COSMOS / CONSTELLATIONS / PUP
Puppis (Stern)
The Stern. IAU abbreviation Pup. One of the three parts into which Lacaille divided Ptolemy’s huge constellation Argo Navis in 1756.
STAR CHART
KEY FACTS
- IAU abbreviation
- Pup
- Latin name / genitive
- Puppis / Puppis
- Position
- Right ascension ≈ 7 h 41 m; declination −51° to −12°
- Visibility from Türkiye
- From Türkiye only its northern part is seen, low on the southern horizon; the southern provinces are better placed.
- Best time to observe
- Best placed at 21:00 Türkiye time around 14 March.
- Number of stars
- 245 stars brighter than magnitude 6.5 in the catalogue; 49 brighter than 5 and 11 brighter than 4.
INTERACTIVE LAB
Where is Puppis tonight?
Only the northern part of this constellation is seen from Türkiye, low on the southern horizon. The lab opens for Ankara on today’s date; switch the city to Antalya and then to Sydney and watch how the “Visible part” row and the chart change. The “Best night” button jumps to the best date (around 14 March).
MYTH, HISTORY AND OBSERVING
The stern of the ship Argo, created when Lacaille divided Argo Navis into three. Naos (Zeta Puppis), one of the hottest and most luminous stars known, and the open clusters M46 and M47, which share a binocular field, are here. From Türkiye it is partly visible low in the south on winter evenings.
BRIGHTEST STARS
| Star | Magnitude | Distance (light-years) | Spectral type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naos | 2.21 | 1,084 | O5IAf |
| π Pup | 2.71 | 807 | K3Ib |
| Tureis | 2.83 | 64 | F2mF5IIp |
| τ Pup | 2.94 | 182 | K0III |
| ν Pup | 3.17 | 371 | B8III |
| σ Pup | 3.25 | 194 | K5III |
| Azmidi | 3.34 | 1,199 | G6Ia |
| HIP 37819 | 3.62 | 1,132 | K4III |
Magnitude: apparent brightness; the smaller the number, the brighter the star. Distances derive from parallax measurements and are uncertain for distant stars. Source: HYG v4.1 star catalogue (CC BY-SA 4.0).
SOURCES
Position, visibility and best observing time were computed approximately for this page from the catalogue stars (Ankara, 39.9° N). The 88 constellations were adopted by the IAU in 1922; their boundaries were drawn by Eugène Delporte in 1930.