The Constellation Pictor
by Dominic Ford
Pictor is a faint southern constellation which appears highest in the evening sky in the months around December.
It contains few objects of note: only one star brighter than fourth magnitude, and no deep sky objects brighter than twelfth magnitude.
The name ‘Pictor’ was given to this sky area by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1756. It is a contraction of the Latin ‘Equuleus Pictorius’, meaning ‘the easel and palette’.
Hover the pointer over the name of an object to highlight its position on the starchart to the right, or click to see more information.
| Stars | Open Clusters | Globular Clusters | Galaxies |
| α-Pic (mag 3.2) | NGC 2132 | NGC 1930 (mag 12.4) | |
| β-Pic (mag 3.9) | NGC 1705 (mag 12.5) | ||
| γ-Pic (mag 4.5) | NGC 2297 (mag 12.7) | ||
| δ-Pic (mag 4.7) | NGC 2104 (mag 12.7) | ||
| HIP 28991 (mag 5.0) | NGC 1803 (mag 12.9) | ||
| η²-Pic (mag 5.1) | NGC 2101 (mag 13.3) | ||
| HIP 27621 (mag 5.2) | NGC 2178 (mag 13.7) | ||
| 61-Pic (mag 5.2) | NGC 2205 (mag 13.7) | ||
| HIP 27947 (mag 5.3) | NGC 2221 (mag 13.9) | ||
| λ-Pic (mag 5.3) | NGC 2008 (mag 14.0) | ||
| HIP 27243 (mag 5.3) | NGC 2222 (mag 14.2) | ||
| η¹-Pic (mag 5.4) | NGC 1680 (mag 14.5) | ||
| ζ-Pic (mag 5.4) | NGC 2148 (mag 14.6) | ||
| HIP 25768 (mag 5.5) | NGC 2087 (mag 14.7) | ||
| ι-Pic (mag 5.6) | NGC 2152 (mag 14.8) | ||
| ν-Pic (mag 5.6) | NGC 2007 (mag 14.8) | ||
| μ-Pic (mag 5.6) | NGC 1998 (mag 15.2) | ||
| HIP 28484 (mag 5.7) | NGC 2115 (mag 16.1) | ||
| HIP 30463 (mag 5.8) | |||
| HIP 28287 (mag 5.8) | |||
| HIP 30703 (mag 5.8) | |||
| HIP 25887 (mag 5.9) | |||
| HIP 27737 (mag 6.0) | |||
| HIP 24384 (mag 6.0) | |||
| κ-Pic (mag 6.1) | |||
| HIP 27937 (mag 6.1) | |||
| HIP 25317 (mag 6.1) | |||
| TX Pic (mag 6.1) | |||
| HIP 32775 (mag 6.1) | |||
| HIP 31068 (mag 6.1) |
