Vela

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Constellations

Vela

The Sail (of the Ship)

Vela is a constellation in the southern hemisphere.
It was originally part of the constellation Argo Navis, the largest of Ptolemy's original 48 constellations.
Because of its unwieldy size, French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille suggested in 1763 to divide Argo Navis into three separate constellations.
In 1928, the International Astronomical Union made de Lacaille's suggestion official and the Constellation is now split into Carina (the hull or the keel), Puppis (the stern) and Vela (the sail).
Vela in the Night Sky

Ian Ridpath writes that "...there is, though, still an echo of Argo’s former unity." When de Lacaille designed the three succeeding constellations, he "... used just one sequence of Greek letters, from Alpha to Omega, as though Argo were still a single figure. The designations Alpha and Beta were given to the two brightest stars of Argo, which are in Carina; hence there are no stars labelled Alpha or Beta in either Puppis or Vela. Equally, the brightest star in Puppis is Zeta and the brightest in Vela is Gamma, but there is no Zeta or Gamma Carinae."

This section describes the constellation as it is seen in the night sky.

For myth and star lore about Vela click here.

Star maps based on maps provided by Sea & Sky

The stars of Vela

Number Desig-
nation Name
Number Desig-
nation Name
1 γ Vel Suhail al Muhlif
5 μ Vel Alherem
2 δ Vel Alsephina
6 φ Vel Tseen Ke
3 λ Vel Suhail
7 ψ Vel Psi Velorum
4 κ Vel Markeb

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Number	Desig- nation	Name	Number	Desig- nation	Name
1	γ Vel	Suhail al Muhlif	5	μ Vel	Alherem
2	δ Vel	Alsephina	6	φ Vel	Tseen Ke
3	λ Vel	Suhail	7	ψ Vel	Psi Velorum
4	κ Vel	Markeb