Carina

Carina, graced by the presence of the brilliant Canopus, is the main part of the non-dismembered Ship Argo. Carina is crossed by the Milky Way, and the star Canopus stands out: it is a supergiant, and its spectral class indicates that it should be yellowish, though most people will certainly call it white. Canopus is the furthest star to the right in Carina.
The Ancient Greeks saw Carina as the keel of the Argo, the ship which took Jason and the Argonauts to Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece. At the time of the Ancient Greek civilisation, c500 BCE, the constellation of the Argo sat on the southern horizon as a ship would sit on the sea. Because of the precession of the equinoxes, today this constellation can no longer be seen from the northern hemisphere, and is now one of the southern circumpolar constellations, seen only from the southern hemisphere.

The Sculpture

The maquette of the proposed sculpture by Carl Merten (right), sits on top of a model of the granite boulder which will serve as its base. The boulder is 3 metres high, and the completed sculpture will be approximately 2.5 meters in length and will enclose the stars of Carina, as illustrated above, at the times shown below. The finished sculpture will be made from cast aluminium, which can readily be seen at night as well as by day from the New England Highway, which passes it by.

In its serpentine shape, the sculpture makes reference to the Aboriginal perception of the Milky Way as a cosmic serpent.

Carl's sculpture can be seen on his website.

Visible in the southern skies


January 1st 5 am
February 1st 3 am
March 1st 1 am
April 1st 11 pm
May 1st 9 pm
June 1st 7 pm
July not visible
August not visible
September not visible
October not visible
November not visible
December not visible


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J. Relke
Mar. 03