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.
Eta Carinae, formerly known as Eta Argus, is a stellar system containing at least two stars with a combined luminosity greater than five million times that of the Sun, located around 7,500 light-years distant in the constellation Carina. Previously a 4th-magnitude star, it brightened in 1837 to become brighter than Rigel, marking the start of its so-called "Great Eruption". It became the second-brightest star in the sky between 11 and 14 March 1843 before fading well below naked eye visibility after 1856. In a smaller eruption, it reached 6th magnitude in 1892 before fading again. It has brightened consistently since about 1940, becoming brighter than magnitude 4.5 by 2014.
Iota Carinae, officially named Aspidiske, is a star in the southern circumpolar constellation of Carina. With an apparent visual magnitude of 2.2, it is one of the brighter stars in the night sky.
Luminous blue variables (LBVs) are massive evolved stars that show unpredictable and sometimes dramatic variations in both their spectra and brightness. They are also known as S Doradus variables after S Doradus, one of the brightest stars of the Large Magellanic Cloud. They are extraordinarily rare with just 20 objects listed in the General Catalogue of Variable Stars as SDor, and a number of these are no longer considered to be LBVs.
p Carinae is the Bayer designation of a star in the southern constellation of Carina. It has the variable star designation PP Carinae and, at an apparent visual magnitude of +3.3, is readily visible to the naked eye from the southern hemisphere. From the observed parallax shift of this star as the Earth orbits the Sun, its distance can be estimated as roughly 480 light-years with a 6% margin of error. It is considered to be a member of the open cluster IC 2602 although it lies well outside the core visible group of stars.
V357 Carinae is an astrometric and spectroscopic binary in the constellation Carina. It is approximately 419 light years from Earth. The mean apparent magnitude of the system is +3.43.
V343 Carinae is a blue-white star or star system in the southern constellation of Carina. It has the Bayer designation d Carinae, while V343 Carinae is a variable star designation. The star is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.31. The distance to this object is approximately 1,440 light years based on parallax. It is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +13 km/s.
V344 Carinae is a single star in the southern constellation of Carina. It has the Bayer designation f Carinae, while V344 Carinae is its variable star designation. This star has a blue-white hue and is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude that fluctuates around 4.50. Historically, it was mentioned in the Almagest, suggesting that some time around 130 BCE it was brighter than its current magnitude. This object is located at a distance of approximately 610 light-years from the Sun based on parallax. The star is drifting further away with a radial velocity of around +27 km/s.
V520 Carinae is a single star in the southern constellation of Carina. It has the Bayer designation w Carinae, while V520 Carinae is a variable star designation. The star has an orange hue and is faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude that fluctuates around +4.58. It is located at a distance of approximately 1,140 light years from the Sun based on parallax, and it is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +9 km/s. It is a candidate member of the IC 2391 moving group of co-moving stars.
V533 Carinae is a white A-type supergiant variable star with a mean apparent magnitude of +4.59 in the constellation Carina. It is over 10,000 light years from Earth.
V345 Carinae is a star in the constellation Carina. It has the Bayer designation E Carinae; V345 Carinae is the variable star designation. The star has a blue-white hue and is faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude that fluctuates around +4.66. Its actual brightness varies from magnitude +4.67 to +4.78 with a period of 137.7 days. Based on parallax measurements, it is located at a distance of approximately 1,010 light years from the Sun. It is drifting further away with a radial velocity of around +19 km/s.
T Carinae is a star in the southern constellation of Carina. Although given a variable star designation, it is now thought to be constant; the identifier HD 94776 from the Henry Draper catalogue may be used instead. It has an orange hue and is dimly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.93. The distance to this object is approximately 285 light years based on parallax, and it has an absolute magnitude of 1.08. It is drifting closer to the Sun with a radial velocity of −26 km/s.
V376 Carinae is a binary star system in the southern constellation of Carina. It has the Bayer designation b1 Carinae; V376 Carinae is the variable star designation. The system is visible to the naked eye as a faint point of light with a combined apparent magnitude of +4.69. The distance to this system from the Sun is approximately 650 light years based on parallax. It is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +27 km/s.
V448 Carinae is a single star in the constellation Carina. It has the Bayer designation O Carinae, while V448 Carinae is the variable star designation. This object has an orange hue and is dimly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude that fluctuates around 5.60. It is located at a distance of approximately 680 light years from the Sun based on parallax, and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of around +26 km/s.
AG Carinae is a star in the constellation Carina. It is classified as a luminous blue variable (LBV) and is one of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way. The great distance and intervening dust mean that the star is not usually visible to the naked eye; its apparent brightness varies erratically between magnitude 5.7 and 9.0.
HR Carinae is a luminous blue variable star located in the constellation Carina. It is surrounded by a vast nebula of ejected nuclear-processed material because this star has a multiple shell expanding atmosphere. This star is among the most luminous stars in the Milky Way. It has very broad emission wings on the Balmer lines, reminiscent from the broad lines observed in the spectra of O and Wolf–Rayet stars. A distance of 5 kpc and a bolometric magnitude of -9.4 put HR Car among the most luminous stars of the galaxy.
A hypergiant (luminosity class 0 or Ia+) is a very rare type of star that has an extremely high luminosity, mass, size and mass loss because of its extreme stellar winds. The term hypergiant is defined as luminosity class 0 (zero) in the MKK system. However, this is rarely seen in the literature or in published spectral classifications, except for specific well-defined groups such as the yellow hypergiants, RSG (red supergiants), or blue B(e) supergiants with emission spectra. More commonly, hypergiants are classed as Ia-0 or Ia+, but red supergiants are rarely assigned these spectral classifications. Astronomers are interested in these stars because they relate to understanding stellar evolution, especially with star formation, stability, and their expected demise as supernovae.
V518 Carinae is a naked-eye variable star in the constellation Carina. It is a member of the bright open cluster IC 2602 near the Carina Nebula.
QZ Carinae is a multiple star system in the constellation Carina. It is the brightest member of the loose open cluster Collinder 228 and one of the brightest stars in the Carina Nebula. The apparent magnitude is variable from +6.16 to +6.49 with a period of 6 days.
CK Carinae is a variable star in the constellation Carina, the keel of Argo Navis. It is a member of the star association Carina OB1-D, at a distance of around 2,300 parsecs or 7,500 light years.
