Turais — Star in Carina

Turais (also called Aspidiske) is a white supergiant of spectral type A8Ib at magnitude 2.25, located roughly 690 light-years from Earth. It is one of the most luminous A-type supergiants in the sky, with a luminosity about 4,900 times that of the Sun. Turais is part of the once-great constellation Argo Navis, which was divided into Carina, Puppis, and Vela.

Turais lies in the northern part of Carina, not far from the border with Vela. It is a bright white star that serves as one of the vertices of the False Cross asterism (together with Delta Vel, Kappa Vel, and Epsilon Car), which is sometimes mistaken for the true Southern Cross. Best observed from the southern hemisphere between January and May.

The name Turais is of Arabic origin, possibly derived from a word meaning 'little shield.' The alternate name Aspidiske is from Greek, also meaning 'little shield.' As part of the old constellation Argo Navis (the ship of the Argonauts), this star's Bayer designation uses the original Argo letter assignments that Nicolas Louis de Lacaille preserved when he split the constellation in 1763.