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| Vela | |
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| Abbreviation | Vel |
| Genitive | Velorum |
| Meaning in English | the Sails (of the Argo Navis) |
| Right ascension | 9 h |
| Declination | −50° |
| Visible to latitude | Between 30° and −90° |
| Best visible | March |
| Area - Total | Ranked 32th 500 sq. deg. |
| Number of stars with apparent magnitude < 3 | 5 |
| Brightest star - Apparent magnitude | Suhail Al Muhlif (γ Vel) 1.6 (var.) |
| Meteor showers |
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| Bordering constellations | |
Vela (the sails) is a southern constellation, one of the three parts into which Argo Navis was split.
It contains the stars Delta Velorum and Kappa Velorum which together with Iota Carinae and Epsilon Carinae form the asterism known as the "false cross", which is sometimes mistaken for the Southern Cross.
Also of interest within the constellation is the Vela Supernova Remnant. This is the nebula of a supernova explosion which is believed to have been visible from the Earth around 10000 years ago. The remant contains a pulsar which was the first pulsar to be identified optically apart from that in the Crab Nebula.
