Dorado is The Goldfish, a Southern Hemisphere constellation featuring the Large Magellanic Cloud and The Tarantula Nebula. The constellation is found southwest of Canopus (alpha Carinae).
Alpha Doradus is a blue-ish star with a visual magnitude of 3.6, the brightest star in a relatively faint constellation. The star is easily found with the naked eye twelve degrees west-southwest of Canopus (alpha Carinae), and is the brightest star in this quite bleak region.
Beta Doradus is the second brightest star in this constellation, to the southeast of alpha a bit more than one binocular field. When you reach beta, you'll find that the Large Magellanic Cloud has just crept into your FOV. Beta Doradus is a bright Cepheid, changing its magnitude from aboug 3.3 to 4.7 every 9.8 days. The star's colour goes from a creamy-white to a golden colour as it reaches its minimum brightness. The star is about a thousand light years away.
