Vela constellation lies in the southern hemisphere. Its name means “the sails” in Latin.
Vela was once part of the much larger constellation, Argo Navis, which represented the Argonauts’ ship, but was eventually divided into three smaller constellations: Vela (the sails), Carina (the keel) and Puppis (the stern).
Argo Navis constellation was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. The French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille divided it into three separate constellations in the 1750s.
Vela contains a number of interesting stars and deep sky objects, among them the Eight-burst Nebula (NGC 3132), the Gum Nebula, the Vela Supernova Remnant, the Pencil Nebula (NGC 2736), and the Omicron Velorum Cluster (IC 2391).
FACTS, LOCATION & MAP
Vela is the 32nd constellation in size, occupying an area of 500 square degrees. It is located in the second quadrant of the southern hemisphere (SQ2) and can be seen at latitudes between +30° and -90°. The neighboring constellations are Antlia, Carina, Centaurus, Puppis and Pyxis.
Vela belongs to the Heavenly Waters family of constellations, along with Carina, Columba, Delphinus, Equuleus, Eridanus, Piscis Austrinus, Puppis and Pyxis.
Vela contains five stars with known planets and has no Messier objects. The brightest star in the constellation is Gamma Velorum, with an apparent magnitude of 1.75. There are three meteor showers associated with the constellation: the Delta Velids, the Gamma Velids, and the Puppid-Velids.
MYTH
Vela represents the sails of the Argo Navis, the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to get the Golden Fleece. The ship was named after Argus, the shipwright who built it. It was said that the ship was constructed with the help of the goddess Athena. Once the expedition was a success, Argo was consecrated to the sea god Poseidon and then turned into a constellation.
Vela used to be part of the larger Greek constellation Argo Navis along with the constellations Puppis and Carina, which represented the stern and keel of the ship. Argo Navis was divided into the three smaller constellations in 1752 by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille.
Lacaille only used one set of Greek letters for all three constellations, which is why Vela does not have any stars designated Alpha or Beta. The stars that were labelled Alpha and Beta in the constellation Argo Navis now belong to Carina constellation.
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