Saturday, March 28, 2009

Pyxis



Pyxis is a small and faint constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for a mariner's compass (it should not be confused with Circinus, which represents a draftsman's compasses). Pyxis is completely visible in latitudes south of 53 degrees north from January through March.

Pyxis was introduced by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the eighteenth century; he called it Pyxis Nautica, but the name was shortened. The constellation is located close to those forming the old constellation of Argo Navis (the ship Argo), and in the nineteenth century astronomer John Herschel suggested renaming Pyxis to 'Malus, the mast', but the suggestion was not followed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyxis

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