Triangulum Australe
by Rich Pearl
Hot July. Tropical Sumatra. Sunatran tigers and two-horn
rhinos. Nine at night. But for the stars, the sky is stygian black.
Sixty-five degrees to the south, sixteen hours along the
celestial equator, three patriarchs make themselves known.
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: Triangulum Australe, the Southern
Triangle of Bayer’s Uranometria. Through the binoculars, an
open star cluster lies beneath the Centaurus' feet, it is two
thousand light years away. Outside the hotel, nestled inside a
coconut grove, the rest of the world is hidden by the dense rain
forest. Distance is a relative term.
hidden nebulae
uncharted asterisms
a stellar roadmap
Copyright © 2003, Rich Pearl
Triangulum Australe
by Johann Bayer
Rich Pearl is the author of a collection of parables, fables, and the re-workings of legends. As an army brat, he spent his early years collecting stories and embellishing on them. Decades later, he's still at it. He welcomes comments of any sort.