Episode 295
Pyxis
Sat, 2018-Feb-24 00:16 UTC
Length - 2:13
Direct Link
Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of the featured Wikipedia article every day.
The featured article for Saturday, 24 February 2018 is Pyxis.
Pyxis is a small and faint constellation in the southern sky. Abbreviated from Pyxis Nautica, its name is Latin for a mariner's compass (contrasting with Circinus, which represents a draftsman's compasses). Pyxis was introduced by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century, and is counted among the 88 modern constellations. The constellation is located close to those forming the old constellation of the ship Argo Navis, and in the 19th century John Herschel suggested renaming Pyxis to Malus, the mast, but the suggestion was not followed. Pyxis is completely visible from latitudes south of 53 degrees north, with its best evening-sky visibility in February and March.
The plane of the Milky Way passes through Pyxis. A faint constellation, its three brightest stars—Alpha, Beta and Gamma Pyxidis—are in a rough line. At magnitude 3.68, Alpha is the constellation's brightest star. It is a blue-white star around 22,000 times as luminous as the Sun. Near Alpha is T Pyxidis, a recurrent nova that has flared up to magnitude 7 every few decades. Three star systems have planets, all discovered by Doppler spectroscopy.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:16 UTC on Saturday, 24 February 2018.
For the full current version of the article, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyxis.
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This has been Salli. Thank you for listening to featured Wiki of the Day.
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