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Sky Chart and Artist Rendering of Carina
Origin:
Carina was once the keel of the Argo Navis, the oldest and biggest
constellation in the southern sky in ancient times and also the ship that
carried Jason and the Argonauts in
search of the Golden Fleece. The ship was dissected into four
smaller constellations (Carina, Vela the Sails, Puppis the Poop Deck, and Pyxis
the Compass -- where the mast was originally) by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the 18th
century.
Information:
Carina is a southern constellation visible only to observers south of
30° S lat. For southern observers, Carina will be highest in the
sky around 9 pm early in March. Carina is rich in deep sky
objects, abounding especially in nebulae and clusters. In fact, one
nebula is comparable to the Great Nebula in Orion.
This constellation is also home to the second brightest star in the
Earth's sky, -0.62 magnitude Canopus (smaller numbers are brighter, a
negative magnitude is very bright). This large constellation is not
difficult to find, after locating Canopus, since its stars roughly
parallel the Milky Way and is east of the easy-to-find Crux,
the Cross. The southern most four brighter stars of Carina are
sometimes called the "false cross" since they are an asterism
similar in appearance to Crux. |
