Drawing of the Argo nebula, by John Herschel the Younger (1837-1921) at Bangalore Observatory.

The southern constellation Argo (full name Argo Navis - the ship of Jason and the Argonauts) was broken up in the 18th century by the French astronomer, LaCaille into 4 much smaller constellations Carina (the keel), Puppis (the stern), Pyxis (the compass) and Vela (the sails). While nebulae exist in a number of these constellations it seems likely that the nebula this is a depiction of is Eta-Carinae which at its brightest in 1843 was brighter than the brightest star in Carina.

The drawing was made at Bangalore using a 5 inch refractor telescope. It is a copy of a drawing to be found in John Herschel's Bangalore Observatory notebook.