The smallest but most prominent of the three parts into which the ancient Greek constellation of Argo Navis, the ship of the Argonauts, was divided by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in his first catalogue of the southern stars, published in 1756. In that catalogue he gave it the French name Corps du Navire. His final catalogue, Coelum australe stelliferum, appeared in 1763 containing the same three subdivisions but with Latin instead of French names. Although usually described as the keel, Carina represents the main body or hull of the ship. The other two parts are Puppis, the poop or stern, and Vela, the sails.
formed out of
Star Tales - Argo Navis (ianridpath.com)Argo (Ἀργώ in Greek) is a constellation that is not so much disused as dismantled. It was one of the 48 constellations known to Greek astronomers, as listed by Ptolemy in the Almagest, but the 18th-century French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille found it large and unwieldy and so divided it into three parts: Carina, the Keel or body; Puppis, the Poop (i.e. stern); and Vela, the Sails. Were the three parts to be reunited, the resulting figure would be almost 28% larger in area than the current largest constellation, Hydra.