Canopus, a white bright giant star in Carina
Canopus is a white bright giant star in the constellation Carina. At 308 light years away, it is the 2nd brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of -0.62.
Canopus (HIP 30438)
Canopus is a white bright giant star in the constellation Carina. At 308 light years away, it is the 2nd brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of -0.62. The iron abundance of Canopus is -0.11 (77.6% of the Sun). It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 24.5 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 21,300 and 24,300 light years from the center of the Galaxy. It came closest to the Sun 3.1 million years ago when it had brightened to magnitude -1.88 from a distance of 172 light years.
Sky position: RA 6h 24.0m, Dec -52° 42'
Common designations: Canopus, Alpha Carinae, HIP 30438, HD 45348
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Brightest stars in Carina:
(list all)
1
| -0.62
) Canopus
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 2 | 1.67 | Miaplacidus |
| 3 | 1.86 | Avior |
| 4 | 2.21 | Tureis |
| 5 | 2.74 | Theta Carinae |
| 6 | 2.92 | Upsilon Carinae |
| 7 | 3.29 | Omega Carinae |
| 8 | 3.30 | p Carinae |
| 9 | 3.39 | q Carinae |
| 10 | 3.43 | a Carinae |
| 11 | 3.46 | chi Carinae |
| 12 | 3.69 | l Carinae |
| 13 | 3.78 | u Carinae |
| 14 | 3.81 | s Carinae |
| 15 | 3.84 | c Carinae |
| 16 | 3.93 | x Carinae |
| 17 | 3.96 | i Carinae |
Galactic Orbit of Canopus
(compared to the Sun)
E
ccentricity: 6.6% vs. 16.0%Angle φ : 161.8°vs. 26.0°
Semi-major axis : 6,981 pc vs. 8,686 pc
Semi-minor axis: 6,966 pc vs. 8,574 pc
Focus-to-center
: 459 pcvs. 1,388 pcSemilatus rectum : 6,951 pc vs. 8,464 pc
Perigalacticon: 6,522 pc vs. 7,297 pc
Apogalacticon
: 7,440 pcvs. 10,074 pcSome Tabulated XHIP Data for Canopus
(see also: SIMBAD)
Astrometry
2007A&A...474..653V
| Position | Proper Motion | |
| Right Ascension: | 95.98787790° ±0.48 mas | 19.93 ±0.52 mas/yr. |
| Declination: | -52.69571787° ±0.53 mas | 23.24 ±0.69 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Longitude: | 261.21214698° | -18.49 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Latitude: | -25.29226420° | 24.40 mas/yr. |
Parallax: 10.55 ± 0.56 mas
Spectrography
Spectral Type: A9II 1993ASPC...45...59L.
Radial Velocity: 20.30 ±0.50 km/s [A rating] 2006AstL...32..759G.
Iron Abundance [Fe/H]:
-0.11 ±0.03 dex
1988ApJ...332..410B.
Photometry
| band | magnitude | Abs. Mag. |
| U | ||
| B | -0.46 | -5.33 |
| V | -0.62 | -5.50 |
| R | ||
| I | -0.84 | -5.71 |
| J | -1.17 | -6.05 |
| H | -1.28 | -6.16 |
| K | -1.30 | -6.18 |
B-V: +0.16 V-I: +0.22
Derivations
Heliocentric distance: 94.47 pc (5.3% margin of error)
Galactocentric distance: 7,414 pc
Transverse velocity: 13.7 km/s
3D heliocentric position and motion:
|
toward: |
Galactic center | Galactic rotation | North Galactic Pole |
| Position ( X, Y, Z) | -13.0 pc | -84.4 pc | -40.4 pc |
| Velocity (U, V, W) | -11.7 km/s | -21.5 km/s | 1.2 km/s |