Stellated octahedron
Type	Regular compound
Coxeter-Dynkin diagram Coxeter-Dynkin diagram In geometry, a Coxeter–Dynkin diagram is a graph with numerically labeled edges representing the spatial relations between a collection of mirrors...	+
Schläfli symbol
Stellation Stellation Stellation is a process of constructing new polygons , new polyhedra in three dimensions, or, in general, new polytopes in n dimensions. The process consists of extending elements such as edges or face planes, usually in a symmetrical way, until they meet each other again...  core	Octahedron
Convex hull Convex hull In mathematics, the convex hull or convex envelope for a set of points X in a real vector space V is the minimal convex set containing X....	Cube Cube In geometry, a cube is a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces, facets or sides, with three meeting at each vertex. The cube can also be called a regular hexahedron and is one of the five Platonic solids. It is a special kind of square prism, of rectangular parallelepiped and...
Index	UC4, W19
Polyhedra	2 tetrahedra Tetrahedron In geometry, a tetrahedron is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, three of which meet at each vertex. A regular tetrahedron is one in which the four triangles are regular, or "equilateral", and is one of the Platonic solids...
Faces	8 triangle Triangle A triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are line segments. A triangle with vertices A, B, and C is denoted .... s
Edges	12
Vertices	8
Dual	Self-dual
Symmetry group Coxeter notation In geometry, Coxeter notation is a system of classifying symmetry groups, describing the angles between with fundamental reflections of a Coxeter group. It uses a bracketed notation, with modifiers to indicate certain subgroups. The notation is named after H. S. M...	octahedral Octahedral symmetry 150px|thumb|right|The [[cube]] is the most common shape with octahedral symmetryA regular octahedron has 24 rotational symmetries, and a symmetry order of 48 including transformations that combine a reflection and a rotation...  (Oh), [4,3] or 3,3
Subgroup Subgroup In group theory, given a group G under a binary operation *, a subset H of G is called a subgroup of G if H also forms a group under the operation *. More precisely, H is a subgroup of G if the restriction of * to H x H is a group operation on H...  restricting to one constituent	tetrahedral Tetrahedral symmetry 150px|right|thumb|A regular [[tetrahedron]], an example of a solid with full tetrahedral symmetryA regular tetrahedron has 12 rotational symmetries, and a symmetry order of 24 including transformations that combine a reflection and a rotation.The group of all symmetries is isomorphic to the group...  (Td) [3,3]

The stellated octahedron, or stella octangula, is the only stellation

Stellation

Stellation is a process of constructing new polygons , new polyhedra in three dimensions, or, in general, new polytopes in n dimensions. The process consists of extending elements such as edges or face planes, usually in a symmetrical way, until they meet each other again...

  of the octahedron

Octahedron

In geometry, an octahedron is a polyhedron with eight faces. A regular octahedron is a Platonic solid composed of eight equilateral triangles, four of which meet at each vertex....

. It was named by Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican...

 in 1609, though it was known to earlier geometers. It was depicted in Pacioli's Divina Proportione, 1509.

It is the simplest of five regular polyhedral compound

Polyhedral compound

A polyhedral compound is a polyhedron that is itself composed of several other polyhedra sharing a common centre. They are the three-dimensional analogs of polygonal compounds such as the hexagram....

s.

It can be seen as either a polyhedron compound or a stellation

Stellation

Stellation is a process of constructing new polygons , new polyhedra in three dimensions, or, in general, new polytopes in n dimensions. The process consists of extending elements such as edges or face planes, usually in a symmetrical way, until they meet each other again...

:

As a compound, it is constructed as the union of two tetrahedra

Tetrahedron

In geometry, a tetrahedron is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, three of which meet at each vertex. A regular tetrahedron is one in which the four triangles are regular, or "equilateral", and is one of the Platonic solids...

 (a tetrahedron and its dual tetrahedron). The vertex arrangement

Vertex arrangement

In geometry, a vertex arrangement is a set of points in space described by their relative positions. They can be described by their use in polytopes....

 of the two tetrahedra is shared by a cube. The intersection of the two tetrahedra form an inner octahedron

Octahedron

In geometry, an octahedron is a polyhedron with eight faces. A regular octahedron is a Platonic solid composed of eight equilateral triangles, four of which meet at each vertex....

, which shares the same face-planes as the compound.

It can be seen as an octahedron

Octahedron

In geometry, an octahedron is a polyhedron with eight faces. A regular octahedron is a Platonic solid composed of eight equilateral triangles, four of which meet at each vertex....

 with tetrahedral pyramids

Pyramid (geometry)

In geometry, a pyramid is a polyhedron formed by connecting a polygonal base and a point, called the apex. Each base edge and apex form a triangle. It is a conic solid with polygonal base....

 on each face. It has the same topology as the convex Catalan solid

Catalan solid

In mathematics, a Catalan solid, or Archimedean dual, is a dual polyhedron to an Archimedean solid. The Catalan solids are named for the Belgian mathematician, Eugène Catalan, who first described them in 1865....

, the triakis octahedron

Triakis octahedron

In geometry, a triakis octahedron is an Archimedean dual solid, or a Catalan solid. Its dual is the truncated cube.It can be seen as an octahedron with triangular pyramids added to each face; that is, it is the Kleetope of the octahedron. It is also sometimes called a trisoctahedron, or, more...

, which has much shorter pyramids.

The stellation facets are very simple: (See Wenninger model W₁₉.)

It can also be constructed from eight of the 20 vertices of the dodecahedron.

Artistic references

The Stellated octahedron and other polyhedra appear in M. C. Escher

M. C. Escher

Maurits Cornelis Escher , usually referred to as M. C. Escher , was a Dutch graphic artist. He is known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints...

's print "Stars

Stars (M. C. Escher)

Stars is a wood engraving print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher which was first printed in October 1948, depicting two chameleons in a polyhedral cage floating through space.-Description:...

".

Gallery

It is the only fully symmetric facetting Facetting In geometry, facetting is the process of removing parts of a polygon, polyhedron or polytope, without creating any new vertices.Facetting is the reciprocal or dual process to stellation... of the cube