Constellations listed with a grey background are never visible from most of South Africa.

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• This is an archaic constellation.
• In modern usage it is divided into Carina, Puppis and Vela.
• Some include Pyxis in this constellation.

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Extremely bright (visible in binoculars) and very large with more than 45000 stars brighter than Mv22,5. The brightest stars are Mv11. It contains over 180 known variable stars and has mysterious dark spots in the nuclear region. At a distance of 34000 ly, it subtends a dimeter of 20' in photographs. 

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The nebula appears round, well defined and vivid pale blue.

It lies in a fine starry field.

One of the most interesting and peculiar galaxies in the sky, looks like a "cosmic hamburger" in small telescopes. A strong source of radio radiation, it is the nearest radio galaxy. In binoculars it looks like a small nebulous cloud. Containing 3 times as many stars as the Milky Way, it lies somewhere between 10 and 22 million ly distant.

Biggest of all globular clusters in our galaxy, massive (~ 5m solar masses),  also the most luminous Milky Way globular and the brightest globular cluster in the sky. Its only real rival is 47 Tuc. It is about 15 billion years old and lies at a distance of about 16500 ly.

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Spiral galaxy with a small distinctly concave dark absorption area near the nucleus, resembling a human eye. It subtends approximately 7,5' x 3,5' at a distance of 20 to 25 million ly.

Bright, very compressed, irregularly round. William Herschel described M53 as one of the most beautiful sights in the heavens.

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Lying at a distance of about 76000 ly, the cluster subtends about 10', within which lies about 50 bright (Mv6-10) stars. Most of the stars are relatively young (several million years) blue supergiants, but contrast effects give a variety of perceived colours within this group. Described by John Herschel as a "casket of variously coloured precious stones", this is is a beautiful target for any scope.

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A pleasing cluster full of dark lanes and openings, it lies at a distance of about 2000 ly and subtends a diameter of 42'.

A gorgeous face-on spiral galaxy with one beautiful dark lane, this is one of the brightest and most beautiful in the Southern hemisphere. Its actual diameter is around 35000 ly; at the distance of some 12 million ly, it appears to be 11' x 10' across.

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An elliptical galaxy, resembling an unresolved globular cluster, with a total mass of nearly 800b suns. This is one of the brightest members of the Virgo cluster. It is a strong X-ray and radio source, with a jet of matter streaming from the nucleus.

A picturesque, nearly edge-on spiral galaxy with prominent central bulge; a band of dark interstellar matter can be seen along the equatorial plane.

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