Stars · Star in Carina
Star
Canopus
The second-brightest star of the night, a giant that outshines the Sun ten thousand times over. Spacecraft steer by it.
- Constellation
- Carina
- Designation
- α Carinae
- Apparent magnitude
- -0.62 · 2nd brightest star in the night sky
- Spectral class
- F0Ib
- Distance
- 309 light-years
- Position (J2000)
- RA 6h 24m · Dec −52° 42′
A yellow-white supergiant, around 7,500 K, like Procyon. About 700× brighter than the faintest star the eye can see. The light you are seeing left around 1717.
History
Named after the helmsman of King Menelaus’ fleet in the Trojan War. It sits in the keel of the Argo — the ship’s own navigator.
Other skies
In Arab tradition it is Suhail, whose rising marks the end of the summer heat. For Māori it is Atutahi, a star that stands alone outside the basket of the Milky Way.
Did you know
North of about 37° it never rises. Aristotle pointed out that stars like it, seen in Egypt but never in Greece, prove the Earth is round.