Star
Procyon
Yellow-white star · F5IV-V
α Canis Minoris · Canis Minor
Shown in its true colour — like most stars, it is too far away to photograph as more than a point of light.
Procyon is the brightest star in the constellation of Canis Minor and usually the eighth-brightest star in the night sky, with an apparent visual magnitude of 0.34. It has the Bayer designation α Canis Minoris, which is Latinized to Alpha Canis Minoris, and abbreviated α CMi or Alpha CMi, respectively. As determined by the European Space Agency Hipparcos astrometry satellite, this system lies at a distance of just 11.46 light-years, and is therefore one of Earth's nearest stellar neighbors. A binary star system, Procyon consists of a white-hued main-sequence star of spectral type F5 IV–V, designated component A, in orbit with a faint white dwarf companion of spectral type DQZ, named Procyon B. The pair orbit each other with a period of 40.84 years and an eccentricity of 0.4.
Description from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
In your sky
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Key facts
Distance
~11.5 light-years
Apparent mag.
+0.40
Spectral type
F5IV-V
Luminosity
7.4 × Sun
Absolute mag.
+2.67
Catalogue
HIP 37279
Spectral type
F5IV-V
True colour from its B–V index (0.43): a surface around 6700 K.
Did you know
- Procyon is also known as α Canis Minoris.
- Its spectral type F5IV-V marks it as a yellow-white star.
- It lies in the constellation Canis Minor.
