Star profile
Epsilon Pyxidis
What is Epsilon Pyxidis
Epsilon Pyxidis shines in the small Compass constellation, a fragment broken from the ancient Argo Navis —the ship of the Greek Argonauts. It is a white A-type star some 212 light-years away, hotter and younger than the Sun. Its discreet light is part of the celestial instrument that Lacaille set upon the ship's deck to guide navigation through the southern stars.
Where it is and when to see it
Epsilon 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 8° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 19° 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. 13 in brightness among the 18 stars of Pyxis in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Pyxidis, the brightest: it lies about 6° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 210 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Epsilon Pyxidis
- Constellation
- Pyxis
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.59
- Distance
- 212.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 137.485° · Dec -30.365°
- Catalogue
- HIP 45001 · HD 78922
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Other stars in Pyxis
Pyxis has 18 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Pyxidis3.68
- Beta Pyxidis3.97
- Gamma Pyxidis4.02
- HIP 433525.19
- Eta Pyxidis5.24
- HIP 418175.42
- HIP 417235.61
- HIP 429235.74