Constellations · Constellation · Pavonis · Pav
Constellation
Pavo
The peacock, drawn by Dutch navigators in the 1590s after the exotic birds they saw on their voyage to the East Indies.
- Genitive
- Pavonis
- Area
- 378 square degrees · 44th of 88
- Brightest star
- Peacock · magnitude 1.94
- Naked-eye stars
- 88 brighter than magnitude 6.5
- Highest at midnight
- mid July
History
Pieter Keyser and Frederick de Houtman charted the southern stars from the deck of a ship, on the first Dutch expedition to Java, 1595–97. Twelve of their new figures were birds and animals like this one.
Did you know
Its brightest star is named simply Peacock — by the RAF, for their navigation almanac in the 1930s.