| Fixed star: MIAPLACIDUS | |
| Constellation: Beta (β) Carina in the Ship Argo Navis | |
| Longitude 1900: 00SCO37 | Longitude 2000: 01SCO58 |
| Declination 1900: -69.18′ | Declination 2000: -69.42′ |
| Right ascension: 09h 13m | Latitude: -72.13′ |
| Spectral class: A0 | Magnitude: 1.8 |
The history of the star: Miaplacidus
from p.72 of Star Names, Richard Hinckley Allen, 1889.
[A scanned copy can be viewed on this webpage
Beta (β) Carina, Miaplacidus, is a star in the Keel of the great Ship Argo Navis
Beta lies in the Carina subdivision of Argo and is the alpha star of Halley’s Robur Carolinum [Halley devised a new constellation which he called Robur Carolinum (Charles’ Oak) after the tree which had hidden the king, Charles II, but that constellation died out after 50 years].
Miaplacidus, Maia-placidus, the meaning and derivation of which I cannot learn, unless it be in part, as Higgins asserts in his brief work on star-names, from Miyah, the plural of the Arabic Ma, Water. The original, however, is better transcribed Mi’ah.
Star Names, Their Lore and Meaning, Richard Hinckley Allen, 1889].
The astrological influences of the constellation Carina
No myths or astrological interpretations are associated with the constellation Carina because this constellation had always been seen as part of the constellation Argo Navis, the Great Ship, until French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1752 subdivided Argo Navis into Carina (the keel of the ship), Puppis (the poop), and Vela (the sails), plus a subordinate division of Argo now called Pyxis Nautica. The constellation Argo Navis represents the ship in which Jason brought the Golden Fleece from Colchis, said to be the first ship ever built.
The astrological influences for the whole constellation of Argo Navis, the Great Ship: According to Ptolemy the bright stars are like Saturn and Jupiter. Argo is said to give prosperity in trade and voyages, and strength of mind and spirit, but it has been observed to accompany cases of drowning, a notable instance being furnished by the horoscope of Shelley, where Argo occupied the 8th house and contained the Sun, Venus and Uranus. Drowning is particularly to be feared when Saturn afflicts the Moon in or from Argo. It is probably on account of this constellation that Virgo, especially the first decanate, is frequently found to be connected with drowning. [Robson, p.30.]