Pyxis constellation lies in the southern sky. It represents a mariner’s compass.
Pyxis was one of the constellations created by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century. Lacaille named the constellation Pyxis Nautica, but the name was later simplified to Pyxis.
Pyxis lies near the former constellation Argo Navis, which represented the Argonauts’ ship, but was eventually broken into several smaller constellations. Pyxis contains several notable deep sky objects, including the planetary nebula NGC 2818, the open cluster NGC 2627, and the barred spiral galaxy NGC 2613.
FACTS, LOCATION & MAP
Pyxis is the 65th constellation in size, occupying an area of 221 square degrees. It is located in the second quadrant of the southern hemisphere (SQ2) and can be seen at latitudes between +50° and -90°. The neighboring constellations are Antlia, Hydra, Puppis and Vela.
Pyxis belongs to the Heavenly Waters family of constellations, along with Carina, Columba, Delphinus, Equuleus, Eridanus, Piscis Austrinus, Puppis and Vela.
Pyxis contains three stars with known planets and has no Messier objects. The brightest star in the constellation is Alpha Pyxidis, with an apparent magnitude of 3.68. There are no meteor showers associated with the constellation.
STORY
The constellation Pyxis was created by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1751-52 during his exploration of the southern skies. He named the constellation la Boussole and later Latinized the name to Pixis Nautica. The constellation appeared under this name in the second edition of Lacaille’s chart in 1763. The name was eventually shortened to Pyxis.
The constellation represents the magnetic compass used by navigators and seamen and should not be confused with Circinus, which was named after a draftsman’s compasses. Pyxis lies in the vicinity of the three constellations that were once known as Argo Navis, a single large constellation that represented the ship of the Argonauts.
Lacaille was the one who divided the constellation into three smaller ones – Carina, Puppis and Vela – and this might be the reason why Pyxis is sometimes mentioned as the fourth constellation that was part of Argo Navis, even though it wasn’t. The Greek astronomer Ptolemy had catalogued the stars from Alpha to Delta Pyxidis, but not as part of Argo Navis, but as stars located on or around the ship’s mast.
In 1844, the English astronomer John Herschel suggested that the name Pyxis be replaced with Malus, the mast, which would have made the constellation a subdivision of Argo Navis if Herschel’s suggestion had been accepted, but it wasn’t. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) eventually adopted Pyxis as one of the 88 modern constellations
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