Star profile
Mu Pictor
Hot blue starWhat is Mu Pictor
Mu Pictoris is a blue-white binary some 757 light-years away: its primary is a B9 Be star, possibly somewhat evolved and spinning so fast that it flattens itself. It pulses photometrically every 0.397 days, a period likely matching its rotation. A younger sister of Beta Pictoris in the same Easel, quiet but rapid in its spin.
Where it is and when to see it
Mu 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 65° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 31° N.
It ranks no. 18 in brightness among the 23 stars of Pictor in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Pictor, the brightest: it lies about 4° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 760 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Mu Pictor
- Constellation
- Pictor
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.69
- Distance
- 756.8 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 97.993° · Dec -58.754°
- Catalogue
- HIP 31137 · HD 46860
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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
- Iota Pictor5.58
- Nu Pictor5.60
- HIP 284845.65
- HIP 304635.78
- HIP 282875.81