Puppis

Star References
1. Zeta Puppis: The brightest star in the constellation at mag. 2.2. A hot blue-white supergiant 1400 light-years away. Its common name Naos derives from a Greek word meaning ship.
2. V Puppis: An eclipsing binary (close pair in which the dim star temporarily obscures the brighter one), fluctuating between mag. 4.4 and 4.9 over a period of 1 day 11 hours.
3. k Puppis: A double divisible with a small telescope into two blue-white stars of mag. 4.5 and 4.6. Common name Markeb.

Deep-Sky Objects

M46
AN open cluster barely visible with the naked eye. About 5000 light-years away, its stars are visible with a small telescope.

M47
An open cluster larger but more scattered than M46, and significantly closer: it is about 1500 light-years away. Its brightest stars, of the 6th magnitude, can be seen with a small telescope or good binoculars.

M93
A third, much less interesting open cluster that does not compare to M46 and M47.

NGC 2451
An open cluster visible with the naked eye and best viewed through binoculars. About 850 light-years away, its brightest member is an orange giant of mag. 3.6 and is designated c Puppis (not shown).

NGC 2477
An open cluster so rich that it could be mistaken for a globular cluster through binoculars. It is about 4200 light-years away and its individual stars are visible through a small telescope.

Mythology

Puppis represents the stern of Argo Navis, the immense constellation of Greek times depicting a ship.

Interesting Facts

1. Because it was divided from Argo Navis, Puppis has no alpha star. It joins Leo Minor, Norma, and Vela in this idiosyncrasy.
2. Not only does Puppis have no alpha star, but it is also lacking beta, gamma, delta, and epsilon stars - the first 5 letters of the Greek alphabet. Its Greek designations start with zeta.

Created by Dan Corbett, Kate Stafford, and Patrick Wright for ThinkQuest.