(
Astronomy)
Vela (the Sail) is a rather large constellation on the
southern hemisphere, and together with
Carina (the Keel), Puppis (the Stern),
and Pyxis (the Compass), it forms
the compound constellation Argo Navis.
It has no alpha or beta stars (meaning
the brightest stars in a constellation),
as it was once part of Argo, and none of
the stars have been assigned new names
after the separation.
It looks roughly like this:
_ _ -o _
o - O - _
| -O
| |
_o | |
O _ _ | _ -o
- -o - - O -