A Bayer designation is a stellar designation in which a specific star is identified by a Greek or Latin letter followed by the genitive form of its parent constellation's Latin name. The original list of Bayer designations contained 1,564 stars. The brighter stars were assigned their first systematic names by the German astronomer Johann Bayer in 1603, in his star atlas Uranometria. Bayer catalogued only a few stars too far south to be seen from Germany, but later astronomers supplemented Bayer's catalog with entries for southern constellations.
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.
The Carina Nebula or Eta Carinae Nebula is a large, complex area of bright and dark nebulosity in the constellation Carina, located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way galaxy. The nebula is approximately 8,500 light-years (2,600 pc) from Earth.
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.
Epsilon Carinae, officially named Avior, is a binary star in the southern constellation of Carina. At apparent magnitude +1.86 it is one of the brightest stars in the night sky, but is not visible from most of the northern hemisphere. The False Cross is an asterism formed of Delta Velorum, Kappa Velorum, Iota Carinae and ε Carinae. It is so called because it is sometimes mistaken for the Southern Cross, causing errors in astronavigation.
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.
HD 90264 is a binary star system in the southern constellation of Carina. It has the Bayer designation of L Carinae, while HD 90264 is the star's identifier in the Henry Draper catalogue. This system has a blue-white hue and is faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.97. It is located at a distance of approximately 402 light years from the Sun based on parallax, and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of around +12 km/s. The system is a member of the Lower Centaurus Crux association of the Sco-Cen Complex.
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.
HD 83944 is a star system in the constellation Carina. This has the Bayer designation m Carinae, while HD 83944 is the identifier from the Henry Draper catalogue. It is a suspected variable with an apparent visual magnitude that fluctuates around 4.51 with an amplitude of 0.5. The system is located at a distance of approximately 226 light years from the Sun based on parallax, and it has an absolute magnitude of 0.31. It is a member of the Carina association 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.
HD 96919, also known by its Bayer designation of z2 Carinae and the variable star designation of V371 Carinae, is a blue supergiant star in the constellation Carina. It lies near the Carina Nebula and at a comparable distance.
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.
The designations W Carinae and w Carinae are distinct and refer to two different stars:
The Bayer designations e Carinae and E Carinae are distinct and the designation e Carinae is shared by two stars in the constellation Carina:
The Bayer designations b Carinae and B Carinae are distinct and the designation b Carinae is shared by two stars in the constellation Carina:
The Bayer designations U Carinae and u Carinae are distinct. Due to technical limitations, both designations link here. For the star
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