Star profile
Nu Pictor
What is Nu Pictor
Nu Pictoris is a white double 157 light-years away, in the Painter's Easel, one of the southern constellations Lacaille named during his expedition to the Cape of Good Hope in 1751-1753. Pictor is a quiet figure with no very bright stars, and Nu belongs to that class of lights only seen well far from cities. A painter of the sky drawn in very fine ink on a dark canvas.
Where it is and when to see it
Nu 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 January, 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. 16 in brightness among the 23 stars of Pictor in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Pictor, the brightest: it lies about 6° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 160 years ago.
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A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.
Astronomical data for Nu Pictor
- Constellation
- Pictor
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.60
- Distance
- 157.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 95.733° · Dec -56.370°
- Catalogue
- HIP 30342 · HD 45229
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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
- Zeta Pictor5.44
- HIP 257685.46
- Iota Pictor5.58
- HIP 284845.65
- Mu Pictor5.69