Adhara - ε Canis Majoris (epsilon Canis Majoris)

Altitude: -62.5° Azimuth: 43.0° Direction: North-East

Adhara, also designated as ε Canis Majoris (epsilon Canis Majoris), is a double bright giant star in the constellation of Canis Major.

Adhara visual magnitude is 1.5, making it the 22th brightest star in the sky. Thanks to its high brightness, Adhara is clearly visible when observed from locations with dark skyes, and should be also quite easily visible from light polluted areas.

The table below summarizes the key facts about Adhara:

Color of Adhara ⬤

Magnitude of Adhara 1.5

Class Bright giant

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW

Adhara - ε Canis Majoris (epsilon Canis Majoris) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: -62.5°
Azimuth: 43.0°
Direction: North-East

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Adhara

Adhara is situated south of the celestial equator, as such, it is more easily visible from the southern hemisphere. Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox as well as galactic coordinates of Adhara are provided in the following table:

Right Ascension J2000 06h 58m 37s

Declination J2000 -28° 58’ 19”

Galactic Longitude 239.83°

Galactic Latitude -11.33°

Constellation Canis Major

The simplified sky map below shows the position of Adhara in the sky:

Finder chart Adhara - ε Canis Majoris (epsilon Canis Majoris) star

Simplified finder chart for Adhara - ε Canis Majoris (epsilon Canis Majoris).

Visibility of Adhara from your location

Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London

Today's Adhara - ε Canis Majoris (epsilon Canis Majoris) rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 119.0° RISE 22:45

Max altitude: 9.5° TRANSIT 1:52

Azimuth: 241.0° SET 4:55

Digitized Sky Survey image of Adhara

The image below is a photograph of Adhara from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2 - see the credits section) taken in the red channel. The area of sky represented in the image is 0.5x0.5 degrees (30x30 arcmins). The proper motion of Adhara is 0.004 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and 0.003 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 100000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of Adhara - ε Canis Majoris (epsilon Canis Majoris) star

DSS2 image of Adhara. The red arrow shows the motion of Adhara during the next 100000 years (6.67 arcmin in Right Ascension and 5.00 arcmin in declination);

Distance of Adhara from the Sun and relative movement

Adhara is distant 430.65 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 27 kilometers per second.

Distance (parsec) 132.10 pc

Distance (light year) 430.65 ly

Heliocentric radial velocity 27 km/s

Proper Motion RA 0.004 arcsec/year

Proper Motion Dec 0.003 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of Adhara

Adhara belongs to spectral class B2 and has a luminosity class of II corresponding to a bright giant star.

Absolute magnitude -4.10

Spectral Type B2II

Color Index (B-V) -0.21

Temperature of Adhara 13831K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where Adhara is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

H-R diagram showing the position of Adhara. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

Adhara star system properties

Adhara is a visual double star which can be observed only with the help of very large telescopes. The table below shows key information about the Adhara double sysyem:

Main star magnitude 1.5

Secondary star magnitude 7.9

Magnitude difference 6.4

Separation 7.5 arcsec

Alternative designations of Adhara

Proper Name Adhara

Bayer designation ε Canis Majoris
(epsilon Canis Majoris)

Flamsteed designation 21 Canis Majoris

Henry Draper Catalogue HD52089

SAO Catalogue SAO172676

Hipparcos Catalogue HIP33579

Durchmusterung Catalogue CD-28 3666

FK5 Catalogue 268

Aitken Double Star Catalogue ADS5654

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In Evidence

Other stars in Canis Major