[6926] xi Puppis, also known by its traditional name Asmidiske ("gunwale"), a misspelling of Aspidiske ("little shield"), the name of [1671] iota Carinae. Xi Puppis is a G-type supergiant about 8,300 times more luminous than the Sun.
ASMIDISKE (Xi Puppis). This star, easy to find in Puppis (the Stern of Argo) just to the east of the bright triangle that makes the lower portion of Canis Major, epitomizes the confusion that attends to star names.
M93 (NGC 2447) is another open cluster, quite bright but smaller than the two previous objects. It's found 1.5 degrees NW of xi Puppis ...
At times, this system became cumbersome: "The northernmost of the two stars close together over the little shield in the poop" is how Ptolemy struggled to identify a star (now called Xi Puppis) in the obsolete constellation of Argo.
 See also: Magnitude, Puppis, Second, Light Year, Giant
  
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