Month Best Visible
March
Hemisphere Visible
Southern
Carina contains Canopus, the second brightest star in the night sky. The most notable object in Carina is Homunculus Nebula in NGC 3372, the Eta Carinae Nebula. It is a planetary nebula visible to the naked eye that is being ejected by the erratic variable star Eta Carinae, one of the Milky Way's largest stars and one not far from becoming a supernova.
Carina's name is Latin for the keel of a ship, and it was formerly part of the larger constellation Argo Navis (the ship Argo) until that constellation was divided in three.
