{"id":1293,"date":"2024-04-08T15:25:24","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T11:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matubo.ru\/astrotubo\/en\/?p=1293"},"modified":"2024-04-08T15:25:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T11:25:26","slug":"pyxis-constellation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matubo.ru\/astrotubo\/en\/2024\/04\/08\/pyxis-constellation\/","title":{"rendered":"Pyxis Constellation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pyxis (mariner’s compass) is the constellation of the southern hemisphere of the sky. In northern hemisphere it can be seen only in the southern regions. The best period for observations is from February to March. The easiest way for residents of the southern hemisphere to find it is if, at the moment when the constellation is high above the horizon, they find the bright yellow-white star Canopus in the sky \u2013 the lower part of Argo Navis (ship), of which Pyxis (compass) is a part. Canopus is the second in brightness only to Sirius. But, unfortunately, it is impossible to observe this star in the northern regions of the northern hemisphere. In the northern hemisphere, Pyxis can be found well to the left of Canis Major with the brightest star Sirius. On ancient maps of constellations, Pyxis rather resembles a tiller (part of the steering control for turning the steering wheel).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pyxis is one of the constellations through which the plane of our Galaxy passes. However, the band of the Milky Way in this constellation is not very bright due to the presence of dust clouds in this direction, absorbing the light of stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can you see Pyxis constellation in the sky? In large cities, because of the glare and dust, it is not so well visible, so animations and an image are prepared for you outside the city, in the mountains and if you look at it in space, from orbit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Twinkling of the stars of Pyxis constellation when observing outside the city (animation by the author)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Twinkling of the stars of Pyxis constellation when observed high in the mountains (animation by the author)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Pyxis constellation when observed in space (image by the author)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are no bright stars in Pyxis constellation. 43 stars can be seen with the naked eye. The brightest star in the constellation is Alpha Pyxidis (\u03b1 Pyx) with apparent magnitude of 3.67. Its mass exceeds the mass of the Sun by more than 10 times, and its radius is more than 6 times. This giant star will end its evolution as a supernova. In China, this star has the name T\u72d7 (Ti\u0101n G\u01d2U), which means “heavenly dog”. The second star of the constellation is \u03b2 Pyx with apparent magnitude of 3.97. The third is \u03b3 Pyx with apparent magnitude of 4.02.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pyxis constellation (screenshot from the Stellarium program)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Other interesting objects of Pyxis constellation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the stars, other objects can be observed in this constellation, such as galaxies and scattered star clusters. The apparent magnitude of the clusters is 8\u20139, which does not allow them to be seen without special equipment. They are included in the “New General Catalog” (NGC), as they were discovered much later than the formation of the Messier catalog. There is a very massive galaxy NGC 2613 in Pyxis constellation, similar to our Milky Way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Spiral Galaxy NGC 2613. Copyright: ESO\/IDA\/Danish 1.5 m\/R. Gendler, J.-E. Ovaldsen, C. Th\u00f6ne and C. F\u00e9ron.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Also in Pyxis constellation, at a distance of 30 million light-years from us, is the dwarf galaxy Hen 2-10. It is interesting because it refers to starburst galaxies. In 2011 it became known that this galaxy contains a supermassive black hole with a mass one million times that of the Sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dwarf galaxy Hen 2-10. Copyright: NASA, ESA, Zachary Schutte (XGI), Amy Reines (XGI). Image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mythology of Pyxis Constellation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pyxis constellation is among the new ones, a three-letter abbreviation of Pyx. The Latin word ‘pyxis’ means ‘marine compass’. It is not the most noticeable and small \u2013 the 65th<\/sup> largest of all 88 constellations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally there was one large constellation \u2013 the Argo Ship (Argo Navis or simply Argo), abbreviated Arg. This is the only constellation mentioned by Ptolemy in the Almagest, consisting of 48 constellations, which is currently no longer in use. Given that the ancient Greeks did not have compasses, some celestial atlases had a mast in its place. The ship moves through the sky from east to west backwards, which is nothing more than a new word in navigation. French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille, who conducted research in Africa on behalf of the Paris Academy of Sciences, in 1756, because of its large size, proposed dividing this constellation into several independent ones: Carina (the keel), Puppis (the stern), and Vela (the sails) and added Pyxis (the compass) to them. In 1763, a catalog of the starry sky with new constellations was published, which was published shortly after Lacaille’s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this ship, according to Greek legend, Jason and the Argonauts went in search of the golden fleece. Thanks to the help of the goddess Hera and the love of Princess Medea, who soon became his wife, he managed to make the hard way to Colchis and take possession of the rune. And on his return from the trip, overthrow his uncle Pelias and get the throne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you seen this constellation? In the northern or southern hemisphere? Have its objects been observed through binoculars or a telescope? What is your favorite constellation? Share your impressions in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pyxis (mariner’s compass) is the constellation of the southern hemisphere of the sky. In northern hemisphere it can be seen only in the southern regions. The best period for observations is from February to March. The easiest way for residents of the southern hemisphere to find it is if, at the moment when the constellation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-container-style":"default","site-container-layout":"default","site-sidebar-layout":"default","disable-article-header":"default","disable-site-header":"default","disable-site-footer":"default","disable-content-area-spacing":"default","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[19,100,116],"class_list":["post-1293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-constellations","tag-articles","tag-constellation-guide","tag-pyxis"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matubo.ru\/astrotubo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matubo.ru\/astrotubo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matubo.ru\/astrotubo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matubo.ru\/astrotubo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matubo.ru\/astrotubo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1293"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/matubo.ru\/astrotubo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1312,"href":"https:\/\/matubo.ru\/astrotubo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1293\/revisions\/1312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matubo.ru\/astrotubo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matubo.ru\/astrotubo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matubo.ru\/astrotubo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matubo.ru\/astrotubo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}