Constellation Pyxis (Compass)

Properties

Pyxis is between Antlia and Puppis, north of Vela. It is an inconspicuous constellation made up of stars of almost 4th magnitude. The area is 221 square degrees and the center culminates around midnight on February 3rd. ^{[9, 15]}

Data for constellation Pyxis ^[150]
IAU Name	Pyxis
IAU Genitive	Pyxidis
IAU Abbr.	Pyx
English Name	Compass
Season (47° N)	December … March
Right Ascension	08^h 26^m 43^s … 09^h 27^m 37^s
Declination	-37° 17' 31" … -17° 24' 41"
Area	221 deg²
Neighbours (N↻)	Hya, Pup, Vel, Ant

History

Pyxis is the smallest and most inconspicuous part of the original constellation Argo Navis, dissolved in 1752 by Abbé Nicolas Louis de Lacaille. The importance of the magnetic compass needle for seafaring is undisputed, although the Argo Navis certainly did not have a compass on board at the time. Pyxis is the Latin term for can or compass case. ^{[7, 21]}

Catalogs

Yale Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed. (Hoffleit+, 1991) ^[154]
HR	B	RA [hms]	Dec [dms]	vMag	spType	dMag	Sep ["]
3420	η	08 37 52.2	-26 15 18	5.27	A0V	7.8	16.0
3433	ζ	08 39 42.5	-29 33 40	4.89	G4III	4.2	52.4
3438	β	08 40 06.2	-35 18 30	3.97	G7Ib-II	8.5	12.6
3468	α	08 43 35.5	-33 11 11	3.68	B1.5III
3518	γ	08 50 31.9	-27 42 36	4.01	K3-III
3556	δ	08 55 31.5	-27 40 55	4.89	A3IV	9.1	23.8
3628	κ	09 08 02.9	-25 51 30	4.58	K4III	5.2	2.1
3644	ε	09 09 56.4	-30 21 55	5.59	A4IV-V	4.3	17.6
3718	θ	09 21 29.6	-25 57 56	4.72	M1III
3733	λ	09 23 12.3	-28 50 02	4.69	G8.5IIICN-1.5*

Revised+Historic NGC/IC, Version 22/9, © Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke ^[277]
Planetary Nebulae
Name	RA	Dec	Type	bMag	vMag	Dim	Dreyer Description	Identification, Remarks
NGC 2818	09 16 10.0	-36 37 34	PN+OCL		11.2	1.4	! planetary, pB, pL, R, vglbM, in L Cl	PK 261+8.1, ESO 372-PN13, AM 0914-362, OCl 743
Open Clusters
Name	RA	Dec	Type	bMag	vMag	Dim	Dreyer Description	Identification, Remarks
NGC 2627	08 37 15.0	-29 57 18	III2m		8.4	9	Cl, cL, pRi, pC, st 11…13	OCL 714, ESO 431-SC20
NGC 2635	08 38 25.9	-34 46 18	I3p		11.2	3	Cl, pmC, irr Δ, st 13…	OCL 728, ESO 371-SC1
NGC 2658	08 43 27.3	-32 39 22	II2m		9.2	10	Cl, pS, lRi, lC, iF, st 12·13	OCL 723, ESO 432-SC4
Galaxies
Name	RA	Dec	Type	bMag	vMag	Dim	Dreyer Description	Identification, Remarks
NGC 2613	08 33 22.8	-22 58 22	Sb	11.2	10.3	6.5 × 1.4	cB, L, vmE 110°	ESO 495-18, MCG -4-21-3, UGCA 141, IRAS 08311-2248, AM 0831-224, CGMW 2-3822
NGC 2663	08 45 08.3	-33 47 42	E3	11.6	10.6	3.5 × 2.4	pF, pS, lE	ESO 371-14, MCG -6-20-1
NGC 2717	08 57 01.1	-24 40 26	E/SB0	13.4	12.3	2.1 × 1.5	pF, S, R, vgpmbM	ESO 496-21, MCG -4-21-15, AM 0854-242
NGC 2772	09 07 41.8	-23 37 10	Sb	13.8	13.0	1.5 × 0.5	eF, lE, lbM	ESO 497-14, MCG -4-22-2, AM 0905-232, IRAS 09054-2325
NGC 2821	09 16 47.8	-26 49 00	Sbc	13.9	13.1	2 × 0.5	eF, * 11 att	ESO 497-34, MCG -4-22-7, IRAS 09145-2636
NGC 2883	09 25 18.4	-34 06 08	IBm	15.0	14.4	2.2 × 0.8	vF, S, vglbM, rrr, st 15	ESO 372-24, MCG -6-21-5, VV 768, AM 0923-335, IRAS 09232-3353
NGC 2888	09 26 19.6	-28 02 10	E3	13.6	12.6	1.5 × 1.1	cF, S, R, gmbM	ESO 434-2, MCG -5-23-1
NGC 2891	09 26 56.6	-24 46 58	E-S0	13.5	12.6	1.5 × 1.4	F, S, R, bM	ESO 498-8, MCG -4-23-3
IC 2469	09 23 01.4	-32 26 59	SBab	12.0	11.1	4.7 × 1	pF, cS, mE, * 10 sp nr	ESO 433-17, MCG -5-22-8, UGCA 163, IRAS 09208-3214

References

7	«Der grosse Kosmos-Himmelsführer» von Ian Ridpath und Wil Tirion; Kosmos Verlag; ISBN 3-440-05787-9
9	«Drehbare Sternkarte SIRIUS» von H. Suter-Haug; Hallwag-Verlag, Bern
15	«Hartung's Astronomical Objects for Southern Telescopes» by David Malin and David J. Frew; Melbourne University Press 1995; ISBN 0-522-84553-3
21	«Taschenatlas der Sternbilder» von Josef Klepesta und Antonin Rükl; Verlag Werner Dausien; ISBN 3-7684-2384-0
150	IAU: The Constellations, 11. Oktober 2020; iau.org/public/themes/constellations
154	Yale Bright Star Catalog, 15. Oktober 2020; tdc-www.harvard.edu/catalogs/bsc5.html
277	«Historische Deep-Sky Kataloge» von Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke; klima-luft.de/steinicke (2021-02-17)