Carina is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for the keel of a ship, and it was the southern foundation of the larger constellation of Argo Navis until it was divided into three pieces, the other two being Puppis, and Vela.
Canis Major is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere. In the second century, it was included in Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and is counted among the 88 modern constellations. Its name is Latin for "greater dog" in contrast to Canis Minor, the "lesser dog"; both figures are commonly represented as following the constellation of Orion the hunter through the sky. The Milky Way passes through Canis Major and several open clusters lie within its borders, most notably M41.
Puppis ("stern") is a constellation in the southern sky. It was originally part of the traditional constellation of Argo Navis, which was divided into three parts, the other two being Carina, and Vela. Puppis is the largest of the three constellations in square degrees. It is one of the 88 modern constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union.
Vela is a constellation in the southern sky, which contains the Vela Supercluster. Its name is Latin for the sails of a ship, and it was originally part of a larger constellation, the ship Argo Navis, which was later divided into three parts, the others being Carina and Puppis. With an apparent magnitude of 1.8, its brightest star is the hot blue multiple star Gamma Velorum, one component of which is the closest and brightest Wolf-Rayet star in the sky. Delta and Kappa Velorum, together with Epsilon and Iota Carinae, form the asterism known as the False Cross. 1.95-magnitude Delta is actually a triple or quintuple star system.
Monoceros is a faint constellation on the celestial equator. Its definition is attributed to the 17th-century cartographer Petrus Plancius. It is bordered by Orion to the west, Gemini to the north, Canis Major to the south, and Hydra to the east. Other bordering constellations include Canis Minor, Lepus, and Puppis.
Brocchi's Cluster is a asterism of 10 stars. Six of the stars appear in an row, across 1.3° of the night sky. The cluster is in the south of the constellation Vulpecula, near the constellation Sagitta. Its nickname is the Coathanger. None of these ten stars are believed to be gravitationally bound to each other, thus they are not a star cluster, a fact established by measurements taken by the Hipparcos satellite in 1997. An additional 30 or so much fainter stars are considered by some to be part of the asterism.
The Coma Star Cluster is a nearby open cluster located in the constellation Coma Berenices. The cluster contains about 40 brighter stars with a common proper motion. The brighter stars of the cluster make out a distinctive "V" shape as seen when Coma Berenices is rising. The cluster used to represent the tail of Leo. However, in around 240 BC, Ptolemy III renamed it for the Egyptian queen Berenice's legendary sacrifice of her hair.
Omicron Velorum is a star in the constellation Vela. It is the brightest member of the loose naked eye open cluster IC 2391, also known as the ο Velorum Cluster.
Pi Puppis, Latinized from π Puppis, also named Ahadi, is the second-brightest star in the southern constellation of Puppis. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 2.733, so it can be viewed with the naked eye at night. Parallax measurements yield an estimated distance of roughly 810 light-years from the Earth. This is a double star with a magnitude 6.86 companion at an angular separation of 0.72 arcsecond and a position angle of 148° from the brighter primary.
Sigma Puppis, Latinized from σ Puppis, is a binary star system in the southern constellation Puppis. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.25, which is bright enough to be visible to the naked eye at night from the Southern Hemisphere. Through a telescope, it appears as a bright, orange-hued star with a nearby white companion. Parallax measurements indicate this star is located at a distance of about 192 light-years from Earth.
NGC 2546 is a pair of independent but overlapping open clusters located in the southern constellation of Puppis. This grouping was discovered by French astronomer Abbe Lacaille in 1751-1752 from South Africa. NGC 2546 is just visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy patch; the brightest component has an apparent visual magnitude of 6.44. The brighter members are readily resolved with a pair of 10×50 binoculars.
V533 Carinae is a A-type supergiant and a Alpha Cygni variable star with a mean apparent magnitude of +4.59 in the constellation Carina. It is located at a distance of about 13,000 light years.
μ Normae, Latinised as Mu Normae, is a blue supergiant star of spectral type O9.7 Iab, located in the constellation of Norma.
Collinder 140 is a nearby open cluster of stars in the constellation Canis Major. It was first catalogued in 1751 by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, who described it as a "nebulous star cluster". It was catalogued again by the Swedish astronomer Per Collinder in 1931. Fitzgerald et al. (1980) describe it as "a young extended cluster" and note that it is not obviously a cluster and may instead be a mere grouping of stars that formed together.
Omicron Puppis (ο Puppis) is candidate binary star system in the southern constellation of Puppis. It is visible to the naked eye, having a combined apparent visual magnitude of +4.48. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 2.30 mas as seen from Earth, it is located roughly 1,400 light years from the Sun.
WR 24 is a Wolf-Rayet star in the constellation Carina. It is one of the most luminous stars known. At the edge of naked eye visibility it is also one of the brightest Wolf Rayet stars in the sky.
p Puppis is a star system the constellation Puppis. This system consists of a B8V star and a secondary star at 7.4 AU, much smaller than the primary, as well as farther companions. Its apparent magnitude is 4.65 and it is approximately 222 light years away based on parallax.
NGC 2539 is an open cluster in the constellation Puppis, located at the north edge of the constellation. It was discovered by William Herschel on January 31, 1785. It is a moderately rich cluster and with little central concentration, with Trumpler class II1m.
R Puppis is a variable star in the constellation Puppis. It is a rare yellow hypergiant and a candidate member of the open cluster NGC 2439. It is also an MK spectral standard for the class G2 0-Ia.
Collinder 228 is an open cluster within the southern part of the Carina Nebula NGC 3372, about 25' south of η Carinae. It is probably composed of stars which recently formed from the material in the nebula. QZ Carinae is the brightest member of Collinder 228 with an apparent magnitude between 6.16–6.49 .
