Pyxis

<a href="/facts/Celestial_coordinate_system/23HhqvHj">Coordinates</a>: <a href="http://www.wikisky.org/?ra=9&de=-30&zoom=2&show_grid=1&show_constellation_lines=1&show_constellation_boundaries=1&show_const_names=1&show_galaxies=1&img_source=IMG_all">09h 00m 00s, −30° 00′ 00″</a>

Pyxis is a small and faint <a href="/facts/Constellation/nBQqgW8A">constellation</a> in the southern sky. Abbreviated from Pyxis Nautica, its name is <a href="/facts/Latin/pM3Kge85">Latin</a> for a <a href="/facts/Mariner%27s_compass/86MaeFXu">mariner's compass</a> (contrasting with <a href="/facts/Circinus/xEJWMBII">Circinus</a>, which represents a <a href="/facts/Draftsman%27s_compasses/0uNSeGy9">draftsman's compasses</a>). Pyxis was introduced by <a href="/facts/Nicolas-Louis_de_Lacaille/zsd0KHzw">Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille</a> in the 18th century, and is counted among the <a href="/facts/88_modern_constellations/8BtL6SRA">88 modern constellations</a>.
The <a href="/facts/Galactic_plane/4eaqfCIB">plane</a> of the <a href="/facts/Milky_Way/ulF6lccN">Milky Way</a> passes through Pyxis. A faint constellation, its three brightest stars—<a href="/facts/Alpha_Pyxidis/2urBhFVW">Alpha</a>, <a href="/facts/Beta_Pyxidis/AxyS4Xkw">Beta</a> and <a href="/facts/Gamma_Pyxidis/njKMyxlF">Gamma Pyxidis</a>—are in a rough line. At magnitude 3.68, Alpha is the constellation's brightest star. It is a blue-white star approximately 880 <a href="/facts/Light-year/IGc5NdQb">light-years</a> (270 <a href="/facts/Parsec/SwSsk57J">parsecs</a>) distant and around 22,000 times as <a href="/facts/Luminosity/1tdhpk9l">luminous</a> as the Sun.
Pyxis is located close to the stars that formed the old constellation <a href="/facts/Argo_Navis/pAspGh4g">Argo Navis</a>, the ship of <a href="/facts/Jason/UfhGtQkd">Jason</a> and the <a href="/facts/Argonauts/84ajr4Rx">Argonauts</a>. Parts of Argo Navis were the Carina (the keel or hull), the Puppis (the stern), and the Vela (the sails). These eventually became their own constellations. In the 19th century, <a href="/facts/John_Herschel/Hcg9pFEp">John Herschel</a> suggested renaming Pyxis to Malus (meaning the <a href="/facts/Mast_(sailing)/fA4p9N56">mast</a>) but the suggestion was not followed.
<a href="/facts/T_Pyxidis/xFpd5E8R">T Pyxidis</a>, located about 4 degrees northeast of Alpha Pyxidis, is a <a href="/facts/Recurrent_nova/H1GcmKXT">recurrent nova</a> that has flared up to <a href="/facts/Apparent_magnitude/7pCTF1Me">magnitude</a> 7 every few decades. Also, three star systems in Pyxis have confirmed <a href="/facts/Exoplanet/zjfmqfUf">exoplanets</a>. The <a href="/facts/Pyxis_globular_cluster/bl6TdovH">Pyxis globular cluster</a> is situated about 130,000 light-years away in the <a href="/facts/Galactic_halo/A6jsautY">galactic halo</a>. This region was not thought to contain <a href="/facts/Globular_cluster/FL0EERJU">globular clusters</a>. The possibility has been raised that this object might have escaped from the <a href="/facts/Large_Magellanic_Cloud/7VYAehNa">Large Magellanic Cloud</a>.

Pyxis open-in-new

Pyxis