Located in the southern sky, the constellation Vela is Latin for the sails of a ship. The constellation was originally part of a larger constellation named the ship Argo Navis, which was later divided into three parts, the others being Carina and Puppis. Vela covers 500 square degrees, which makes the constellation the 32nd largest constellation in regards to size.

Famous stars include the brightest star of apparent magnitude 1.8 is Gamma Velorum, which is a hot blue star. Delta and Kappa Velorum, together with Epsilon and Iota Carinae, form the asterism known as the False Cross. 1.95-magnitude Delta is actually a triple or quintuple star system.

	Applicable Information
Visibility In Pacific Northwest	Partially Visible — Only Northern Tip Is Visible
Best Times To View	March
Right Ascension	9h
Declination	−50°
Area	500 square degrees
Main Stars	5
Brightest Object	γ Vel, with 1.75m
Meteor showers	Delta Velids, Gamma Velids, Puppid-velids
Messier objects	0
Neighboring Constellations	Antlia, Pyxis, Puppis, Carina, Centaurus

History

Argo Navis was one of the 48 classical constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and represented the ship Argo. Jason and the Argonauts used the ship Argo on their quest for the Golden Fleece in Greek mythology.

German cartographer Johann Bayer depicted the constellation on his Uranometria of 1603, plus gave the stars Bayer designations from Alpha to Omega. However, the chart he created was not fully accurate as the constellation was not fully visible from the Northern Hemisphere.

Argo was more accurately charted and subdivided in 1752 by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, who formed the constellations Carina, Vela, and Puppis. Despite the division, Lacaille kept Argo’s Bayer designations.

Stars

The brightest star in the constellation, Gamma Velorum, is a complex multiple star system. The brighter component, known as Gamma² Velorum, shines as a blue-white star of apparent magnitude 1.83.

The planetary nebula NGC 3132, is nicknamed the ‘Eight-Burst Nebula’ or ‘Southern Ring Nebula’ lies on the border of the constellation with Antlia.

The Gum Nebula is a faint emission nebula, believed to be the remains of a million-year-old supernova. Within it lie the smaller and younger Vela Supernova Remnant. This is the nebula of a supernova explosion that is believed to have been visible from Earth around 10,000 years ago. The remnant of this nebula contains the Vela Pulsar, which is the first pulsar to be identified optically.

Nearby to this nebula is NGC 2736, also known as the Pencil Nebula.

NGC 2670 is an open cluster located in Vela, which has an overall magnitude of 7.8 and is located 3,200 light-years from Earth.

NGC 3201 is a globular cluster discovered by James Dunlop on May 28, 1826, which has been found to have its stellar population is inhomogeneous, varying with distance from the core.

March 2013 saw the discovery of a binary brown dwarf system named Luhman 16. Located 6.6 light-years away, Luuhman 16 is the third-closest system to the Solar System.

Make sure to check out other articles on the site, including a brief introduction to constellations, other constellation articles, and more!