Procyon, a white subgiant star in Canis Minor
Procyon is a white subgiant star in the constellation Canis Minor. At 11.4 light years away, it is the 8th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 0.4.
Procyon (HIP 37279)
Procyon is a white subgiant star in the constellation Canis Minor. At 11.4 light years away, it is the 8th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 0.40. Procyon is a multiple-star system. The star's age is estimated to be 1.7 billion years but is certainly no less than 1.6 billion years and no greater than 1.8 billion years. The iron abundance of Procyon is -0.02 (95.5% of the Sun). It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 21 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 23,100 and 28,400 light years from the center of the Galaxy.
Sky position: RA 7h 39.3m, Dec +5° 13.8'
Common designations: Procyon, Alpha Canis Minoris, 10 Canis Minoris, HIP 37279, HD 61421, Gliese 280 A
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Brightest stars in Canis Minor:
(list all)
1
| 0.40
) Procyon
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 2 | 2.89 | Gomeisa |
| 3 | 4.33 | Gamma Canis Minoris |
| 4 | 4.39 | G Canis Minoris |
| 5 | 4.55 | 6 Canis Minoris |
| 6 | 4.99 | Epsilon Canis Minoris |
| 7 | 5.12 | Zeta Canis Minoris |
| 8 | 5.22 | Eta Canis Minoris |
| 9 | 5.24 | Delta-1 Canis Minoris |
| 10 | 5.25 | 11 Canis Minoris |
| 11 | 5.30 | 14 Canis Minoris |
| 12 | 5.36 | HR 2729 |
| 13 | 5.37 | 1 Canis Minoris |
| 14 | 5.59 | Delta-2 Canis Minoris |
| 15 | 5.65 | HR 3136 |
| 16 | 5.71 | HR 2728 |
| 17 | 5.74 | HR 2682 |
Hover over other bright stars to identify or click to jump.
Galactic Orbit of Procyon
(compared to the Sun)
E
ccentricity: 10.4% vs. 16.0%Angle φ : 58.2°vs. 26.0°
Semi-major axis : 7,896 pc vs. 8,686 pc
Semi-minor axis: 7,853 pc vs. 8,574 pc
Focus-to-center
: 824 pcvs. 1,388 pcSemilatus rectum : 7,810 pc vs. 8,464 pc
Perigalacticon: 7,073 pc vs. 7,297 pc
Apogalacticon
: 8,720 pcvs. 10,074 pcSome Tabulated XHIP Data for Procyon
(see also: SIMBAD)
Astrometry
2007A&A...474..653V
| Position | Proper Motion | |
| Right Ascension: | 114.82724194° ±0.82 mas | -716.57 ±0.88 mas/yr. |
| Declination: | 5.22750767° ±0.50 mas | -1,034.58 ±0.38 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Longitude: | 213.70072321° | 602.92 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Latitude: | 13.02207808° | -1,104.68 mas/yr. |
Parallax: 285.93 ± 0.88 mas
Spectrography
Spectral Type: F5IV-V 2003AJ....126.2048G.
Radial Velocity:
-2.70 ±1.01 km/s [D rating]
2005ApJS..159..141V.
This star is a spectroscopic binary with an unsolved orbit.
Iron Abundance [Fe/H]:
-0.02 dex
2009A&A...501..941H, 2008A&A...492..823B, 2007A&A...465..271R, 2006ApJ...652.1604B, 2006AJ....131.3069L, 2005PASJ...57...27T, 2005ApJS..161..444T, 2005ApJS..159..141V, 2005AJ....129.1063L, 2004A&A...425..187T, 2004A&A...420..183A, 2003AJ....126.2015H, 2000ApJ...530..939C, 2000A&A...364..249M, 2000A&A...362.1077Z, 1999ApJ...521..753T, 1999A&A...343..519M, 1998A&A...338..161F, 1997A&A...323..909F, 1996A&A...314..191G, 1994A&A...281..775N, 1993A&A...275..101E, 1984Msngr..38...33E.
Photometry
| band | magnitude | Abs. Mag. |
| U | ||
| B | 0.83 | 3.11 |
| V | 0.40 | 2.68 |
| R | 0.70 | 2.98 |
| I | 0.90 | 3.18 |
| J | -0.50 | 1.78 |
| H | -0.67 | 1.62 |
| K | -0.66 | 1.62 |
B-V: +0.43 V-I: -0.50
Derivations
Heliocentric distance: 3.50 pc (0.3% margin of error)
Galactocentric distance: 7,403 pc
Transverse velocity: 20.9 km/s
3D heliocentric position and motion:
|
toward: |
Galactic center | Galactic rotation | North Galactic Pole |
| Position ( X, Y, Z) | -2.8 pc | -1.9 pc | 0.8 pc |
| Velocity (U, V, W) | 4.3 km/s | -9.1 km/s | -18.5 km/s |