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Pavo
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Ursa major constellation illustration art. (Big Dipper) stars, space, night sky)
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Latin:
“Peacock”
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Pavo

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

Pavo, constellation in the southern sky at about 20 hours right ascension and 65° south in declination. Its brightest star is Alpha Pavonis, sometimes known as Peacock, with a magnitude of 1.9. This constellation was invented by Pieter Dircksz Keyser, a navigator who joined the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies in 1595 and who added 12 new constellations in the southern skies. Pavo represents a peacock; Keyser may have encountered the green, or Javanese, peacock on his voyage.

Erik Gregersen