Constellation, Sails
Vela
The sails of Argo, the ship of Jason and the Argonauts. It became a constellation of its own when Nicolas Louis de Lacaille divided the huge ancient ship into three.
From New York on October 13, 2026, the centre of Vela rises at 7:44 AM, is highest at 8:50 AM (1° above the horizon in the S) and sets at 9:57 AM.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Vela. Drag to look around.
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Evening visibility over the year
Height of the constellation’s centre above the horizon at 10 pm local time on the 15th of each month, from New York. Above about 30° it is well placed.
Name and history
Vela is Latin for sails. It is one of the three pieces into which the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille divided Argo Navis, the ship that carried Jason and the Argonauts. He first called it Voilure du Navire in 1756 and used the Latin Vela in his final catalogue of 1763. The other pieces are Carina, the keel, and Puppis, the stern. Lacaille counted as sails everything outside the hull between the edges and the spar on which the sail is furled. Old charts show the sail rolled around a cross-spar on the mast.
Lacaille relabelled Argo’s stars with a single set of Greek letters for the whole ship. Alpha and Beta went to Carina, so Vela has neither. Two of its stars, together with two in Carina, form the False Cross, which people sometimes mistake for the real Southern Cross. Ptolemy’s stars of the ship’s mast went into Lacaille’s new compass, Pyxis.
Sources: Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Vela
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| γ2 Vel | γ2 Vel | 1.75 | 1,117 light-years |
| Alsephina | δ Vel | 1.93 | 81 light-years |
| Suhail | λ Vel | 2.23 | 545 light-years |
| Markeb | κ Vel | 2.47 | 572 light-years |
| μ Vel | μ Vel | 2.69 | 117 light-years |
| HIP 46701 | HIP 46701 | 3.16 | 239 light-years |
| φ Vel | φ Vel | 3.52 | 1,591 light-years |
| ο Vel | ο Vel | 3.60 | 493 light-years |
| ψ Vel | ψ Vel | 3.60 | 61 light-years |
| HIP 44511 | HIP 44511 | 3.75 | 300 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 500 square degrees (32 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Vel |
| Sky | Southern sky |
| Origin | Argo Navis is one of the 48 constellations in Ptolemy’s Almagest. Lacaille made its sails a separate part, Voilure du Navire, in his catalogue of 1756 |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 36 |
| Centre (J2000) | 9.4 h, -49° |
Deep-sky objects
Galaxies, clusters and nebulae brighter than magnitude 9, from the OpenNGC catalogue. Most need binoculars or a telescope and a dark sky.
| Object | Type | Magnitude |
|---|---|---|
| IC2391 · omi Vel Cluster | Open cluster | 2.5 |
| IC2395 | Open cluster | 4.6 |
| NGC2547 | Open cluster | 4.7 |
| NGC3228 | Open cluster | 6.0 |
| NGC2669 | Open cluster | 6.1 |
| NGC2910 | Open cluster | 7.2 |
| NGC2645 | Open cluster | 7.3 |
| IC2488 | Open cluster | 7.4 |
| NGC3330 | Open cluster | 7.4 |
| NGC2670 | Open cluster | 7.8 |
Boundaries: International Astronomical Union, via Astronomy Engine. Areas are computed from the boundaries by sampling (within about one percent). Names and lines: Stellarium. Stars: HYG Database. Deep-sky objects: OpenNGC. Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. Data sources
How to use this page
Choose your place and a night at the top. The answer and the 3D view show where the constellation is, when it is highest and whether it rises at all from where you are. The chart shows its stars and lines, and the tables list its brightest stars and the deep-sky objects inside it.
Frequently asked questions
When is a constellation best seen?
When it is highest in a dark sky, which the page gives for the night you pick. Each constellation is best placed in a particular season, because the stars rise about four minutes earlier every night.
Why can I not see a constellation from my place?
Constellations far south of the celestial equator never rise from northern places, and those far north never rise from southern ones. The page says when this is the case.
What are the constellation boundaries?
The International Astronomical Union divides the sky into 88 areas with official boundaries. The stick figures are only a drawing aid, the boundaries say which constellation a point in the sky belongs to.
Related guides
- How to learn the constellationsStart with one bright pattern you cannot miss, use it as a signpost to its neighbours, and come back a month later: the sky will have turned, and you will know a little more of it.
- Altitude and azimuth: finding things in the skyTwo angles tell you exactly where to look: which direction, and how high.
- Light pollution and dark skies: the Bortle scaleFrom a city centre you can count a few dozen stars. From a truly dark site you can count a few thousand, with the Milky Way bright enough to cast a shadow. The Bortle scale puts a number on the difference.
- Binoculars for stargazing: what to buy and what to look atA pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars shows the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, dozens of star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy, for a fraction of the cost of a telescope.