Star profile

Zeta Pyxidis

3D likeness based on its real data · class G · ~5,500 K

What is Zeta Pyxidis

Zeta Pyxidis shines in the small Compass Box, a modern constellation cut out in the eighteenth century by Lacaille in the heart of the old remains of the ship Argo. It is a yellow G-type giant some 244 light-years away, an older sibling of the Sun with several thousand times its approximate volume. Its soft, warm light crosses a region of the sky rarely celebrated yet essential for anyone learning to navigate below the celestial equator, where the Milky Way changes its tone.

Where it is and when to see it

Zeta Pyxidis lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is February, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 9° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 20° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 86° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 60° N.

It ranks no. 7 in brightness among the 18 stars of Pyxis in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Pyxidis, the brightest: it lies about 4° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 240 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Zeta Pyxidis

Constellation: Pyxis
Apparent magnitude: 4.86
Distance: 244.3 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 129.927° · Dec -29.561°
Catalogue: HIP 42483 · HD 73898

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Other stars in Pyxis

Pyxis has 18 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 18 stars in Pyxis