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Pictor
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Ursa major constellation illustration art. (Big Dipper) stars, space, night sky)
Stars: Explosions in Space
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Latin:
“Painter”
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Pictor

astronomy
Written by
Erik Gregersen
Erik Gregersen is a senior editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica, specializing in the physical sciences and technology. Before joining Britannica in 2007, he worked at the University of Chicago Press on the...
Erik Gregersen
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

Pictor, constellation in the southern sky at about 6 hours right ascension and 60° south in declination. Its brightest star is Alpha Pictoris, with a magnitude of 3.3. The second brighest star, Beta Pictoris, is notable for an encircling disk of debris that might contain planets. The French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille formed this constellation in 1754. It represents a painter’s easel and was orginally called Equuleus Pictorius.

Erik Gregersen
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