Carina

Carina is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for the hull or keel of a ship.

Carina was once a part of Argo Navis, the great ship of Jason and the Argonauts who searched for the Golden Fleece. The constellation of Argo was introduced in ancient Greece. However, due to the massive size of Argo Navis and the sheer number of stars that required separate designation, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille divided Argo into three sections in 1763, including Carina - the hull or keel. In the 19th century, these three became established as separate constellations, and were formally included in the list of 88 modern IAU constellations in 1930.

Carina contains Canopus, a white-hued supergiant that is the second brightest star in the night sky at magnitude −0.72. Alpha Carinae, as Canopus is formally designated, is 313 light-years from Earth. Its traditional name comes from the mythological Canopus, who was a navigator for Menelaus, king of Sparta.