The Vela Supercluster is in the southern sky in the constellation Vela. It was once a component of a larger constellation called the ship Argo Navis, which was eventually separated into three pieces, the other two being Carina and Puppis. Its name, which is Latin for "ship's sails," refers to the constellation's sails. Its brightest star, Gamma Velorum, a hot blue multiple stars, has an apparent magnitude of 1.8 and is the brightest Wolf-Rayet star in the sky. Together with Epsilon and Iota Carinae, Delta and Kappa Velorum make up the asterism known as the False Cross. It is a triple or quintuple star system, 1.95-magnitude Delta.
Antlia, Pyxis, Puppis, Carina, and Centaurus are all around Vela to the north, northwest, south, and southwest, respectively. With an area of five hundred square degrees, it is the 32nd-largest of the eighty-eight contemporary constellations. The International Astronomical Union chose the three-letter abbreviation "Vel" for the constellation in 1922. (Russell 1922) A polygon of fourteen segments, established by Eugène Delporte in 1930, defines the limits of the recognised constellations. These borders' right ascension values in the equatorial coordinate system range from 08h 13.3m to 11h 05.5m, while their declination coordinates fall between 37.16° and 57.17°. |
History
The ship Argo, used by Jason and the Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece in Greek mythology, was symbolised by Argo Navis, one of the forty-eight ancient constellations Claudius Ptolemy identified. In his 1603 Uranometria, German cartographer Johann Bayer illustrated the constellation and assigned the stars the Bayer names Alpha through Omega. The constellation was not entirely visible from the Northern Hemisphere; hence his chart was incorrect. (Wagman 2003)
Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, a French astronomer, more precisely plotted and separated Argo in 1752, creating Carina (the keel), Vela (the sails), and Puppis (the poop deck). Lacaille maintained Argo's Bayer designations despite the separation. As a result, Carina has the Alpha, Beta, and Epsilon stars that were initially attributed to Argo Navis, whilst Gamma and Delta are the brightest stars in Vela, Zeta is the brightest star in Puppis, and so on. (Wagman 2003)
The ship Argo, used by Jason and the Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece in Greek mythology, was symbolised by Argo Navis, one of the forty-eight ancient constellations Claudius Ptolemy identified. In his 1603 Uranometria, German cartographer Johann Bayer illustrated the constellation and assigned the stars the Bayer names Alpha through Omega. The constellation was not entirely visible from the Northern Hemisphere; hence his chart was incorrect. (Wagman 2003)
Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, a French astronomer, more precisely plotted and separated Argo in 1752, creating Carina (the keel), Vela (the sails), and Puppis (the poop deck). Lacaille maintained Argo's Bayer designations despite the separation. As a result, Carina has the Alpha, Beta, and Epsilon stars that were initially attributed to Argo Navis, whilst Gamma and Delta are the brightest stars in Vela, Zeta is the brightest star in Puppis, and so on. (Wagman 2003)
Deep-sky Objects
Main stars - 5
Bayer stars - 50
Stars with planets - 7
Stars brighter than magnitude 3.00 - 5
Stars within 32 Ly - 3
Messier objects - 0
Meteor showers
Bordering
constellations
- NGC 3132 – Planetary Nebula
- NGC 2670 – Open Cluster
- NGC 2547 – Open Cluster
- NGC 3201 – Globular Cluster
- Gum Nebula – Emission Nebula
Main stars - 5
Bayer stars - 50
Stars with planets - 7
Stars brighter than magnitude 3.00 - 5
Stars within 32 Ly - 3
Messier objects - 0
Meteor showers
- Delta Velids
- Gamma Velids
- Puppid-velids
Bordering
constellations
- Antlia
- Pyxis
- Puppis
- Carina
- Centaurus