Pavo is one of the twelve constellations originated by Bayer in the 17th century. It is a southern, circumpolar constellation located between Telescopium and Octans. Pavo is visible only to observers in the Southern Hemisphere.
History and MythologyEven though Pavo is considered a modern constellation, there are some Greek and Roman mythologies associated with it. The peacock is said to have been sacred to Hera. In one myth Hera ordered Argus, a monster with 100 eyes, to guard a heifer who she suspected was one of her husband's lovers. Her suspicions were correct; the heifer was actually the nymph Io, whom Hera's husband Zeus had transformed into a cow in order to fool his wife. Zeus wanted to release Io from her state, so he sent Hermes to kill the monster. When Hera heard of the monster's death, she transferred his many eyes into the peacock's tail.
Notable Objects
The brightest star in Pavo is the second magnitude Peacock Star. It is at a distance of 180 light-years, and appears near the border of Telescopium and Indus. The tail feathers of the Peacock are made up of the stars Beta Pavonis and Gamma Pavonis.
NGC 6752 is an impressive 6th magnitude globular cluster. It is a large cluster with a dense concentration of stars. NGC 6752 can be nicely seen with a small telescope.
The galaxies in Pavo are nearly all fainter than 10th magnitude. NGC 6744 is a 9th magnitude barred spiral and the brightest galaxy in the constellation. It is found about 5 degrees south of NGC 6752.