Fomalhaut

Fomalhaut is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Piscis Austrinus, the "Southern Fish". It is and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Piscis Austrini. It is a class A star on the main sequence. Fomalhaut is located about 25 light years from the Sun as measured by the Hipparcos astrometry satellite.^[1] Since 1943, the spectrum of this star has served as one of the stable anchor points by which other stars are classified.^[2]

DSS Image of Fomalhaut (high resolution)

It is classified as a Vega-like star that throws out excess infrared radiation. This shows that the star is surrounded by a circumstellar disk.^[3] Fomalhaut, Fomalhaut b, and red dwarf star Formalhaut c make up a triple system, even though they are separated by about 8 degrees.^[4][5]