Constellations · Constellation · Velorum · Vel
Constellation
Vela
The sails of the Argo. Its brightest stars, with Carina’s, form the False Cross, which has misled navigators looking for the real one.
- Genitive
- Velorum
- Area
- 500 square degrees · 32nd of 88
- Brightest star
- · magnitude 1.75
- Naked-eye stars
- 217 brighter than magnitude 6.5
- Highest at midnight
- early February
Look for
The False Cross is bigger and dimmer than the Southern Cross, and has no fifth star. Alsephina is one of its corners.
Science
Here 11,000 years ago a star exploded; the Vela Pulsar, left behind, spins 11 times a second, and the remnant spreads across eight degrees of sky.