Since any three points make up the corners
of a triangle it is unsurprising, if somewhat unimaginative, to
find a triangle among the constellations. Triangulum was known
to the Greeks who called it Deltoton, for its shape resembled a
capital delta. Aratus described it as an isosceles triangle,
having two equal sides and a shorter third side. Eratosthenes
said that it represented the Nile river delta. According to
Hyginus, some people also saw it as the island of Sicily, which
was originally known as Trinacria on account of its three
promontories. Trinacria was the home of Ceres, goddess of
agriculture. Triangulum contains M33, a galaxy in our Local
Group, visible with binoculars.
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Triangulum from the Atlas Coelestis of John Flamsteed. South of it lies a smaller triangle, once known as Triangulum Minus but now obsolete.
A smaller triangle, Triangulum Minus, was
introduced in 1687 by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius
from three stars next to Triangulum. Triangulum Minus was shown
on some maps, such as the one reproduced here, but has since
fallen into disuse.
In Chinese astronomy, Beta, Delta and Gamma
Trianguli formed part of Tianda
jiangjun, the celestial general and
his subordinates, most of which lay in Andromeda. Alpha
Trianguli was Junnanmen, the south gate to the headquarters of Tianda jiangjun (some
sources identify the star in question as Phi Andromedae, but
this seems to be an error).
© Ian Ridpath. All rights reserved
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