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Pictor

Pictor is the Latin word for painter. In astronomy, Pictor is a small, faint constellation in the southern sky. It was named by the French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1756 during his survey of the southern stars. The constellation occupies a quiet region of the celestial sphere and is not prominent to observers at mid-northern latitudes.

The brightest star in Pictor is Alpha Pictoris. The area contains several distant galaxies and other deep-sky

In usage, pictor remains primarily a Latin noun meaning painter, with its significance in science stemming

objects
catalogued
by
modern
surveys.
The
most
notable
object
associated
with
the
constellation
is
Pictor
A,
a
powerful
radio
galaxy
that
has
been
extensively
studied
as
an
example
of
active
galactic
nuclei
and
jet
activity.
from
its
role
as
the
name
of
this
southern
constellation.
The
name
reflects
the
historical
practice
of
Lacaille
and
other
18th-century
astronomers
of
marking
artistic
and
scientific
professions
in
the
sky.
Today,
Pictor
serves
as
a
reference
point
in
celestial
maps
and
as
the
designation
for
a
specific
region
containing
a
mix
of
stars
and
distant
galaxies
observed
across
multiple
wavelengths.