Argo Navis
Wiley Book of Astronomy:
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Argo Navis
An enormous southern constellation, representing Argos, the ship of Jason and the Argonauts, listed by Ptolemy among his original 48. In the eighteenth century, it was divided by Nicolaus Lacaille into Carina (the keel), Puppis (the stern), and Vela (the sails). There was no reassignment of Bayer designations when this took place, so, for example, Puppis lacks stars labeled Alpha, Beta, and Gamma.
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Argo Navis
Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy:
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Argo Navis
One of the 48 constellations known to the Greeks, representing the ship of the Argonauts, but broken up in the 18th century by N. L. de Lacaille into Carina, Puppis, and Vela.
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Argo Navis
Argo Navis (or simply Argo) was a large constellation in the southern sky that has since been divided into three constellations. It represented the Argo, the ship used by Jason and the Argonauts in Greek mythology. The abbreviation was "Arg" and the genitive was "Argus Navis".
Argo Navis is the only one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy that is no longer officially recognised as a constellation. It was unwieldy due to its enormous size: were it still considered a single constellation, it would be the largest of all. In 1752, the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille subdivided it into Carina (the keel, or the hull, of the ship), Puppis (the poop deck, or stern), and Vela (the sails). When Argo Navis was split, its Bayer designations were also split. Carina has the α, β and ε, Vela has γ and δ, Puppis has ζ, and so on.
The constellation Pyxis (the mariner's compass) occupies an area which in antiquity was considered part of Argo's mast (called Malus). However, Pyxis is not considered part of Argo Navis, and its Bayer designations are separate from those of Carina, Puppis and Vela.
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External links and references
Media related to Argo Navis at Wikimedia Commons
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Wiley Book of Astronomy
Copyright © 2004 by Wiley-Blackwell. Wiley and the Wiley logo are registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Used here by license. Read more
Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy
A Dictionary of Astronomy. © 1997
Oxford University Press.
All rights reserved.
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Mentioned in
Canopus
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Carina
(constellation)
constellation
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