page_title: Argo Navis
hierarchical_section_title: Argo Navis
caption_attribution_description: The constellation of Argo Navis from 'Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive Uranographia by Johannes Hevelius. The view is mirrored following the tradition of celestial globes, showing the celestial sphere in a view from "outside"
context_page_description: Argo Navis, or simply Argo, was a large constellation in the southern sky. The genitive was "Argus Navis", abbreviated "Arg". Flamsteed and other early modern astronomers called it Navis, genitive "Navis", abbreviated "Nav".
  The constellation proved to be of unwieldy size, as it was 28% larger than the next largest constellation and had more than 160 easily visible stars. The 1755 catalogue of Nicolas Louis de Lacaille divided it into the three modern constellations that occupy much of the same area: Carina, Puppis and Vela.
  Argo derived from the ship Argo in Greek mythology, sailed by Jason and the Argonauts to Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece. Some stars of Puppis and Vela can be seen from Mediterranean latitudes in winter and spring, the ship appearing to skim along the "river of the Milky Way." Due to precession of the equinoxes, the position of the stars from Earth's viewpoint has shifted southward, and though most of the constellation was visible in Classical times, the constellation is now not easily visible from most of the northern hemisphere.
context_section_description: Argo Navis (the Ship Argo), or simply Argo, was a large constellation in the southern sky.  The genitive was "Argus Navis", abbreviated "Arg". Flamsteed and other early modern astronomers called it Navis (the Ship), genitive "Navis", abbreviated "Nav".
  The constellation proved to be of unwieldy size, as it was 28% larger than the next largest constellation and had more than 160 easily visible stars. The 1755 catalogue of  Nicolas Louis de Lacaille divided it into the three modern constellations that occupy much of the same area: Carina (the hull), Puppis (the poop deck) and Vela (the sails).
  Argo derived from the ship Argo in Greek mythology, sailed by Jason and the Argonauts to Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece. Some stars of Puppis and Vela can be seen from Mediterranean latitudes in winter and spring, the ship appearing to  skim along the "river of the Milky Way." Due to precession of the equinoxes, the position of the stars from Earth's viewpoint has shifted southward, and though most of the constellation was visible in Classical times, the constellation is now not easily visible from most of the northern hemisphere. All the stars of Argo Navis are easily visible from the tropics southward, and pass near zenith from southern temperate latitudes.  The brightest of these is Canopus (α Carinae), the second-brightest night-time star, now assigned to Carina.
caption: The constellation Argo Navis drawn by Johannes Hevelius
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