Editing Pictor (section)

{{short description|Constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere}}
{{About|the constellation|the Roman painter|Gaius Fabius Pictor|the Roman historian|Quintus Fabius Pictor|the improved version of [[PCPaint]]|Pictor Paint}}
{{Featured article}}

{{Infobox constellation
| name = Pictor
| abbreviation = Pic
| genitive = Pictoris
| pronounce = {{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ɪ|k|t|ər}},<br />genitive {{IPAc-en|p|ɪ|k|ˈ|t|oʊ|r|ᵻ|s}}
| symbolism = [[Easel]]
| RA = {{RA|4.53}} - {{RA|6.85}}
| dec= {{DEC|−43}} - {{DEC|−64}}
| family = [[La Caille Family|La Caille]]
| quadrant = SQ1
| areatotal = 247
| arearank = 59th
| numbermainstars = 3
| numberbfstars = 15
| numberstarsplanets = 6
| numberbrightstars = 0
| numbernearbystars = 1
| brighteststarname = [[Alpha Pictoris|α Pic]]
| starmagnitude = 3.30
| neareststarname = [[Kapteyn's Star]]
| stardistancely = 12.77
| stardistancepc = 3.92
| numbermessierobjects = 0
| meteorshowers = 0
| bordering = [[Caelum]]<br />[[Carina (constellation)|Carina]]<br />[[Columba (constellation)|Columba]]<br />[[Dorado]]<br />[[Puppis]]<br />[[Volans]]
| latmax = [[26th parallel north|26]]
| latmin = [[South Pole|90]]
| month = January
| notes = 
}}
'''Pictor''' is a [[constellation]] in the [[Southern Celestial Hemisphere]], located between the star [[Canopus]] and the [[Large Magellanic Cloud]]. Its name is [[Latin]] for [[Painting|painter]], and is an abbreviation of the older name '''Equuleus Pictoris''' (the "painter's [[easel]]"). Normally represented as an easel, Pictor was named by Abbé [[Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille]] in the 18th century. The constellation's brightest star is [[Alpha Pictoris]], a [[A-type main-sequence star|white main-sequence star]] around 97&nbsp;[[light-year]]s away from Earth. Pictor also hosts [[RR Pictoris]], a [[cataclysmic variable star system]] that flared up as a [[nova]], reaching [[apparent magnitude|apparent (visual) magnitude]] 1.2 in 1925 before fading into obscurity.{{efn|1=[[Deneb]], the [[List of brightest stars|19th-brightest star]] in the night sky, has a magnitude of 1.25.<ref name=chesneau>{{cite journal|bibcode=2010A&A...521A...5C|title=Time, spatial, and spectral resolution of the Hα line-formation region of Deneb and Rigel with the VEGA/CHARA interferometer|journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics|volume=521|pages=A5|last1=Chesneau|first1=O.|last2=Dessart|first2=L.|last3=Mourard|first3=D.|last4=Bério|first4=Ph.|last5=Buil|first5=Ch.|last6=Bonneau|first6=D.|last7=Borges Fernandes|first7=M.|last8=Clausse|first8=J. M.|last9=Delaa|first9=O.|last10=Marcotto|first10=A.|last11=Meilland|first11=A.|last12=Millour|first12=F.|last13=Nardetto|first13=N.|last14=Perraut|first14=K.|last15=Roussel|first15=A.|last16=Spang|first16=A.|last17=Stee|first17=P.|last18=Tallon-Bosc|first18=I.|last19=McAlister|first19=H.|last20=Ten Brummelaar|first20=T.|last21=Sturmann|first21=J.|last22=Sturmann|first22=L.|last23=Turner|first23=N.|last24=Farrington|first24=C.|last25=Goldfinger|first25=P. J.|year=2010|doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201014509|arxiv = 1007.2095 |s2cid=10340205|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00501515}}</ref><ref>
{{Cite journal |last1=van de Kamp |first1=P. |date=1953 |title=The Twenty Brightest Stars |journal=[[Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific]] |volume=65 |issue=382 |pages=30 | bibcode= 1953PASP...65...30V |doi=10.1086/126523| doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lamers |first1=H. J. G. L. M. |last2=Stalio |first2=R. |last3=Kondo |first3=Y. |date=1978 | title=A study of mass loss from the mid-ultraviolet spectrum of α Cygni (A2 Ia), β Orionis (B8 Ia), and η Leonis (A0 Ib) |journal=[[The Astrophysical Journal]] |volume=223 |pages=207 | bibcode=1978ApJ...223..207L |doi=10.1086/156252}}</ref>}}

Pictor has attracted attention because of its second-brightest star [[Beta Pictoris]], 63.4&nbsp;light-years distant from Earth, which is surrounded by an unusual [[dust disk]] rich in [[carbon]], as well as two [[exoplanet|exoplanets]] (extrasolar planets). Another five stars in the constellation have been observed to have planets. Among them is [[HD 40307]], an [[orange dwarf]] that has six planets orbiting it, one of which—[[HD 40307 g]]—is a potential [[super-Earth]] in the [[circumstellar habitable zone]]. [[Kapteyn's Star]], the nearest star in Pictor to Earth, is a [[red dwarf]] located 12.76 light-years away that was believed to have two super-Earths in orbit in 2014, but their existence of these planets was disproven in 2021.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Bortle |first1=Anna |last2=Fausey |first2=Hallie |last3=Ji |first3=Jinbiao |last4=Dodson-Robinson |first4=Sarah |last5=Delgado |first5=Victor Ramirez |last6=Gizis |first6=John |date=2021-05-01 |title=A Gaussian Process Regression Reveals No Evidence for Planets Orbiting Kapteyn's Star |journal=The Astronomical Journal |volume=161 |issue=5 |pages=230 |doi=10.3847/1538-3881/abec89 |doi-access=free |arxiv=2103.02709 |bibcode=2021AJ....161..230B |issn=0004-6256}}</ref> [[Pictor A]] is a [[radio galaxy]] that is shooting an 800,000 light-year long [[relativistic jet|jet of plasma]] from a [[supermassive black hole]] at its centre. In 2006, a [[gamma-ray burst]]—[[GRB 060729]]—was observed in Pictor, its extremely long X-ray [[gamma-ray burst#Afterglow|afterglow]] detectable for nearly two years.