Pyxis the Compass is the smallest and least impressive of the four parts into which the constellation Argo Navis the ship was divided into in the 1750s by the French astronomer Lacaille. The other sections are Carina the keel, Puppis the poop and Vela the sails.
There are no objects of particular interest to naked eye
observers or indeed to users of binoculars even though the constellation lies
in the Milky Way.
The brightest star is alpha at mag 3.7 which is a B class giant with a surface temperature of 22,000’C and is 880 light years away.
T Pyx is a recurrent Nova that has erupted more times than
any other Nova. T Pyx erupted in 1890, 1902, 1920, 1944, 1960 and 2011. It lies
between beta and lambda. It usually brightens from mag 15 to around mag 7.0 meaning that at maximum it can be seen with binoculars.
www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk
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