Star
Canopus
Yellow-white star · F0Ib
α Carinae · Carina
Photo: NASA · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Canopus is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina and the second-brightest star in the night sky. It is designated α Carinae, which is romanized (transliterated) to Alpha Carinae. With a visual apparent magnitude of −0.74, it is outshone only by Sirius.
Description from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
In your sky
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Key facts
Distance
~309 light-years
Apparent mag.
−0.62
Spectral type
F0Ib
Luminosity
13,855 × Sun
Absolute mag.
−5.50
Catalogue
HIP 30438
Spectral type
F0Ib
True colour from its B–V index (0.16): a surface around 8500 K.
Did you know
- Canopus is also known as α Carinae.
- Its spectral type F0Ib marks it as a yellow-white star.
- It lies in the constellation Carina.
