Star profile
Theta Pyxidis
Cool red starWhat is Theta Pyxidis
θ Pyxidis pours a reddish glow from 503 light-years, set within the small southern Compass that Lacaille named for the navigator's instrument of the eighteenth century. It is an M-class giant, an immense and cool star whose swollen surface gives it that fiery hue and announces, in slow stellar terms, the late chapters of its life. When this light first slipped from its atmosphere, Newton's Principia had not yet been published on Earth.
Where it is and when to see it
Theta 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 13° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 23° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 82° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 64° N.
It ranks no. 5 in brightness among the 18 stars of Pyxis in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Pyxidis, the brightest: it lies about 11° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 500 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Theta Pyxidis
- Constellation
- Pyxis
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.71
- Distance
- 502.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 140.373° · Dec -25.965°
- Catalogue
- HIP 45902 · HD 80874
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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
- Kappa Pyxidis4.62
- Lambda Pyxidis4.71
- Zeta Pyxidis4.86
- Delta Pyxidis4.87
- HIP 424305.05