History
The French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille first described the constellation as la Boussole (the Marine Compass) and gave Bayer designations to ten stars now named Alpha to Lambda Pyxidis (he skipped the Greek letter iota). Contrary to popular belief, these stars were not eked out of the old large constellation Argo Navis. He labelled it Pyxis Nautica on his 1763 chart. Francis Baily renamed it Malus the mast, but Benjamin Gould restored its original name. Johann Bode created the constellation Lochium Funis, the Log and Line, around Pyxis but this did not survive.
In ancient Chinese astronomy, Alpha, Beta and Gamma Pyxidis formed part of Tianmiao a Celestial Temple honouring the ancestors of the Emperor, along with stars from neighbouring Antlia.
Read more about this topic: Pyxis
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