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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 5:02 
Transit: 12:56 
Sunset: 20:51
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All Constellations » Canis Minor » 

Procyon - α Canis Minoris (alpha Canis Minoris)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 10:22 | Tran: 16:46 | Set: 23:10
Alt: -11.91°   Az: 294.37°   Direction: West-North-West

Procyon, also designated as α Canis Minoris (alpha Canis Minoris), is a variable and multiple sub-giant star of spectral class F5 in the constellation of Canis Minor.

Procyon visual magnitude is 0.38, making it the 8th brightest star in the sky. Because of its brightness, Procyon 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 Procyon - α Canis Minoris (alpha Canis Minoris) star
DSS2 image of Procyon. The red arrow shows the motion of Procyon during the next 100 years (-1.18 arcmin in Right Ascension and -1.71 arcmin in declination);

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

07h 40m 38s
+05° 09’ 55”
07h 46m 01s
15h 26m 39s

J2000

07h 39m 18s
+05° 13’ 29”

Galactic Coordinates

213.69°
13.03°

Finder Chart

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Finder chart for Procyon - α Canis Minoris (alpha Canis Minoris).

Magnitude, Color, Spectral Class

0.38
Sub-giant

2.66
F5IV
6776K

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

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

Star System Properties

Procyon 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 Procyon double sysyem:

0.38
10.78
10.4
4.6 arcsec

Distance, Radial Speed, Proper Motion

Procyon is distant 11.40 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 3 kilometers per second.

3.50
11.40
-3 km/s
-0.71 arcsec/y
-1.023"/y

Alternative Designations

Procyon
α Canis Minoris
(alpha Canis Minoris)
10 Canis Minoris
SAO115756
SAO115756
Gl 280 A

Visibility from Your Location

Today's Procyon - α Canis Minoris (alpha Canis Minoris) rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, UK are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 84.8°
Max altitude: 43.7°
Azimuth: 275.2°