Canopus

light-years
Proper names: Canopus, Alpha Carinae
Catalog numbers:
     Henry Draper (HD) 45348, Cape Photographic Durchmusterung (CPD) -52°914, Hoffleit Bright Star (HR) 2326, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) 234480, Fifth Fundamental Catalogue (FK5) 245, Hipparcos Input Catalog (HIC) 30438
Heavy element abundance: 100% of Sol
Standard error in heavy element abundance: 20%
Source for heavy element abundance: Strobel [Fe/H] Determinations
Arity: singular
Points of interest:
     Canopus has been used for navigation on several interplanetary spacecraft missions.
     The HIPPARCOS mission obtained a distance of 313 light-years to Canopus, with a standard error of 4.8%. If accurate, this would make its diameter approximately 60 x Sol, and its luminosity about 15 800 x Sol.

Right Ascension and Declination: 6h23m57.119s, -52°41'44.5" (epoch 2000.0)
Distance from Sol: 110 light-years (33.7 parsecs)
Standard error in distance: 10%
Source for distance: Burnham's Celestial Handbook
Celestial (X,Y,Z) coordinates in ly: -6.95, 66.3, -87.5
Galactic (X,Y,Z) coordinates in ly: -15.1, -98.4, -46.7
Proper motion: 0.0304 arcsec/yr (46.3° from north)
Radial Velocity: 20.5 km/sec
Source for proper motion and radial velocity: Hipparcos Input Catalog
Galactic (U,V,W) velocity components in km/s: -5.54, -19.7, -4.93

What do all these fields mean?


Spectral class: F0
Luminosity Class: Ib
Apparent visual magnitude: -0.74
Absolute visual magnitude: -3.38
Visual luminosity: 1952 x Sol
Color indices: B-V= +0.16, U-B= +0.07, R-I= +0.17
Diameter: 21.7 x Sol
Source for diameter: Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (Fracassini+ 1988)
Comfort Zone (visual): 44.2 A.U.s
Angular size of star in sky in CZ: 0.262418 degrees

light-years
but not more than light-years away
Data for this star system were most recently updated on 26-September-1999.