Carinae is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for the keel of a ship, and it was originally part of the larger Argo Navis constellation. Carina contains Canopus, the second-brightest star in the night sky. The brightest star in Carina is Beta Carinae, also known as Mimosa or Tureis. The constellation contains many bright stars, including some binaries and clusters. It also contains several interesting nebulae, including the Homunculus Nebula and the Tarantula Nebula.
Carina was first catalogued by Ptolemy in his 2nd century Almagest. In classical antiquity, it was considered part of Argo Navis, along with Puppis and Vela. Argo Navis was later divided into three separate constellations by French astronomers in 1752: Puppis (the stern), Vela (the sails), and Carina (the keel). Johann Bode gave Carina its Bayer designations in 1801; they are still used today.
The brightest star in Carina is Beta Carinae, also known as Mimosa or Tureis. It is an orange giant with an apparent magnitude of +1.68. It is approximately 430 light-years from Earth. Beta Carinae is one of the most luminous stars known; its bolometric luminosity is about 180,000 times that of the Sun’s. The other bright stars in Carina include Alpha2 Canum Venaticorum (also known as Chara), Gamma2 Velorum (also known as Regor), HD 93129Aa1/Ab1 (a binary system with two O-type stars), Pi Mensae (an orange dwarf with a planet), R Doradus (an irregular variable star), Kappa Velorum Aa/Ab (another binary system with two O-type stars), Iota Carinae Aa/Ab (yet another binary system with two O-type stars).
There are several interesting nebulae located within Carina as well. These include IC 2944 (“The Running Chicken Nebula”), NGC 3372 (“The Eta CarINA Nebula”),NGC 3576 (“The Cobb’s Wheel Cluster”), and ESO 469-6 (“The Tarantula Nebula”).