Star profile
Delta Pictor
Variable starWhat is Delta Pictor
Delta Pictoris is an eclipsing binary of Beta Lyrae type: two blue suns so close that every 1.67 days one passes in front of the other and the combined light of the pair noticeably dims. The visible component is a B0.5 subgiant some 1,300 light-years away, in the modern constellation of the Painter's Easel. What we see as a single point is in fact a cyclic eclipse that has been repeating for aeons.
Where it is and when to see it
Delta 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 culminates about 69° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 35° N.
It ranks no. 4 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 1,300 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Delta Pictor
- Constellation
- Pictor
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.72
- Distance
- 1299.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 92.575° · Dec -54.969°
- Catalogue
- HIP 29276 · HD 42933
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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
- Gamma Pictor4.50
- HIP 289915.04
- Eta 2 Pictor5.05
- HIP 276215.16
- HIP 309325.20
- HIP 279475.29