Carina, The Keel Constellation

Carina (Pronounciation:Car-e-na, Abbrev:Car, Latin:Carinae) is a constellation, one of 88 constellations that the night sky is divided into. The sky is not divided up equally between the constellations. Carina takes up 494.184 sq. degrees of the night sky which equates to 1.2% of the night sky. Carina is the 34th largest in terms of size in the night sky.

The constellation name means The Keel . It was not one of the original constellations that had been devised by Ptolemy, instead it was created by Abbé Nicolas Louis de Lacaille years later.

There are 11 stars that make up the main constellation. The hipparcos satellite scanned and detailed 2156 stars. There are 125 stars that can be seen with the naked eye in the constellation on a very clear night sky.

Carina is not a member of the Zodiac group of twelve constellations that appear when the Sun sets. Carina is a southern hemispheric constellation which means it can't be seen easily or at all from the northern hemisphere.

There are 14 Extrasolar Planets (Exoplanets) in this constellation that are detailed on this site. There is a dedicated page for exoplanets in Carina. The current largest star so far identified in the constellation of Carina is EV Carinae.

There are no deep space objects that were identified by Charles Messier in this constellation. There are 2 non-Messier deep space objects that are covered on this site and the list is below.

The image at the top right of this page was generated using Night Vision, a free to use and download application by Brian Simspon.

Distance to Carina

You can't just go to one location and arrive at the constellation because the constellation is made up of stars at different locations and different distances. The nearest main star in the constellation is at a distance of 52.91 light years and the furthest main star is a distance of 1,436.84 light years. The average distance to the main stars is 581.76 light years.

Carina Star Facts

The caveat of these stars are that they are catalogued on this site. If you know of a star that is nearer or further then do let me know in the comments and I'll add it to the site. The stars mentioned are from the Hipparcos catalogue or have been added because of their special status.

HIP 45908, Carina's Nearest Star

The nearest star to Earth is HIP 45908 which is roughly about 34.12 Light Years from the Earth. The nearest star to the Earth with an exoplanet is HD 63765 which is about 108.47 Light Years.

HIP 48543, Carina's Furthest Star

The furthest star that is located in the constellation is HIP 48543 and it is 326163.3 light years away from the Sun. The furthest figure is derived from either the 1997 or 2007 Hipparcos star catalogue parallax figure and it has been known to produce distances that are wrong.

Canopus, Brightest Star in Carina

The brightest star in Carina is Canopus and is located about 34.41 light years from the Sun. The star has a apparent magnitude of -0.62 but an absolute magnitude of -5.50 when the star is viewed from a distance of 10 Parsecs or 32.6 Light Years. The star is recognised as being the brightest in the constellation as it has the Bayer status of Alpha.

HD 90874, Carina's Dimmest Visible Star

The dimmest star that can be seen in Carina with the naked eye is HD 90874. The dim star has an apparent magnitude of 6. The dimmest star that a person is able to see with their naked eye is 6.0 magnitude based on the table in the reference. Ref: University of Michigan.

AG Carinae

The AG Carinae is one of the most luminous stars in the milky way. Luminous being the amount of energy that it is expelling. Some places on the net will refer to it as being a Wolf Rayet and others will refer to it as becoming one. Either way, it is or will be a Wolf-Rayet star, a star that has moved beyond its main sequence. Even though it is large and bright, it is too far away (17166.49 Light Years) to be seen by the naked eye.

Carina Mythology

Carina is one of three constellations when Abbé Nicolas Louis de Lacaille created when he broke up the Argo Navis. The other two constellations are Vela and Puppis. The Argo Nevis is the name of the boat that Jason used in search of the Golden Fleece.

Meteor Showers Radiating from Carina

There are 4 Meteor Showers that occur during the year within this constellation based on information gathered from Adam Mickiewicz University (Poland). The list below are major ones and which I have a date period for.

List of Main Stars in Carina

The following list contains the stars that make up the constellation. For a larger list of stars in the entire constellation area, please visit the For a list of named stars, that is stars that don't start HD or HIP, please visit Carina Star List page.

Carina Facts

*Note: The number of Non-Messier Deep Space Object Count relates to how many are covered on this site not how many there are.

List of Deep Space Objects (Galaxies, Nebulas, Supernovas, etc) in Carina

Comments and Questions

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