Aludra - η Canis Majoris (eta Canis Majoris)

Altitude: -34.6° Azimuth: 264.9° Direction: West

Aludra, also designated as η Canis Majoris (eta Canis Majoris), is a double supergiant star in the constellation of Canis Major.

Aludra visual magnitude is 2.45, making it the 88th brightest star in the sky. Thanks to its high brightness, Aludra 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 Aludra:

Color of Aludra ⬤

Magnitude of Aludra 2.45

Class Supergiant

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW

Aludra - η Canis Majoris (eta Canis Majoris) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: -34.6°
Azimuth: 264.9°
Direction: West

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Aludra

Aludra 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 Aludra are provided in the following table:

Right Ascension J2000 07h 24m 05s

Declination J2000 -29° 18’ 11”

Galactic Longitude 242.62°

Galactic Latitude -6.49°

Constellation Canis Major

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

Finder chart Aludra - η Canis Majoris (eta Canis Majoris) star

Simplified finder chart for Aludra - η Canis Majoris (eta Canis Majoris).

Visibility of Aludra 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 Aludra - η Canis Majoris (eta 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: 119.3° RISE 23:02

Max altitude: 9.2° TRANSIT 2:05

Azimuth: 240.7° SET 5:05

Digitized Sky Survey image of Aludra

The image below is a photograph of Aludra 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 Aludra is -0.004 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and 0.005 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 100000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of Aludra - η Canis Majoris (eta Canis Majoris) star

DSS2 image of Aludra. The red arrow shows the motion of Aludra during the next 100000 years (-6.67 arcmin in Right Ascension and 8.33 arcmin in declination);

Distance of Aludra from the Sun and relative movement

Aludra is distant 3,196.08 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 41 kilometers per second.

Distance (parsec) 980.39 pc

Distance (light year) 3,196.08 ly

Heliocentric radial velocity 41 km/s

Proper Motion RA -0.004 arcsec/year

Proper Motion Dec 0.005 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of Aludra

Aludra belongs to spectral class B5 and has a luminosity class of I corresponding to a supergiant star.

Absolute magnitude -7.51

Spectral Type B5I

Color Index (B-V) -0.08

Temperature of Aludra 11247K

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

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

Aludra star system properties

Aludra is a visual double star which can be observed with the help of small or medium telescopes. The table below shows key information about the Aludra double sysyem:

Main star magnitude 2.45

Secondary star magnitude 6.95

Magnitude difference 4.5

Separation 178.7 arcsec

Alternative designations of Aludra

Proper Name Aludra

Bayer designation η Canis Majoris
(eta Canis Majoris)

Flamsteed designation 31 Canis Majoris

Henry Draper Catalogue HD58350

SAO Catalogue SAO173651

Hipparcos Catalogue HIP35904

Durchmusterung Catalogue CD-29 4328

FK5 Catalogue 283

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In Evidence

Other stars in Canis Major