IAU Constellation (Pav) · Genitive: Pavonis · Southern Sky

Pavo (The Peacock) & NGC 6752 Sky Guide

Pavo IAU constellation (378 sq deg, rank 44): August Southern Bird constellation led by +1.94 Peacock (Alpha Pavonis), globular NGC 6752, and NGC 6744.

Solid-Angle Area378 sq deg (Rank #44 of 88)
Best Evening MonthAugust
Visibility Latitudes+20° to −90°
Brightest StarPeacock (Alpha Pavonis) (+1.94)

Sky Navigation & Astrophysical Context

Covering 378 square degrees of the far-southern sky between Telescopium, Ara, and Octans, Pavo is one of the four Southern Birds introduced by Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser, Frederick de Houtman, and Petrus Plancius at the end of the 16th century, commemorating Argus capped into the sacred peacock of Hera. Its brightest star, Alpha Pavonis (V = +1.94), sits isolated at the northeastern boundary with Telescopium and Indus; it received the official English proper name 'Peacock' in the 1930s when HM Nautical Almanac Office compiled the Air Almanac for Royal Air Force navigators.

Southwest of Peacock, a kite-shaped body of third- and fourth-magnitude stars—including Beta (+3.42), Delta (+3.56), Eta (+3.62), and the classical 9.09-day Cepheid variable Kappa Pavonis (+3.9 to +4.8)—traces the bird across the sky. Delta Pavonis is an evolved metal-rich G8 IV subgiant at only 6.10 parsecs (19.9 light-years), making it one of the closest solar-mass analogs in the solar neighborhood.

For deep-sky observers, Pavo hosts NGC 6752 (Caldwell 93, 'The Great Peacock Globular' or 'Windmill Globular'): at apparent magnitude +5.4 and a distance of just 4.0 kiloparsecs (13,000 light-years), it is the third-brightest globular cluster in the entire sky after Omega Centauri and 47 Tucanae. Just 2.5° southeast of NGC 6752 lies NGC 6744 (Caldwell 101), a grand barred spiral galaxy spanning 20 arcminutes that closely mirrors the morphology of our own Milky Way.

Bordering IAU Constellations: Telescopium, Ara, Apus, Octans, Indus.

Equatorial Center Position & Transit Altitude

Pavo is centered near Right Ascension 19h 36m 36s, Declination −65° 46′ 48″ (The Peacock).

J2000 Equatorial Sky Position (Pavo) +90° 0° −90° 24h 12h RA 0h Peak Meridian Altitude 0° 40°N Lat 54° 30°S Lat RA: 19h 36m 36s Dec: −65° 46′ 48″ Epoch: J2000.0 · 378 sq deg (Rank #44) First-party vector diagram derived from IAU / CDS SIMBAD / Gaia DR3 astrometry.

Practical Star-Hopping & Observing Tips

  • Locate +1.94 Peacock (Alpha Pavonis) by extending a line southward from Altair through Sagittarius and Telescopium.
  • Sweep 1.5° east-northeast of Omega Pavonis (or 9° west-southwest of Peacock) to see the naked-eye/binocular globe of NGC 6752 (+5.4), which resolves into glittering star chains in any 100 mm telescope.
  • Move 2.5° southeast from NGC 6752 to observe the 20-arcminute face-on spiral arms of the Milky Way twin galaxy NGC 6744.

Notable Celestial Objects in & Near Pavo

Cataloged Stars and Deep-Sky Objects Associated with Pavo
ObjectFamilyClassificationRA (J2000)Dec (J2000)Min. Instrument
47 Tucanae (NGC 104 Globular Cluster)globular-clustersGlobular cluster00h 24m 05.30s-72° 04′ 52.6″Naked eye (Southern Hemisphere)
Omega Centauri (NGC 5139 Cluster)globular-clustersGlobular cluster / stripped dwarf galaxy nucleus13h 26m 47.24s-47° 28′ 46.1″Naked eye (south of 35°N)
NGC 6752 (Great Peacock Globular Cluster)globular-clustersCore-collapsed globular cluster19h 10m 52.14s-59° 59′ 04.4″Naked eye / 7×50 binoculars (Southern Hemisphere)

Scientific Sources Cited