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All Constellations » Carina » 

Canopus - α Carinae (alpha Carinae)

Below the horizon.  Never rises today
Alt: -45.64°   Az: 237.15°   Direction: West-South-West

Canopus, also designated as α Carinae (alpha Carinae), is a hypergiant star of spectral class F0 in the constellation of Carina.

Canopus visual magnitude is -0.72, making it the third brightest star in the sky. Because of its brightness, Canopus is clearly visible to the naked eye when observed from locations with dark skies, and should be also quite easily visible from light polluted areas.

Image of Canopus - α Carinae (alpha Carinae) star
DSS2 image of Canopus. The red arrow shows the motion of Canopus during the next 10000 years (3.67 arcmin in Right Ascension and 3.50 arcmin in declination);

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

06h 24m 30s
-52° 42’ 38”
06h 56m 46s
13h 21m 16s

J2000

06h 23m 57s
-52° 41’ 44”

Galactic Coordinates

261.21°
-25.29°

Finder Chart

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Finder chart for Canopus - α Carinae (alpha Carinae).

Magnitude, Color, Spectral Class

-0.72
Hypergiant

-5.63
F0II
8571K

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

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

Distance, Radial Speed, Proper Motion

Canopus is distant 312.56 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 21 kilometers per second.

95.88
312.56
21 km/s
0.022 arcsec/y
0.021"/y

Alternative Designations

Canopus
α Carinae
(alpha Carinae)
SAO234480
SAO234480

Visibility from Your Location

Canopus - α Carinae (alpha Carinae) is currently not visible from Greenwich, UK