, making it easy to spot. Atria is a giant star, much bigger and brighter than our Sun. It's about 391 light-years away from us. Scientists think it might actually be a binary star, meaning it's two stars orbiting each other!
Beta Trianguli Australis
Beta Trianguli Australis (β TrA) is the second brightest star in the constellation. It has a brightness of 2.83. This star is much closer to Earth than Atria, only about 40 light-years away. It's a type of star called a main-sequence star, similar to our Sun but a bit hotter and brighter.
Gamma Trianguli Australis
Gamma Trianguli Australis (γ TrA) is the third brightest star, with a brightness of 2.87. It's about 183 light-years away. This star is a hot, white star, much younger than our Sun.
Delta Trianguli Australis
Delta Trianguli Australis (δ TrA) shines at a brightness of 3.86. This star is a giant star, even bigger than Atria, and is located very far away, about 621 light-years from Earth.
Epsilon Trianguli Australis
Epsilon Trianguli Australis (ε TrA) has a brightness of 4.11. It's a giant star that glows with an orange color. It is about 216 light-years away.
Zeta Trianguli Australis
Zeta Trianguli Australis (ζ TrA) is a star with a brightness of 4.90. It's a yellow-white star, quite similar to our Sun in size and temperature. It's relatively close to us, about 39 light-years away.
Other Interesting Stars
The Triangulum Australe constellation also has other stars that are special for different reasons.
LP Trianguli Australis
LP Trianguli Australis (LP TrA) is a star that changes its brightness slightly. It's known as an Alpha² Canum Venaticorum variable star. This means its brightness changes because of its strong magnetic field and spots on its surface. It's about 626 light-years away.
Kappa Trianguli Australis
Kappa Trianguli Australis (κ TrA) is a very distant and very bright giant star, about 2991 light-years away! It's a semiregular variable star, meaning its brightness changes in a somewhat predictable way over time.
Iota Trianguli Australis
Iota Trianguli Australis (ι TrA) is a fascinating star system. It's a multiple star system, which means it has more than one star. It's also a Gamma Doradus variable star, which means its brightness changes due to vibrations inside the star itself. It's about 132 light-years away.
X Trianguli Australis
X Trianguli Australis (X TrA) is a very red and very distant star, about 1495 light-years away. It's a semiregular variable star, and its brightness changes quite a bit.
HD 147018
HD 147018 is a star that is very interesting because it has two planets orbiting it! These planets are called HD 147018 b and HD 147018 c. This star is about 139 light-years away from Earth.
WR 71
WR 71 is a very rare and powerful type of star called a Wolf–Rayet star. These stars are very hot, very big, and lose a lot of their mass into space. WR 71 is about 2940 light-years away.
EK Trianguli Australis
EK Trianguli Australis (EK TrA) is a type of variable star called an SU Ursae Majoris variable. These stars are part of a close binary system where one star pulls gas from the other, causing sudden bursts of brightness.
WISE 1639-6847
WISE 1639-6847 is not a star like our Sun, but a brown dwarf. Brown dwarfs are sometimes called "failed stars" because they are too small to start nuclear fusion like real stars, but they are bigger than planets. This brown dwarf is relatively close, about 16 light-years away.
See also
- List of stars by constellation
