Carina (constellation)
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| Constellation | |
 List of stars in Carina |
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| Abbreviation | Car |
|---|---|
| Genitive | Carinae |
| Pronunciation | /kəˈraɪnə/ carína, genitive /kəˈraɪniː/[1] |
| Symbolism | the keel |
| Right ascension | 9 h |
| Declination | −60° |
| Quadrant | SQ2 |
| Area | 494 sq. deg. (34th) |
| Main stars | 9 |
| Bayer/Flamsteed stars |
52 |
| Stars with planets | 8 |
| Stars brighter than 3.00m | 6 |
| Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly) | 1 |
| Brightest star | Canopus (α Car) (−0.72m) |
| Nearest star | LHS 288 (14.64 ly, 4.49 pc) |
| Messier objects | 0 |
| Meteor showers | Alpha Carinids Eta Carinids |
| Bordering constellations |
Vela Puppis Pictor Volans Chamaeleon Musca Centaurus |
| Visible at latitudes between +20° and −90°. Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of March. |
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Carina (
/kəˈraɪnə/) is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for the keel of a ship, and it was formerly part of the larger constellation of Argo Navis (the ship Argo) until that constellation was divided in three.
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[edit] Notable features
[edit] Stars
Carina contains Canopus, the second brightest star in the night sky. It also contains the asterism known as the 'Diamond Cross', which is larger than the Southern Cross (but fainter), and, from the perspective of the southern hemisphere viewer, upside down, the long axes of the two crosses being close to parallel.
[edit] Deep-sky objects
The most notable object in Carina is Homunculus Nebula in NGC 3372, also known as the Eta Carinae Nebula. It is 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.
Since 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."
NGC 3532, also known as the Wishing Well Cluster, is a large binocular cluster having about 150 stars.
Carina also contains the naked-eye globular cluster NGC 2808. Epsilon Carinae and Upsilon Carinae are double stars visible in small telescopes.
[edit] Meteors
Carina contains the radiant of the Eta Carinids meteor shower, which peaks around January 21 each year.
==Equivalents==[clarification needed] From China (especially northern China), the stars of Carina can barely be seen. The star Canopus (the south polar star in Chinese astronomy) was located by Chinese astronomers in the The Vermillion Bird of the South (南方朱雀, Nán Fāng Zhū Què). The rest of the stars were first classified by Xu Guanggi during the Ming Dynasty, based on the knowledge acquired from western star charts, and placed among the The Southern Asterisms (近南極星區, Jìnnánjíxīngōu).
[edit] Namesakes
USS Carina (AK-74) was a United States Navy Crater class cargo ship named after the constellation.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Ian Ridpath and Wil Tirion (2007). Stars and Planets Guide, Collins, London. ISBN 978-0007251209. Princeton University Press, Princeton. ISBN 978-0691135564.
[edit] External links
Media related to Carina (constellation) at Wikimedia Commons
- The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Carina
- Starry Night Photography: Carina
- Eta Carina Nebula by Thomas Willig
- Star Tales – Carina
- Huge gamma-ray blast seen 12.2 billion light-years from Earth
- Carina Constellation
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