How to find Carina
A southern showpiece holding Canopus and the vast, glowing Carina Nebula.
Canopus — the second-brightest star in the entire night sky.
Carina, the Keel, is a brilliant southern constellation, once part of the giant ancient figure of Argo Navis (the ship). It contains Canopus, the second-brightest star in the night sky after Sirius.
It's a southern-hemisphere constellation, best seen from low northern or southern latitudes on late-summer evenings.
Canopus and the Carina Nebula
Canopus blazes high in the southern summer sky and is used as a navigation star by spacecraft. Nearby lies the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372), one of the largest and brightest nebulae in the entire sky — far bigger and brighter than Orion's — surrounding the unstable, eruptive star Eta Carinae.
How to find it
- From southern latitudes, find brilliant Canopus high in the south in late summer
- Sweep the Milky Way toward the Southern Cross to reach the glowing Carina Nebula
- Not visible from most of the northern hemisphere
Deep-sky highlights
- Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) — an enormous naked-eye nebula around Eta Carinae
- The Wishing Well Cluster (NGC 3532) and the Southern Pleiades (IC 2602)
Stella shows exactly when Carina is highest from your location tonight — and whether the sky is worth it.
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