Star profile
Gamma Pictor
What is Gamma Pictor
Gamma Pictoris is a K1 III orange giant, shining fifty-three times brighter than the Sun and swollen to about eleven solar diameters. The constellation of the Painter's Easel —another of Lacaille's eighteenth-century southern inventions— is discreet, yet this third-brightest light fulfils its role from some 177 light-years away, a serene reminder that almost any yellow star like the Sun will one day come to resemble this: slow, dilated, golden in retirement.
Where it is and when to see it
Gamma Pictor lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is December, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it never rises above the horizon.
- From Sydney it never sets and culminates about 68° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 34° N.
It ranks no. 3 in brightness among the 23 stars of Pictor in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Pictor, the brightest: it lies about 9° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 180 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Gamma Pictor
- Constellation
- Pictor
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.50
- Distance
- 176.8 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 87.457° · Dec -56.167°
- Catalogue
- HIP 27530 · HD 39523
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Other stars in Pictor
Pictor has 23 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Pictor3.24
- Beta Pictor3.85
- Delta Pictor4.72
- HIP 289915.04
- Eta 2 Pictor5.05
- HIP 276215.16
- HIP 309325.20
- HIP 279475.29