Alpha Pyxidis

Alpha Pyxidis
Location of α Pyxidis (circled)
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Pyxis
Right ascension 08h 43m 35.53756s[1]
Declination −33° 11′ 10.9898″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 3.67[2]
Characteristics
Spectral type B1.5III[3]
U−B color index −0.84[2]
B−V color index −0.19[2]
Variable type Beta Cephei[4]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)+15.3[5] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: −14.27[1] mas/yr
Dec.: +10.43[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)3.71 ± 0.14 mas[1]
Distance880 ± 30 ly
(270 ± 10 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)−3.47[6]
Details
Mass10.7[4] M☉
Radius6.3 ± 1.0[7] R☉
Luminosity10,000[4] L☉
Surface gravity (log g)3.63[8] cgs
Temperature24,300[8] K
Metallicity [Fe/H]−0.18[8] dex
Rotational velocity (v sin i)11[9] km/s
Other designations
Alpha Pyx, α Pyx, CPD−32° 2399, FK5 327, HD 74575, HIP 42828, HR 3468, SAO 199546[10]
Database references
SIMBADdata

Alpha Pyxidis, Latinised from α Pyxidis, is a giant star in the constellation Pyxis. It is the brightest star in Pyxis, and is easily visible to the naked eye. It has a stellar classification of B1.5III and is a Beta Cephei variable. This star has more than ten times the mass of the Sun and is more than six times the Sun's radius. The surface temperature is 24,300 K and the star is about 10,000 times as luminous as the Sun.[3][4][8] Stars such as this with more than 10 solar masses are expected to end their life by exploding as a supernova.[11]

A light curve for Alpha Pyxidis, plotted from TESS data.[12]
  1. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference aaa474_2_653 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference apjss52 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference apj157 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Hubrig_et_al was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference gcsrv was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Anderson2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference apjl726_1_L5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference aaa282 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference aaa481 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference SIMBAD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference aj130_4_1652 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference MAST was invoked but never defined (see the help page).