PP Carinae is the variable star designation for a star in the southern constellation of Carina. It has the Bayer designation p Carinae (p Car) and, at an apparent visual magnitude of +3.30, is readily visible to the naked eye from the southern hemisphere. From the observed parallax shift of this star as the Earth orbits the Sun, its distance can be estimated as roughly 480 light-years (150 parsecs) with a 6% margin of error.
PP Carinae is a B-type main sequence star with a stellar classification of B4 Vne. The 'ne' suffix indicates it is a rapidly rotating Be star that is surrounded by hot circumstellar gas. This material adds emission lines to the spectrum of the star. It has a projected rotational velocity of 325 km s–1, with about 7.6 times the mass and 6 times the radius of the Sun. This star is classified as a Gamma Cassiopeiae type variable and its brightness varies from magnitude +3.27 to +3.37.