Star profile
Beta Pyxidis
What is Beta Pyxidis
Beta Pyxidis lights the Compass, a constellation traced by Lacaille in the eighteenth century to scatter navigation instruments among the ancient outlines of the ship Argo. At 416 light-years, this yellow G-type giant is an already evolved star, far larger and more luminous than the Sun, serving as a symbolic needle in a fairly discreet stretch of southern sky.
Where it is and when to see it
Beta 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: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.
It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.
The signature wall
Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works
If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, no password.
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 Beta Pyxidis
- Constellation
- Pyxis
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.97
- Distance
- 416.1 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 130.026° · Dec -35.308°
- Catalogue
- HIP 42515 · HD 74006
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Pyxis
Pyxis has 18 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Pyxidis3.68
- Gamma Pyxidis4.02
- Kappa Pyxidis4.62
- Theta Pyxidis4.71
- Lambda Pyxidis4.71
- Zeta Pyxidis4.86
- Delta Pyxidis4.87
- HIP 424305.05