Puppis (Pup)
"The Stern"

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Mythology: Puppis was originally part of the once huge constellation Argo Navis -- the ship of Jason and the Argonauts.  In 1763, Abbe Nicholas Louis de Lacaille, when describing and recording Southern Hemisphere constellations, broke up the Argo Navis into three separate constellations -- Carina, Puppis, and Vela.  Respectively, these pieces of the Argo Navis are the Keel, Stern, and Sail.
    Jason and the Argonauts are often considered to be the greatest heroes celebrated by the Ancient Greeks.  They sailed the Black Sea to Asia to recover the Golden Fleece of Aries.  Among the crew were the Gemini Twins, Castor and Pollux; Hercules; Orpheus; and even the builder of the ship, Argus.
    The Gods were even involved with the design of the great ship.  Athena, the Goddess of Love and Wisdom, designed the ship, and told Argus to build it with timbers from Mount Pelion.  The bow of the ship was built on an oak beam from the Temple of Zeus at Dodona.  Since it was part of the oracle, the beam could speak, and even before they set sail, the "ship" would announce its eagerness to get underway.  Only the stern (back) of the Argo is shown in the night sky constellation.  Some claim that this represents the Argo sailing off into the Black Sea.

Other Interesting Sights:  The two open star clusters, M46 and M47, are within this constellation.  Notice the bright planetary nebula NGC2438 that appears to be a part of M46.  In actuality, NGC2438 is in the foreground of M46, but since it lies along the same line of sight, it appears to be a part of the cluster.