- A small southern constellation invented by the Frenchman Nicolas Louis de Lacaille during his survey of the southern skies in 1751–52. Pyxis represents a magnetic compass as used by seamen. It is located near the stern of the ship Argo in the same area as the ship’s mast. Lacaille’s original depiction of it was published in 1756 under the French name la Boussole, and in the notes accompanying the chart he described it as ‘le Compas de mer’. On the second edition of his chart in 1763 Lacaille Latinized its name to Pixis Nautica (sic), which was subsequently shortened, with amended spelling, to just Pyxis.
- Summer Triangle (Wikipedia)
The Summer Triangle is an astronomical asterism in the northern celestial hemisphere. The defining vertices of this imaginary triangle are at Altair, Deneb, and Vega, each of which is the brightest star of its constellation (Aquila, Cygnus, and Lyra, respectively). The greatest declination is +45° and lowest is +9° meaning the three can be seen from all places in the Northern Hemisphere and from the home of most people resident in the Southern Hemisphere. The two stars in Aquila and Cygnus represent the head of an eagle and tail of a swan that looks east inscribed into the triangle and forming the altitude of the triangle. Two small constellations, Sagitta and Vulpecula, lie between Aquila in the south of the triangle and Cygnus and Lyra to the north.