Alp

Its story

Alpha Pyxidis is the dominant light of the Mariner's Compass, a late constellation carved out in the eighteenth century by the Frenchman Lacaille. Some 879 light-years away burns a blue B-type giant, pouring out energy that easily exceeds a hundred thousand suns. Its companions from the ancient ship Argo sail beside it across the southern sky, and in this symbolic compass the bluish star serves as a perpetual needle pointing back to the Argonauts' voyage.