Carina - Keel (of the Argo)

Learn about the constellation Carina - Keel (of the Argo), location, facts, mythology, meteor showers and deep space objects.

Carina is a southern constellation which forms part of the old constellation of Argo Navis. It contains Canopus, the second brightest star in the night sky, and the supermassive star η Carinae which is embedded in the giant Eta Carinae Nebula (NGC 3372).

Location: Southern Constellation 9h RA -60° Dec

As the Milky Way runs through Carina, there are a large number of open clusters in the constellation. These include NGC 2516 and IC 2602, the latter popularly known as the "Southern Pleiades." The most notable object in Carina is NGC 3372, the Eta Carinae Nebula, a planetary nebula visible to the naked eye that is being ejected by the erratic variable star Eta Carinae, one of the Milky Way's largest stars and one not far from becoming a supernova.

Mythology

Being a modern constellation there is no mythology surrounding Carina.

Deep Space Objects

Carina is known for its namesake nebula, NGC 3372, discovered by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1751, which contains several nebulae.

NGC 2516 is an open cluster that is both quite large and bright, visible to the unaided eye. NGC 3114 is another open cluster approximately of the same size, though it is more distant and more spread out and dimmer. The most prominent open cluster in Carina is IC 2602, also called the "Southern Pleiades".

In this table, the observation month represents the month in which the object reaches its highest point in the sky. It can also be viewed a few months before and after depending on your location. Direction is the compass direction in which the object is located, with Z meaning Zenith or overhead.