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Canopus is currently 309.8 light years away!~
wow that's pretty far!~

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Most people know that Sirius is the brightest star in the sky, and it's visible to anyone on the globe. The second-brightest star, Canopus, presents more of a challenge to observers. For those in the Southern Hemisphere, it's visible most of the year high in the sky. But if you live in the northern half of the Northern Hemisphere, you never get a peek. If you want to see Canopus in the Northern Hemisphere, head to southern latitudes in winter time, as many snowbirds do, and look south for a bright star close to the horizon.

Are you situated on Earth to be able to see Canopus? Will you see it? It depends on how far south you are, and what time of year you're looking. Canopus never rises above the horizon for locations north of about 37 degrees north latitude. In the United States, that line runs from roughly Richmond, Virginia; westward to Bowling Green, Kentucky; through Trinidad, Colorado; and onward to San Jose, California - just south of San Francisco. You must be south of those places to see Canopus.

If you're in the southern U.S., you'll have no trouble finding Canopus on winter evenings. Just look to the south, below brilliant Sirius. February evenings are a perfect time to look, when Canopus is at its highest in the sky around 9 p.m.

Those who can see it from the Northern Hemisphere sometimes ask

What is that bright star below Sirius?

Fair question, because - from latitudes like those of the United States - Canopus appears in the southern sky almost directly south of Sirius, the brightest star of the nighttime sky. When Sirius is at its highest point to the south, Canopus is about 36 degrees below it.

At the end of December, Canopus stands at its highest point to the south after midnight. In January, it reaches that point at about 10 p.m. By the beginning of March, Canopus is due south at about 8 p.m., although the exact timing on all of these dates depends on the observer's geographic location.

For observers in the Southern Hemisphere it is an entirely different story. From latitudes south of the equator, both Canopus and Sirius - the sky's two brightest stars - appear high in the sky, and they often appear together. They are like twin beacons crossing the heavens. The sight of them is enough to make a northern observer envy the southern skies!

Canopus in science fiction. In Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune and other novels in his Dune universe, the fictional planet Arrakis - a vast desert world, home to sandworms and Bedouin-like humans called the Fremen - is the third planet from a real star in our night sky. That star is Canopus - the second-brightest star visible in Earth's sky - in what we know as the constellation Carina.

In Herbert's novel, the desert planet Arrakis is the only source of "spice," the most important and valuable substance in the Dune universe.

It's possible, according to Wikipedia (which references the famous book Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning by Richard Allen), that Herbert was influenced in his choice of this star as the primary for Arrakis by a common etymological derivation of the name Canopus:

... as a Latinization (through Greek Kanobos) from the Coptic Kahi Nub ("Golden Earth"), which refers to how Canopus would have appeared over the southern desert horizon in ancient Egypt, reddened by atmospheric absorption.

Indeed, from much of the civilized world in ancient times, Canopus would have appeared low in the sky, when it was visible at all. And so, yes, its bright light would be reddened due to looking at it through a greater thickness of atmosphere in the direction toward the horizon - just as our sun or moon seen low in the sky looks redder than usual. Golden Earth indeed.

By the way, although Arrakis is fictional, Canopus is not only very real but also much hotter and larger than our sun. See the Science section below.

History and mythology of Canopus. Canopus is also called Alpha Carinae, the brightest star in the constellation Carina the Keel. This constellation used to be considered part of Argo Navis, the ship of Jason and his famed Argonauts, as seen in our sky. Canopus originally marked a keel or rudder of this ancient celestial ship. Alas, the great Argo Navis constellation no longer exists. Modern imaginations see it as broken into three parts: the Keel (Carina, of which Canopus is part), sails (Vela) and the poop deck (Puppis).

For those far enough south to see it, Canopus was a star of great importance from ancient times to modern times as a primary navigational star. This is surely due to its brightness.

The origin of the name Canopus is subject to question. By some accounts it is the name of a ship's captain from the Trojan War. Another theory is that it is from ancient Egyptian meaning Golden Earth, a possible reference to the star's appearance as seen through atmospheric haze near the horizon from Egyptian latitudes.

Science of Canopus. According to data obtained by the Hipparcos Space Astrometry Mission, Canopus is about 313 light-years away. Spectroscopically, it is an F0 type star, making it significantly hotter than our sun (roughly 13,600 degrees F or 7538 C at its surface, compared to about 10,000 degrees F or 5538 C for the sun). Canopus also has a luminosity class rating of II, which makes it a "bright giant" star much larger than the sun. (Some classifications make it a type Ia "supergiant".)

If they were placed side by side, it would take about 65 suns to fit across Canopus. Although Canopus appears significantly less bright than Sirius, it is really much brighter, blazing with the brilliance of 14,000 suns! With non-visible forms of light energy factored in, it surpasses the sun by more than 15,000 times.

Although its exact age is unknown, Canopus' great mass dictates that this star must be near the end of its lifetime and is likely is a few million to a few tens of millions of years old. Compared to our sedate middle-aged five-billion-year-old sun, Canopus has lived in the stellar fast lane and is destined to die young.

Canopus's position is RA: 6h 23m 57s, dec: -52° 41′ 45″
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Bottom line: Canopus is the second brightest star as seen from Earth. To see Canopus, you must either be in the Southern Hemisphere or in the southern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere looking south during winter.

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2nd brightest star canopus southern hemisphere how to see it

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Canopus is 2nd brightest star, far down in southern skies | EarthSky.org

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Help EarthSky keep going! Please donate what you can to our once-yearly crowd-funding campaign. Most people know that Sirius is the brightest star in the sky, and it's visible to anyone on the globe. The second-brightest star, Canopus, presents more of a challenge to observers.

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Canopus's current estimated age is around 10 million years old.
It's pretty old!~

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Star Facts | Stars: A guide to the night sky

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Canopus, Alpha Carinae (α Car), is a white bright giant star located in the constellation Carina. With an apparent magnitude of -0.74, it is the brightest star in Carina and the second brightest star in the sky, after Sirius. Canopus lies at an approximate distance of 310 light years from Earth. With an absolute magnitude of -5.71, it is the most luminous star within several hundred light years of the Sun.
Star type
Canopus is a bright giant star of the spectral type A9 II. Some sources give the spectral class F0, even though it was changed to A9 after considering the effects of rotation in the late 1980s. In either case, Alpha Carinae appears white in colour. Some sources have described it as yellow-white, but this may be due to the star's low position in the sky, where its colour is affected by atmospheric effects.

Canopus has run out of hydrogen to burn in its core and, after spending about 30 million years as a blue main sequence star with about 10 solar masses, it has evolved away from the main sequence and lost some of its initial mass. The star's age is uncertain but, taking its mass into account, its entire lifespan will likely be measured in only tens of millions of years.

Canopus has a mass 8 times that of the Sun and, as it left the main sequence, it has expanded to a size of 71 solar radii. If it were placed at the centre of the solar system, it would come close to the orbit of Mercury (66 - 100 solar radii). With a surface temperature of 7,400 K, Canopus has a luminosity 10,700 times that of the Sun. It is a very slow spinner, with a projected rotational velocity of only 9 km/s.

Canopus has already passed through the red giant branch (RGB) and has ceased burning helium in its core. Now it is in the blue loop phase of its life cycle, where it becomes a hotter star before it starts to cool again. The star may not be massive enough to end its life as a supernova. If it is not massive enough to fuse neon and its core does not collapse, it may leave a remnant neon-oxygen white dwarf.

The currently accepted distance of 310 light years is based on the 2007 Hipparcos reduction and a parallax of 10.43 ± 0.53 milliarcseconds. Before the launch of the Hipparcos satellite, distance estimates ranged from only 96 light years to as much as 1,200 light years.

Canopus exhibits small changes in radial velocity believed to be caused by movements in its atmosphere. The star has a magnetic field that shows variations with the same period (6.90 days). Its magnetically heated corona is about 10 times hotter than the Sun's and emits radio waves and X-rays.

Canopus may have a red dwarf companion. In 2014, American astronomer Eric Mamajek reported a possible common motion companion located 1.16 degrees south of Canopus. The red dwarf shows strong magnetic activity and appears to be moving through space with Canopus. Even though the projected separation between the two stars is quite large - about 1.9 parsecs - it still puts the red dwarf within the estimated tidal radius of Canopus (2.9 parsecs) if the stars lie at the same distance from Earth. The dwarf has the designation 2MASS J06234738-5351131 in the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) catalogue and is sometimes referred to as Canopus B.
Facts
Canopus is one of the 58 bright stars selected for navigation. Navigational stars are among the brightest and most recognizable stars in the sky, which makes them exceptionally useful in the field of celestial navigation. Canopus and two other Carina stars - the fainter Miaplacidus and Avior - belong to the southernmost group of navigational stars, with a declination between 30° S and 90° S. Other stars in this group include Suhail in the constellation Vela, Ankaa in Phoenix, Alpha Centauri, Hadar and Menkent in Centaurus, Achernar and Acamar in Eridanus, Acrux and Gacrux in Crux, Fomalhaut in Piscis Austrinus, Kaus Australis in Sagittarius, Shaula in Scorpius, and Peacock in Pavo.

Canopus was the brightest star of the Greek constellation Argo Navis, which represented the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed on their quest to get the Golden Fleece. The constellation was split into three smaller ones - Carina, Puppis and Vela, representing the keel, stern and sails of the ship - by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century. As the luminary of Argo Navis, Canopus had the designation Alpha Argus Navis (α Arg), which was later changed to Alpha Carinae.

Canopus is one of the 27 bright stars featured on the flag of Brazil. Each star on the flag represents a Brazilian Federative Unit and Canopus symbolizes the state of Goiás.

Canopus is invisible from most northern locations, never rising above the horizon for observers north of the latitude 37° 18' N. European observers became familiar with the star, as well as with its bright southern neighbours Alpha Centauri and Achernar, through the work of the English geographer and explorer Robert Hues, who described the three southern first-magnitude stars in his Tractatus de Globis (1592).

Due to the Earth's axial precession, Canopus will come within 10 degrees of the south celestial pole around the year 14,000 CE.

With an absolute magnitude of -5.71, Canopus is more luminous than any other star that is closer to Earth. Even though it is currently the second brightest star in the sky, it is by far more luminous than Sirius. With a luminosity 25.4 times that of the Sun and an absolute magnitude of +1.42, Sirius appears brighter mainly because it is one of our nearest neighbours, lying at a distance of only 8.60 light years.

Canopus has been the brightest star in the sky several times in the last few million years and will be the brightest star again in 480,000 years. It replaced Mirzam (Beta Canis Majoris) as the brightest star 3,700,000 years ago, peaking at magnitude -1.86, and held the title until 1,370,000 years ago, when it was outshone by Ascella (Zeta Sagittarii). Then, 950,000 years ago, it once again became the brightest star, dethroning Zeta Leporis and peaking at magnitude -1.09, and held the title until it was succeeded by Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri) 420,000 years ago. About 160,000 years ago, it took the title again, this time from Capella (Alpha Aurigae), and stayed the brightest star until it was replaced by Sirius some 90,000 years ago. At its brightest, it shone at magnitude -0.70. Sirius will stay the brightest star in the Earth's sky for another 210,000 years, when it will be succeeded by Vega (Alpha Lyrae). Vega will be replaced by Canopus again in about 480,000 years. Canopus will shine at magnitude -0.40 at its brightest and keep the title until it is outshone by Menkalinan (Beta Aurigae) in 990,000 years.

Without interstellar extinction, which is quite low for the star, Canopus would be only 0.08 magnitudes brighter.

Canopus was listed as a standard star for the spectral class F0 in the Henry Draper Catalogue (HD), published between 1918 and 1924, and was considered an F-class star for about a century. It was assigned this class in 1897 as a star with relatively weak hydrogen lines and a strong calcium K line. In 1942, American astronomer Jesse Greenstein reported that the spectrum of Canopus was dominated by strong broad lines of hydrogen after observing the star with the 82-inch Otto Struve Telescope at McDonald Observatory on Mount Locke in West Texas. In 1966, observations in the ultraviolet confirmed that the star's spectrum was consistent with a class F0 supergiant with an effective temperature of 6,900 K. A more detailed study of the spectrum, published in 1982, gave an effective temperature of 7,350 ± 30 K. When luminosity classes were introduced to the Morgan-Keenan (MK) classification scheme, Canopus was given the class Iab (intermediate luminosity supergiant). In 1991, it was assigned the spectral class F0II, indicating a bright giant and not supergiant, in the 5th edition of the Bright Star Catalogue. In the late 1980s, a study that took into account the effects of rotation on spectral classification adjusted the spectral class of Canopus to A9II.

The angular diameter of Canopus was measured interferometrically in 1968, yielding a value of 6.86 milliarcseconds (mas) for the limb-darkened diameter. The currently accepted diameter of 6.9 mas was obtained using AMBER (Astronomical Multi-BEam combineR), the near-infrared spectro-interferometric instrument of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) in 2013. The physical radius of 71 ± 4 solar radii was derived from the angular diameter of 6.92 mas and the star's distance.

Canopus was once believed to be a member of the Scorpius-Centaurus Association (Sco-Cen, Sco OB2), the nearest OB association to the solar system, that includes Antares, Acrux, Mimosa, Imai, and other stars in the constellations Scorpius, Centaurus, Crux, and Lupus. However, Canopus does not lie near any of the subgroups of Sco OB2 and is currently believed not to belong to this or any other nearby stellar group.

Canopus has been known to observers in southern latitudes since ancient times. While it was invisible to most cultures north of the equator, it could be seen from Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China. It did not rise above the horizon for ancient Greeks and Romans, but the Greek astronomers Eratosthenes and Ptolemy, who lived in the city of Alexandria in Egypt, were both familiar with the star and called it Kanōbos. In ancient Mesopotamia, the star was called NUN-ki. It symbolised the ancient city of Eridu in Babylonian star catalogues and in the astronomical compendium MUL.APIN (c. 1100 BCE). Today, the name Nunki belongs to Sigma Sagittarii, the second brightest star in the constellation Sagittarius.

In China, Canopus was known as Shou Xing, or the Star of Longevity. The name was mentioned in the Shiji ( Records of the Grand Historian), a history of ancient China and one of the foundational texts of the Chinese civilization, finished by the Chinese historian Sima Qian around the year 94 BCE. Sima Qian considered the star to be Sirius ' southern counterpart and mentioned a sanctuary dedicated to it, established by the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang, the founder of the Qin dynasty, between 221 and 210 BCE. In the Middle Ages, Canopus was commonly known as the Old Man of the South Pole in China.

In India, Canopus is known as Agastya. The star's traditional name comes from Agastya, a Vedic rishi (sage) who authored hymns in Rigveda and other Vedic literature.

The major axis of the Kaaba, a building at the centre of the Great Mosque of Mecca, is aligned with the rising of the star and its southeast wall is directed toward Canopus.

The Negev Bedouin of Israel called the star Suhayl. Canopus and Polaris were the most important stars the Bedouin used in navigation.

The Guanche people of the island of Tenerife associated Canopus with Chaxiraxi, the Sun Mother and one of the principal deities in the Guanche pantheon.

In Botswana, the Nyae Nyae ǃKung people of the Kalahari Desert saw Canopus and Capella as the horns of Tshxum (the Pleiades). Canopus was the male horn and Capella the female one. The appearance of the two stars and the cluster in the sky signalled the beginning of the rainy season. The Sotho people of southern Africa know Canopus as Naka, the Horn Star, and traditionally keep watch for it in late May, awarding a cow for the earliest sighting. The Tswana people would watch for Canopus and start breeding their sheep when the star appeared in the sky before sunrise. The Venda people call the star Nanga, also meaning the Horn Star, and its first sighting in the morning sky is also awarded with a cow. The Zulu knew the star as isAndulela, a messenger appearing in late fall at harvest time, and also called it inKhwenkwezi, meaning "brilliant star." The /Xam Bushmen knew Canopus as the "digging stick" and the "ant egg star." They believed that the star could affect the availability of ants' eggs. Canopus and Sirius announced the appearance of flying ants and termites. The Bushmen prayed to the two stars, believing that they could bring misfortune and death. The Xhosa-speaking people called Canopus U-Canzi-be and associated it with harvest.

The Navajo in the American Southwest called Canopus Maʼii Bizòʼ, the Coyote Star. In Navajo legends, Ma'ii (Coyote) placed the star in the southern sky and named it after himself. The star was also sometimes known as So dondizidi (the No-Month Star).

In Brazil, the Kalapalo people of the state of Mato Grosso saw Canopus as part of an asterism known as Duck. Canopus and Procyon were known as Kofongo ("Duck") and the Gemini stars Pollux and Castor marked the hands of Duck. The appearance of the hands on the southwestern horizon signalled the coming of the rainy season and an abundance of manioc, a local food staple.

In Hawaii, Canopus was known as Ke Alii-o-kona-i-ka-lewa, meaning "the chief of the southern expanse." In local lore, it was one of the stars used by Hawai'iloa to navigate when travelling to the Southern Ocean. (In Hawaiian legend, Hawai'iloa was a fisherman who stumbled upon the island of Hawai'i and later returned to settle it.)

Ancient Polynesians also used Canopus and other bright stars to navigate between the islands of the Pacific. Canopus was part of a Great Bird constellation, known as Manu, which divided the sky into two hemispheres. Canopus marked the Great Bird's southern wingtip, Procyon in Canis Minor was the northern wingtip, and the bright Sirius represented the body.

In Australia, Canopus had a prominent role in several indigenous cultures. The Boorong people of northwest Victoria called the star War. War, a male crow, was the husband of Collowgullouric War, a female crow, likely represented by Eta Carinae, and brother of Warepil, an eagle, represented by Sirius. In local lore, War was a Prometheus-like figure who brought fire to humankind.

The Koori people of southeast Australia also associated Canopus with a crow. The star represented Waa, one of the moiety ancestors. The crow is often a trickster and an ancestral figure in Australian Aboriginal mythology. The other ancestral being is Bunjil, the eaglehawk, represented by Altair in Aquila.

In the legends told by the Pirt-Kopan-noot people of western Victoria, Waa fell in love with a queen, Gneeanggar ("wedge-tailed eagle"), represented by Sirius, and her six attendants, represented by the Pleiades. After being rejected by them, Waa turned himself into a grub after hearing that the women were foraging for grubs and, when one of them dug him out, he transformed into a giant and carried her off.

The Wailwun of New South Wales called Canopus Wumba, meaning "deaf." In Tasmanian lore, Canopus was associated with Dromerdene, who fought with his brother Moinee until they both fell from the sky. Moinee is an ancestral figure who created the first human being. Dromerdene changed the human's anatomy, which upset Moinee, and the brothers fought against each other in the heavens. After the fight, Dromerdene is said to have fallen into Louisa Bay and Moinee fell to earth. A large standing stone behind Cox Bight beach in southwest Tasmania is said to be his petrified form.

The Māori people of New Zealand saw Canopus as a solitary star and called it Atutahi, Atuatahi or Aotahi, meaning "stand alone." They also called it Ariki, meaning "high-born." The star's appearance at the winter solstice heralded the coming of winter and the Māori offered food to the star when it appeared. They believed that its light rays foretold the coming winter and whether it would be mild or cold and wet.

In the Society Islands, Canopus was known as Taurua-e-tupu-tai-nanu, meaning "Festivity-whence-comes-the-flux-of-the-sea," and Taurua-nui-o-te-hiti-apatoa, "Great-festivity-of-the-border-of-the-south." In the Tuamotu Islands, the star was called Te Tau-rari and Marere-te-tavahi, meaning "he-who-stands-alone."

The 12th century CE Andalusian astronomer and polymath Ibn Rushd observed Canopus from Marrakesh in 1153. As the star is invisible from his native city of Córdoba, Spain, he used this observation to argue in favour of Aristotle's claim that the Earth was spherical.

Like other exceptionally bright stars, Canopus has often been used or referenced in works of fiction. In Dante's Purgatory, it was one of the "three torches" ("tre facelle") that symbolized three evangelical virtues - faith, hope and charity - along with the fellow southern luminaries Fomalhaut and Achernar. Other notable mentions include the novels The Star Kings (1947) by Edmond Hamilton, Star Bridge (1955) by James Gunn and Jack Williamson, Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination (1956), Frank Herbert's Dune novels (in which it is the host star of the desert planet Arrakis), and Doris Lessing's Canopus in Argos series. In film and television, the star was notably used in the episodes "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (1966) and "The Ultimate Computer" (1968) of Star Trek: The Original Series, and in the episode "The Kidnappers" (1967) of the television series The Time Tunnel. Canopus is also used in the BattleTech, Frontier: Elite II, and Frontier: First Encounters games.
Name
Canopus (pronunciation: /kəˈnoʊpəs/) has been the traditional name of Alpha Carinae since ancient times. It appeared in Claudius Ptolemy's Almagest in the 2nd century CE. It has also been spelled Canobus, Kanopus and Kanobos.

The name formally applies only to the component Alpha Carinae A. The origin of the name is uncertain. It is generally believed that it comes from the Greek Κάνωβος ( Kanôbos), which was the name of the mythical navigator for Menelaus of Sparta during the Trojan War. In Greek mythology, after the destruction of Troy in 1183 BCE, Menelaus' fleet stopped in Egypt on their way home, and Canopus was bitten by a snake and died. Menelaus erected a monument in his honour in the Nile Delta, where the town of Canopus later developed. In Homeric myths, it was Menelaus who founded the town and named it after his pilot.

The second possible derivation of the name is from the Egyptian Coptic Kahi Nub, meaning "Golden Earth." This is a reference to the appearance of Canopus close to the horizon in ancient Egypt.

The name was approved by the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) on June 30, 2016.

Canopus has been known by many other names across different cultures. In English, it was also known as Suhail, Soheil or Soheila, derived from the Arabic suhayl, meaning "smooth plain." Different spellings included Süheyl/Süheyla (Turkish), Souhail, Suheyl, Sohil, Suhilon, Sahil, Sihil, and Suhayeel. The star shared this name with Lambda Velorum, Gamma Velorum, and Zeta Puppis. Today, Zeta Puppis is formally named Naos, Gamma Velorum is informally known as Regor, and Lambda Velorum has kept the name Suhail.

A 15th century BCE Egyptian poet called Canopus Karbana and, during the Ptolemaic rule, the star was called Ptolemaion. The acronychal rising of Canopus (last rising in the evening after sunset after a period of visibility) marked the beginning of the Ptolemaia festival, held every four years from 279 BCE to 145 BCE.

The Greek poet Aratus (c. 310 - 240 BCE) and astronomers Eudoxus (c. 390 - 337 BCE) and Hipparchus (c. 190 - 120 BCE) called the star Pedalion, which is Greek for "the rudder." The designation referred to the star's position in Argo Navis, marking the rudder of the mythical ship. The Roman philosopher Cicero, who translated Aratus' work into Latin, called the star Gubernaculum, which is Latin for "rudder" or "helm."

Canopus was also known as Wazn, derived from the Arabic word for "weight," and as Hadar, meaning "ground." Today, the names Wezen and Hadar belong to Delta Canis Majoris and Beta Centauri.

The names Ponderosus ("heavy" or weighty") and Terrestris ("terrestrial" or "earthly") were also later used for Canopus. Both are believed to refer to the star being close to the horizon. In the Alphonsine Tables, Canopus was designated as Suhel ponderosus, which is a Latinized form of the Arabic Al Suhayl al Wazn. The name Canopus came back into wide use during the Renaissance.

In China, Canopus is known as 老人 (Lǎo Rén), the Old Man. It is the sole star in the Old Man asterism, which is part of the Well mansion, one of the southern mansions of the Vermilion Bird. In Chinese astronomy, Canopus was known as the Old Man of the South Pole (南极老人), a symbol of longevity and happiness. In Chinese lore, the Old Man is depicted as a man with a long white beard and a deer at his side, who was once a sickly boy who had been told that he would die at the age of 19. The boy, named Zhao Yen, was advised to visit a field and bring wine and dried meat. He did as he was told and, when he reached the field, he found two men playing checkers. He offered them the wine and meat and, to thank him, the men changed his life expectancy from 19 to 91 years. The boy later learned that the men were the star of the North Pole and the star of the South Pole, responsible for fixing the dates of birth and death.

Canopus is also known as the Star of Old Age in the neighbouring Korea, Japan and Vietnam. In Japan it is known as Jurōjin, the god of longevity and one of the Seven Gods of Fortune, originated from the Chinese Taoist Old Man of the South Pole. The star's other traditional names in Japan are Mera-boshi and Roujin-sei, or the Old Man Star. In Mongolia, Canopus was the personification of the White Old Man, while Tibetans called it Genpo karpo ( Rgan po dkar po) or Genkar ( Rgan dkar), also meaning "white old man." In Tibet, the more widely used name for Canopus was Karma Rishi. The star's heliacal rising (the first rising after a period of invisibility) was celebrated with ritual bathing.
Location
Canopus lies in the far southern sky. At the declination −52° 41′ 44.3810″, the star is invisible to most northern observers. It cannot be seen from locations north of the latitude 37° 18' N, which means that it does not rise above the horizon for most of Europe, all of Canada and the Russian Federation, and a good portion of the continental United States.

For observers living south of the latitude 37° 18' S, Canopus is circumpolar, i.e. it never sets and is visible throughout the year. Being exceptionally bright, the star can be seen by the unaided eye in the early twilight. It reaches its highest point above the horizon at midnight on December 27 and around 9 pm on February 11.

As the second brightest star in the sky, Canopus is very easy to identify. It is the exceptionally bright star appearing below Sirius, almost exactly south of Sirius' neighbour Mirzam (Beta Canis Majoris). Sirius can be identified using the three stars of Orion's Belt - Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka - which point directly at it. Canopus and Sirius are separated by about 36 degrees on the sky and, while most northern observers can only see Sirius, from southern latitudes both stars can often be seen at the same time.

Canopus can be used to find the south celestial pole. The pole forms an equilateral triangle with Canopus and Achernar, the brightest star in the constellation Eridanus, and lies in the direction of the Southern Pointers, Alpha Centauri and Hadar (Beta Centauri).
Constellation
Canopus is located in the constellation Carina. Formerly part of the larger Argo Navis constellation, Carina represents the keel of the ship Argo, on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed to Colchis to get the Golden Fleece. The neighbouring constellations Puppis and Vela, also split off from Argo Navis in the 18th century, represent the ship's stern and sails.

With an area of 494 square degrees, Carina is not particularly large, but it is easily recognizable. It contains six stars brighter than magnitude 3.00 and some of them are part of two prominent southern asterisms, the Diamond Cross and the False Cross.

The constellation is known for being home to Canopus, the 2nd brightest star in the sky, and Eta Carinae, one of the most massive binary star systems known. Eta Carinae is the central star of the Homunculus Nebula, which is part of the larger Carina Nebula (NGC 3372), a vast region of bright and dark nebulosity that contains several open clusters and some of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way.

Other well-known deep sky objects in Carina are NGC 3603, a large H II region with an open cluster, the Theta Carinae Cluster (IC 2602), a bright, large open cluster nicknamed the Southern Pleiades, the Wishing Well Cluster (NGC 3352), a globular cluster visible to the naked eye, NGC 2802, a massive globular cluster, and the bright Diamond Cluster (NGC 2516), a naked-eye open cluster nicknamed the Southern Beehive.

The best time of year to observe the stars and deep sky objects in Carina is during the month of March, when the constellation is particularly prominent in the evening sky from southern locations. The entire constellation is visible south of the latitude 20° N.

The 10 brightest stars in Carina are Canopus (Alpha Car, mag. -0.74), Miaplacidus (Beta Car, mag. 1.69), Avior (Epsilon Car, mag. 1.86), Aspidiske (Iota Car, mag. 2.21), Theta Carinae (mag. 2.76), Upsilon Carinae (2.97), Omega Carinae (mag. 3.29), PP Carinae (p Car, mag. 3.22 - 3.55), V337 Carinae (q Car, mag. 3.36 - 3.44), and V357 Carinae (a Car, mag. 3.41 - 3.44).
Canopus - Alpha Carinae

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Canopus (Alpha Carinae): Star Type, Facts, Name, Location, Constellation | Star Facts

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Canopus, Alpha Carinae (α Car), is a white bright giant star located in the constellation Carina. With an apparent magnitude of -0.74, it is the brightest star in Carina and the second brightest star in the sky, after Sirius. Canopus lies at an approximate distance of 310 light years from Earth.

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The current solar mass of Canopus is 1.949 x 10 ^31 kg / 9.8m

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How To Calculate The Distance Of Stars From Earth

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Canopus is going through the same life cycle as the sun, but Canopus is finishing it's red giant phase and going into it's planetary nebula phase!~
good job!~

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The temperature of Canopus is 7,350 Kelvin. Linked below is how explaining how star's temperature is taken.

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The current luminosity of Canopus is 10,700 L which is 12,000 XS the sun's luminosity.

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Canopus has an undergoing core of burning helium then when it passed to it's red giant phase exhausting the hydrogen in it's core!~

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Welcome back to Constellation Friday! Today, in honor of the late and great Tammy Plotner, we will be dealing with the "keel of the ship", the Carina constellation!

In the 2nd century CE, Greek-Egyptian astronomer Claudius Ptolemaeus (aka. Ptolemy) compiled a list of all the then-known 48 constellations. This treatise, known as the , would be used by medieval European and Islamic scholars for over a thousand years to come, effectively becoming astrological and astronomical canon until the early Modern Age.

One of these constellations, known as Argo Navis, would eventually be divided into three asterism - one of which became the southern constellations of Carina. Bordered by the Vela, Puppis, Pictor, Volans, Chamaeleon, Musca and Centaurus constellations, Carina is one of 88 modern constellations that are currently recognized by the IAU.

Name and Meaning:

The stellar southern constellation Carina is part of the ancient constellation known as Argo Navis. It is now abbreviated and represents the "Keel". While Carina has no real mythological connection, since its stars weren't visible to the ancient Greeks and Romans, it does have a fascinating history. Argo Navis (or simply Argo) was a large southern constellation representing the Argo, the ship used by Jason and the Argonauts in Greek mythology.

The Argo was built by the shipwright Argus, and its crew were specially protected by the goddess Hera. The best source for the myth is the Argonautica by Apollonius Rhodius. According to a variety of sources of the legend, the Argo was said to have been planned or constructed with the help of Athena.

According to other legends it contained in its prow a magical piece of timber from the sacred forest of Dodona, which could speak and render prophecies. After the successful journey, the Argo was consecrated to Poseidon in the Isthmus of Corinth. It was then translated into the sky and turned into the constellation of Argo Navis. The abbreviation for it was "Arg", and the genitive was "Argus Navis".

History of Observation:

Carina is the only one of Ptolemy's list of 48 constellations that is no longer officially recognized as a constellation. In 1752, French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille subdivided Argo Navis into Carina (the keel of the ship), Puppis (the Poop deck), and Vela (the sails). Were this still considered to be a single constellation, it would be the largest of all, being larger than Hydra.

When Argo Navis was split, its Bayer designations were also split. Whereas Carina got the Alpha, Beta and Epsilon stars, Vela got Gamma and Delta, Puppis got Zeta, and so on. The constellation Pyxis occupies an area which in antiquity was considered part of Argo's mast. However, Pyxis is not typically considered part of Argo Navis, and in particular its Bayer designations are separate from those of Carina, Puppis and Vela.

Notable Features:

The Carina constellation consists of 9 primary stars and has 52 Bayer/Flamsteed designated stars. It's alpha star, Canopus, is not only he brightest star in the constellation, but the second brightest in the night sky (behind Sirius). This F-type giant is 13,600 times brighter than our Sun, with an apparent visual magnitude of -0.72 and an absolute magnitude of -5.53.

The name is the Latinized version of the Greek name Kanobos, presumably derived from the pilot of the shop that took Menelaus of Sparta to Troy to retrieve Helen in The Iliad. It is also known by its Arabic name, Suhail, which is derived from the Arabic name for several bright stars.

Before the launching of the Hipparcos satellite telescope, distance estimates for the star varied widely, from 96 light years to 1200 light years. Had the latter distance been correct, Canopus would have been one of the most powerful stars in our galaxy. Hipparcos established Canopus as lying 310 light years (96 parsecs) from our solar system; this is based on a parallax measurement of 10.43 ± 0.53 mas.

The difficulty in measuring Canopus' distance stemmed from its unusual nature. Canopus is too far away for Earth-based parallax observations to be made, so the star's distance was not known with certainty until the early 1990s. Canopus is 15,000 times more luminous than the Sun and the most intrinsically bright star within approximately 700 light years.

For most stars in the local stellar neighborhood, Canopus would appear to be one of the brightest stars in the sky. Canopus is outshone by Sirius in our sky only because Sirius is far closer to the Earth (8 light years). Its surface temperature has been estimated at 7350 ± 30 K and its stellar diameter has been measured at 0.6 astronomical units 65 times that of the sun.

If it were placed at the centre of the solar system, it would extend three-quarters of the way to Mercury. An Earth-like planet would have to lie three times the distance of Pluto! Canopus is part of the Scorpius-Centaurus Association, a group of stars which share similar origins.

Next up is Miaplacidus (beta Carinae), an A-type subgiant located approximately 111 light years from Earth. It is the second brightest star in the constellation and the 29th brightest star in the sky. The star's name means "placid waters", which is derived from the combination of the Arabic word for waters ( miyah) and the Latin word for placid ( placidus).

Then there's Eta Carinae, a luminous blue variable (LBV) binary star that is between 7,500 and 8,000 light years distant from Earth. The combined luminosity of this system is four million times that of our Sun, and the most massive star in the system has between 120 and 250 Solar Masses. It is sometimes known by its traditional names, Tseen She ("heaven's altar" in Chinese) and Foramen.

Also, it is believed that Eta Carinae will explode in the not-too-distant future, and it will be the most spectacular supernovae humans have ever seen. This supernova (or hypernova) might even affect Earth, since the star is only 7,500 light years away, causing disruption to the upper layers of the atmosphere, the ozone layer, satellites, and spacecraft could be damaged and any astronauts who happen to be in space could be injured.

Avior (epsilon Carinae) is another double star system, consisting of a K0 III class orange giant and a hot hydrogen-fusing B2 V blue dwarf. With an apparent magnitude of 1.86 and is 630 light years distant, it is the 84th brightest star in the sky. The name Avior was assigned in the late 1930s by Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office as a navigational aid, at the request of the Royal Air Force.

Aspidiske (aka. Iota Carinae) is a rare spectral type A8 Ib white supergiant located 690 light years from Earth. With a luminosity of 4,900 Suns (and seven Solar Masses), it is the 68th brightest star in the sky and is estimated to be around 40 million years old. It is known by the names Aspidiske, Turais and Scutulum, all diminutives of the word "shield," (in Greek, Arabic and Latin, respectively).

Since the Milky Way runs through Carina, there are a large number of Deep Sky Objects associated with it. For instance, there's the Carina Nebula (aka. the Eta Carinae Nebula, NGC 3372), a large nebula surrounding the massive stars Eta Carinae and HD 93129A. In addition to being four time as bright as the Orion Nebula (Messier 42), it is one of the largest diffuse nebulae known.

The nebula is between 6,500 and 10,000 light years from Earth, and has an apparent visual magnitude of 1.0. It contains several O-type stars (extremely luminous hot, bluish stars, which are very rare). The first recorded observation of this nebula was made by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1751-52, who observed it from the Cape of Good Hope.

The Carina Nebula contains two smaller nebulae - the Homunculus Nebula and the Keyhole Nebula. The Keyhole Nebula - a small, dark cloud of dust and with bright filaments of fluorescent gas, was named by John Herschel in the 19th century. It is about seven light years in diameter, and appears contrasted against the bright nebula in the background.

The Homunculus Nebula (Latin for "Little Man") is an emission nebula embedded within the Eta Carinae Nebula, immediately surrounding the star Eta Carinae. The nebula is believed to have formed after an enormous outburst from the star, which coincided with Eta Carinae becoming the second brightest star in the night sky. The light of this outburst was visible from Earth by 1841.

There's also the Theta Carinae Cluster (aka. the Southern Pleiades, because of its resemblance to the Pleiades cluster. This open cluster was discovered by Lacaille in 1751, is located approximately 479 light years from Earth and is visible to the naked eye. The brightest star in the cluster, as the name indicates, is Theta Carinae, a blue-white dwarf.

Then there's the Wishing Well Cluster (aka. NGC 3532), an open cluster in Carina. Approximately 1,321 light years distant, the cluster is composed of about 150 stars that appear through a telescope like silver coins twinkling at the bottom of a wishing well. The cluster lies between the constellation Crux (the Southern Cross) and the False Cross asterism in Carina and Vela, and was first object observed by the Hubble Space Telescope in May 1990.

Finding Carina:

Carina is the 34th largest constellation in the sky, occupying an area of 494 square degrees. It lies in the second quadrant of the southern hemisphere (SQ2) and is visible at latitudes between +20° and -90° and is best seen during the month of March. Before you even begin with a telescope or binoculars, be sure to stop and just take a good look at Alpha Carinae - Canopus.

Canopus is essentially white when seen with the naked eye (though F-type stars are sometimes listed as "yellowish-white"). The spectral classification for Canopus is F0 Ia (Ia meaning "bright supergiant"), and such stars are rare and poorly understood; they are stars that can be either in the process of evolving to or away from red giant status. This in turn made it difficult to know how intrinsically bright Canopus is, and therefore how far away it might be.

Since the Milky Way runs through Carina, there are a large number of open clusters in the constellation, making it a binocular observing paradise. NGC 2516 is a magnitude 3.1 open cluster originally discovered by Abbe Lacaille in 1751 with a 1/2″ spyglass. This gorgeous 30 arc minute spread of stars is also known as Caldwell 96 and graces many observing lists, including the Astronomical League Open Cluster, Deep Sky and Southern Observing Clubs.

It is commonly known as the "Southern Beehive Cluster" (for it does resemble northern Messier 44) and it contains about 100 stars the brightest of which is an fifth magnitude red giant that lies near the center. As far as stellar age goes, this star cluster is very young - only about 140 million years old!

Now hop to IC 2602, popularly known as the "Southern Pleiades" for is resemblance to northern Messier 45. This galactic cluster contains more than 50 stars and is approximately 500 light years away from Earth. At its heart is blue-white star Theta Carinae, and it can be found by forming a triangle in the sky with Beta and Iota Carinae. With a stellar magnitude of 2.0, this object is easily seen as a nebulous patch to the unaided eye!

Another nebula that can been seen unaided but is better in binoculars is the Homunculus, an emission nebula surrounding the massive star Eta Carinae. The nebula is embedded within a much larger H II region, the Eta Carinae Nebula. Even though Eta Carinae is about 7,500 light-years away, structures only 10 billion miles across (about the diameter of our solar system) can be distinguished.

Dust lanes, tiny condensations, and strange radial streaks all appear with unprecedented clarity. Excess violet light escapes along the equatorial plane between the bipolar lobes. While there is relatively little dusty debris between the lobes down by the star; most of the blue light is able to escape. The lobes, on the other hand, contain large amounts of dust which absorb blue light, causing the lobes to appear reddish.

The Eta Carinae Nebula, or NGC 3372 itself is fascinating. It is a hypergiant luminous blue variable star in the Carina constellation, one of the most massive stars yet discovered. Because of its mass and the stage of life, it is expected to explode in a supernova in the "near" future. Stars in the stellar mass class of Eta Carinae, with more than 100 times the mass of the Sun, produce more than a million times as much light as the Sun.

They are quite rare - only a few dozen in a galaxy as big as the Milky Way. They are assumed to approach (or potentially exceed) the Eddington limit, i.e., the outward pressure of their radiation is almost strong enough to counteract gravity. Stars that are more than 120 solar masses exceed the theoretical Eddington limit, and their gravity is barely strong enough to hold in their radiation and gas.

Now hop just three degrees away to NGC 3532 - known as the "Wishing Well Cluster". This open star cluster is one of the jewels of the southern sky and is also referred to as Caldwell 91 and is on many observing lists. Want another? Try globular cluster NGC 2808, also known as Bennett 41. Beautiful NGC 2808 is a fine example of a symmetrical and strongly compressed globular cluster.

Viewable in binoculars and totally resolvable in a 6″ telescope, this is another of Dreyer's remarkable objects described as very large extremely rich, and gradually reaching an extremely condensed status in the middle. NGC 2808 contains thousands of magnitude 13-15 stars!

For double star fans, take on Epsilon Carinae, also known by the name Avior. Epsilon Carinae is a binary star located 630 light years away from our solar system. The primary component is a dying orange giant of spectral class K0 III, and the secondary is a hot hydrogen-fusing blue dwarf of class B2 V. The stars regularly eclipse each other, leading to brightness fluctuations on the order of 0.1 magnitudes.

Now try Upsilon Carinae - part of the Diamond Cross asterism in southern Carina. It's name is Vathorz Prior, a name of Old Norse-Latin origin meaning "Preceding One of the Waterline". Located approximately 1623 light years from Earth, the star system is made of two components. Upsilon Carinae A, is a white A-type supergiant with an apparent magnitude of +3.01 while its companion, Upsilon Carinae B, is a blue-white B-type giant 5 arc seconds away.

But no constellation would be complete without a true telescope challenge. Planetary nebula NGC 3211 (RA 10h 17m 50.4s Dec -62° 40´ 12″) heralds in at about 12th magnitude. For even more fun, try NGC 2867 (R.A. 09h 21m 25.3s Dec. -58° 18′ 40.7″). You'll find it about a degree north/northeast of Iota. Iota Carinae. NGC 2867 may be no more than 2,750 years old.

Strangely, it is one of only a few dozen objects known to have a Wolf-Rayet star (type WC6) as its central star. NGC 2867 was discovered by John Herschel from Felhausen observatory at the Cape of Good Hope on April's Fools Day, 1834 - appropriate since Herschel was almost fooled into thinking it was a new planet. Its size and appearance were certainly planet-like and it was only after careful checking that Herschel was convinced it was a nebula.

Now try NGC 3247 (RA 10 : 25.9 Dec -57 : 56 ). This is a very cool, very small galactic cluster with associated nebulosity. At around magnitude 8, you won't find the rich little cluster much of a problem, but use minimal magnifcation to appreciate the true field!

While at the telescope, also look up NGC 3059 (9 : 50.2 Dec -73 : 55). Now, we've got a spiral galaxy cutting its way through the dust of the Milky Way! With an apparent magnitude of 12, and a 3.2 arc minute diameter, this barred spiral galaxy is going to present a nice, unique challenge to southern hemisphere observers.

There are myriad other things to look at in Carina as well, so don't see this lovely constellation short! There is also a meteor shower associated with the constellation of Carina, too. The Eta Carinids are a lesser known meteor shower lasting from January 14 to 27 each year. The activity peaks on or about January 21. It was first discovered in 1961 in Australia. Roughly two to three meteors occur per hour at its maximum. It gets its name from the radiant which is close to the nebulous star Eta Carinae.

We have written many interesting articles about the constellation here at Universe Today. Here is What Are The Constellations?, What Is The Zodiac?, and Zodiac Signs And Their Dates.

Be sure to check out The Messier Catalog while you're at it!

For more information, check out the IAUs list of Constellations, and the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space page on Canes Venatici and Constellation Families.

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Welcome back to Constellation Friday! Today, in honor of the late and great Tammy Plotner, we will be dealing with the "keel of the ship", the Carina constellation! In the 2nd century CE, Greek-Egyptian astronomer Claudius Ptolemaeus (aka. Ptolemy) compiled a list of all the then-known 48 constellations.

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Canopus' estimated time left to live!~ :

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Canopus' estimated time left to live!~ :

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Canopus' has a whopping 19,990,000,000 years to live!~
WOOOOOW!~

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Star Facts | Stars: A guide to the night sky

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Canopus, Alpha Carinae (α Car), is a white bright giant star located in the constellation Carina. With an apparent magnitude of -0.74, it is the brightest star in Carina and the second brightest star in the sky, after Sirius. Canopus lies at an approximate distance of 310 light years from Earth. With an absolute magnitude of -5.71, it is the most luminous star within several hundred light years of the Sun.
Star type
Canopus is a bright giant star of the spectral type A9 II. Some sources give the spectral class F0, even though it was changed to A9 after considering the effects of rotation in the late 1980s. In either case, Alpha Carinae appears white in colour. Some sources have described it as yellow-white, but this may be due to the star's low position in the sky, where its colour is affected by atmospheric effects.

Canopus has run out of hydrogen to burn in its core and, after spending about 30 million years as a blue main sequence star with about 10 solar masses, it has evolved away from the main sequence and lost some of its initial mass. The star's age is uncertain but, taking its mass into account, its entire lifespan will likely be measured in only tens of millions of years.

Canopus has a mass 8 times that of the Sun and, as it left the main sequence, it has expanded to a size of 71 solar radii. If it were placed at the centre of the solar system, it would come close to the orbit of Mercury (66 - 100 solar radii). With a surface temperature of 7,400 K, Canopus has a luminosity 10,700 times that of the Sun. It is a very slow spinner, with a projected rotational velocity of only 9 km/s.

Canopus has already passed through the red giant branch (RGB) and has ceased burning helium in its core. Now it is in the blue loop phase of its life cycle, where it becomes a hotter star before it starts to cool again. The star may not be massive enough to end its life as a supernova. If it is not massive enough to fuse neon and its core does not collapse, it may leave a remnant neon-oxygen white dwarf.

The currently accepted distance of 310 light years is based on the 2007 Hipparcos reduction and a parallax of 10.43 ± 0.53 milliarcseconds. Before the launch of the Hipparcos satellite, distance estimates ranged from only 96 light years to as much as 1,200 light years.

Canopus exhibits small changes in radial velocity believed to be caused by movements in its atmosphere. The star has a magnetic field that shows variations with the same period (6.90 days). Its magnetically heated corona is about 10 times hotter than the Sun's and emits radio waves and X-rays.

Canopus may have a red dwarf companion. In 2014, American astronomer Eric Mamajek reported a possible common motion companion located 1.16 degrees south of Canopus. The red dwarf shows strong magnetic activity and appears to be moving through space with Canopus. Even though the projected separation between the two stars is quite large - about 1.9 parsecs - it still puts the red dwarf within the estimated tidal radius of Canopus (2.9 parsecs) if the stars lie at the same distance from Earth. The dwarf has the designation 2MASS J06234738-5351131 in the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) catalogue and is sometimes referred to as Canopus B.
Facts
Canopus is one of the 58 bright stars selected for navigation. Navigational stars are among the brightest and most recognizable stars in the sky, which makes them exceptionally useful in the field of celestial navigation. Canopus and two other Carina stars - the fainter Miaplacidus and Avior - belong to the southernmost group of navigational stars, with a declination between 30° S and 90° S. Other stars in this group include Suhail in the constellation Vela, Ankaa in Phoenix, Alpha Centauri, Hadar and Menkent in Centaurus, Achernar and Acamar in Eridanus, Acrux and Gacrux in Crux, Fomalhaut in Piscis Austrinus, Kaus Australis in Sagittarius, Shaula in Scorpius, and Peacock in Pavo.

Canopus was the brightest star of the Greek constellation Argo Navis, which represented the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed on their quest to get the Golden Fleece. The constellation was split into three smaller ones - Carina, Puppis and Vela, representing the keel, stern and sails of the ship - by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century. As the luminary of Argo Navis, Canopus had the designation Alpha Argus Navis (α Arg), which was later changed to Alpha Carinae.

Canopus is one of the 27 bright stars featured on the flag of Brazil. Each star on the flag represents a Brazilian Federative Unit and Canopus symbolizes the state of Goiás.

Canopus is invisible from most northern locations, never rising above the horizon for observers north of the latitude 37° 18' N. European observers became familiar with the star, as well as with its bright southern neighbours Alpha Centauri and Achernar, through the work of the English geographer and explorer Robert Hues, who described the three southern first-magnitude stars in his Tractatus de Globis (1592).

Due to the Earth's axial precession, Canopus will come within 10 degrees of the south celestial pole around the year 14,000 CE.

With an absolute magnitude of -5.71, Canopus is more luminous than any other star that is closer to Earth. Even though it is currently the second brightest star in the sky, it is by far more luminous than Sirius. With a luminosity 25.4 times that of the Sun and an absolute magnitude of +1.42, Sirius appears brighter mainly because it is one of our nearest neighbours, lying at a distance of only 8.60 light years.

Canopus has been the brightest star in the sky several times in the last few million years and will be the brightest star again in 480,000 years. It replaced Mirzam (Beta Canis Majoris) as the brightest star 3,700,000 years ago, peaking at magnitude -1.86, and held the title until 1,370,000 years ago, when it was outshone by Ascella (Zeta Sagittarii). Then, 950,000 years ago, it once again became the brightest star, dethroning Zeta Leporis and peaking at magnitude -1.09, and held the title until it was succeeded by Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri) 420,000 years ago. About 160,000 years ago, it took the title again, this time from Capella (Alpha Aurigae), and stayed the brightest star until it was replaced by Sirius some 90,000 years ago. At its brightest, it shone at magnitude -0.70. Sirius will stay the brightest star in the Earth's sky for another 210,000 years, when it will be succeeded by Vega (Alpha Lyrae). Vega will be replaced by Canopus again in about 480,000 years. Canopus will shine at magnitude -0.40 at its brightest and keep the title until it is outshone by Menkalinan (Beta Aurigae) in 990,000 years.

Without interstellar extinction, which is quite low for the star, Canopus would be only 0.08 magnitudes brighter.

Canopus was listed as a standard star for the spectral class F0 in the Henry Draper Catalogue (HD), published between 1918 and 1924, and was considered an F-class star for about a century. It was assigned this class in 1897 as a star with relatively weak hydrogen lines and a strong calcium K line. In 1942, American astronomer Jesse Greenstein reported that the spectrum of Canopus was dominated by strong broad lines of hydrogen after observing the star with the 82-inch Otto Struve Telescope at McDonald Observatory on Mount Locke in West Texas. In 1966, observations in the ultraviolet confirmed that the star's spectrum was consistent with a class F0 supergiant with an effective temperature of 6,900 K. A more detailed study of the spectrum, published in 1982, gave an effective temperature of 7,350 ± 30 K. When luminosity classes were introduced to the Morgan-Keenan (MK) classification scheme, Canopus was given the class Iab (intermediate luminosity supergiant). In 1991, it was assigned the spectral class F0II, indicating a bright giant and not supergiant, in the 5th edition of the Bright Star Catalogue. In the late 1980s, a study that took into account the effects of rotation on spectral classification adjusted the spectral class of Canopus to A9II.

The angular diameter of Canopus was measured interferometrically in 1968, yielding a value of 6.86 milliarcseconds (mas) for the limb-darkened diameter. The currently accepted diameter of 6.9 mas was obtained using AMBER (Astronomical Multi-BEam combineR), the near-infrared spectro-interferometric instrument of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) in 2013. The physical radius of 71 ± 4 solar radii was derived from the angular diameter of 6.92 mas and the star's distance.

Canopus was once believed to be a member of the Scorpius-Centaurus Association (Sco-Cen, Sco OB2), the nearest OB association to the solar system, that includes Antares, Acrux, Mimosa, Imai, and other stars in the constellations Scorpius, Centaurus, Crux, and Lupus. However, Canopus does not lie near any of the subgroups of Sco OB2 and is currently believed not to belong to this or any other nearby stellar group.

Canopus has been known to observers in southern latitudes since ancient times. While it was invisible to most cultures north of the equator, it could be seen from Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China. It did not rise above the horizon for ancient Greeks and Romans, but the Greek astronomers Eratosthenes and Ptolemy, who lived in the city of Alexandria in Egypt, were both familiar with the star and called it Kanōbos. In ancient Mesopotamia, the star was called NUN-ki. It symbolised the ancient city of Eridu in Babylonian star catalogues and in the astronomical compendium MUL.APIN (c. 1100 BCE). Today, the name Nunki belongs to Sigma Sagittarii, the second brightest star in the constellation Sagittarius.

In China, Canopus was known as Shou Xing, or the Star of Longevity. The name was mentioned in the Shiji ( Records of the Grand Historian), a history of ancient China and one of the foundational texts of the Chinese civilization, finished by the Chinese historian Sima Qian around the year 94 BCE. Sima Qian considered the star to be Sirius ' southern counterpart and mentioned a sanctuary dedicated to it, established by the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang, the founder of the Qin dynasty, between 221 and 210 BCE. In the Middle Ages, Canopus was commonly known as the Old Man of the South Pole in China.

In India, Canopus is known as Agastya. The star's traditional name comes from Agastya, a Vedic rishi (sage) who authored hymns in Rigveda and other Vedic literature.

The major axis of the Kaaba, a building at the centre of the Great Mosque of Mecca, is aligned with the rising of the star and its southeast wall is directed toward Canopus.

The Negev Bedouin of Israel called the star Suhayl. Canopus and Polaris were the most important stars the Bedouin used in navigation.

The Guanche people of the island of Tenerife associated Canopus with Chaxiraxi, the Sun Mother and one of the principal deities in the Guanche pantheon.

In Botswana, the Nyae Nyae ǃKung people of the Kalahari Desert saw Canopus and Capella as the horns of Tshxum (the Pleiades). Canopus was the male horn and Capella the female one. The appearance of the two stars and the cluster in the sky signalled the beginning of the rainy season. The Sotho people of southern Africa know Canopus as Naka, the Horn Star, and traditionally keep watch for it in late May, awarding a cow for the earliest sighting. The Tswana people would watch for Canopus and start breeding their sheep when the star appeared in the sky before sunrise. The Venda people call the star Nanga, also meaning the Horn Star, and its first sighting in the morning sky is also awarded with a cow. The Zulu knew the star as isAndulela, a messenger appearing in late fall at harvest time, and also called it inKhwenkwezi, meaning "brilliant star." The /Xam Bushmen knew Canopus as the "digging stick" and the "ant egg star." They believed that the star could affect the availability of ants' eggs. Canopus and Sirius announced the appearance of flying ants and termites. The Bushmen prayed to the two stars, believing that they could bring misfortune and death. The Xhosa-speaking people called Canopus U-Canzi-be and associated it with harvest.

The Navajo in the American Southwest called Canopus Maʼii Bizòʼ, the Coyote Star. In Navajo legends, Ma'ii (Coyote) placed the star in the southern sky and named it after himself. The star was also sometimes known as So dondizidi (the No-Month Star).

In Brazil, the Kalapalo people of the state of Mato Grosso saw Canopus as part of an asterism known as Duck. Canopus and Procyon were known as Kofongo ("Duck") and the Gemini stars Pollux and Castor marked the hands of Duck. The appearance of the hands on the southwestern horizon signalled the coming of the rainy season and an abundance of manioc, a local food staple.

In Hawaii, Canopus was known as Ke Alii-o-kona-i-ka-lewa, meaning "the chief of the southern expanse." In local lore, it was one of the stars used by Hawai'iloa to navigate when travelling to the Southern Ocean. (In Hawaiian legend, Hawai'iloa was a fisherman who stumbled upon the island of Hawai'i and later returned to settle it.)

Ancient Polynesians also used Canopus and other bright stars to navigate between the islands of the Pacific. Canopus was part of a Great Bird constellation, known as Manu, which divided the sky into two hemispheres. Canopus marked the Great Bird's southern wingtip, Procyon in Canis Minor was the northern wingtip, and the bright Sirius represented the body.

In Australia, Canopus had a prominent role in several indigenous cultures. The Boorong people of northwest Victoria called the star War. War, a male crow, was the husband of Collowgullouric War, a female crow, likely represented by Eta Carinae, and brother of Warepil, an eagle, represented by Sirius. In local lore, War was a Prometheus-like figure who brought fire to humankind.

The Koori people of southeast Australia also associated Canopus with a crow. The star represented Waa, one of the moiety ancestors. The crow is often a trickster and an ancestral figure in Australian Aboriginal mythology. The other ancestral being is Bunjil, the eaglehawk, represented by Altair in Aquila.

In the legends told by the Pirt-Kopan-noot people of western Victoria, Waa fell in love with a queen, Gneeanggar ("wedge-tailed eagle"), represented by Sirius, and her six attendants, represented by the Pleiades. After being rejected by them, Waa turned himself into a grub after hearing that the women were foraging for grubs and, when one of them dug him out, he transformed into a giant and carried her off.

The Wailwun of New South Wales called Canopus Wumba, meaning "deaf." In Tasmanian lore, Canopus was associated with Dromerdene, who fought with his brother Moinee until they both fell from the sky. Moinee is an ancestral figure who created the first human being. Dromerdene changed the human's anatomy, which upset Moinee, and the brothers fought against each other in the heavens. After the fight, Dromerdene is said to have fallen into Louisa Bay and Moinee fell to earth. A large standing stone behind Cox Bight beach in southwest Tasmania is said to be his petrified form.

The Māori people of New Zealand saw Canopus as a solitary star and called it Atutahi, Atuatahi or Aotahi, meaning "stand alone." They also called it Ariki, meaning "high-born." The star's appearance at the winter solstice heralded the coming of winter and the Māori offered food to the star when it appeared. They believed that its light rays foretold the coming winter and whether it would be mild or cold and wet.

In the Society Islands, Canopus was known as Taurua-e-tupu-tai-nanu, meaning "Festivity-whence-comes-the-flux-of-the-sea," and Taurua-nui-o-te-hiti-apatoa, "Great-festivity-of-the-border-of-the-south." In the Tuamotu Islands, the star was called Te Tau-rari and Marere-te-tavahi, meaning "he-who-stands-alone."

The 12th century CE Andalusian astronomer and polymath Ibn Rushd observed Canopus from Marrakesh in 1153. As the star is invisible from his native city of Córdoba, Spain, he used this observation to argue in favour of Aristotle's claim that the Earth was spherical.

Like other exceptionally bright stars, Canopus has often been used or referenced in works of fiction. In Dante's Purgatory, it was one of the "three torches" ("tre facelle") that symbolized three evangelical virtues - faith, hope and charity - along with the fellow southern luminaries Fomalhaut and Achernar. Other notable mentions include the novels The Star Kings (1947) by Edmond Hamilton, Star Bridge (1955) by James Gunn and Jack Williamson, Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination (1956), Frank Herbert's Dune novels (in which it is the host star of the desert planet Arrakis), and Doris Lessing's Canopus in Argos series. In film and television, the star was notably used in the episodes "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (1966) and "The Ultimate Computer" (1968) of Star Trek: The Original Series, and in the episode "The Kidnappers" (1967) of the television series The Time Tunnel. Canopus is also used in the BattleTech, Frontier: Elite II, and Frontier: First Encounters games.
Name
Canopus (pronunciation: /kəˈnoʊpəs/) has been the traditional name of Alpha Carinae since ancient times. It appeared in Claudius Ptolemy's Almagest in the 2nd century CE. It has also been spelled Canobus, Kanopus and Kanobos.

The name formally applies only to the component Alpha Carinae A. The origin of the name is uncertain. It is generally believed that it comes from the Greek Κάνωβος ( Kanôbos), which was the name of the mythical navigator for Menelaus of Sparta during the Trojan War. In Greek mythology, after the destruction of Troy in 1183 BCE, Menelaus' fleet stopped in Egypt on their way home, and Canopus was bitten by a snake and died. Menelaus erected a monument in his honour in the Nile Delta, where the town of Canopus later developed. In Homeric myths, it was Menelaus who founded the town and named it after his pilot.

The second possible derivation of the name is from the Egyptian Coptic Kahi Nub, meaning "Golden Earth." This is a reference to the appearance of Canopus close to the horizon in ancient Egypt.

The name was approved by the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) on June 30, 2016.

Canopus has been known by many other names across different cultures. In English, it was also known as Suhail, Soheil or Soheila, derived from the Arabic suhayl, meaning "smooth plain." Different spellings included Süheyl/Süheyla (Turkish), Souhail, Suheyl, Sohil, Suhilon, Sahil, Sihil, and Suhayeel. The star shared this name with Lambda Velorum, Gamma Velorum, and Zeta Puppis. Today, Zeta Puppis is formally named Naos, Gamma Velorum is informally known as Regor, and Lambda Velorum has kept the name Suhail.

A 15th century BCE Egyptian poet called Canopus Karbana and, during the Ptolemaic rule, the star was called Ptolemaion. The acronychal rising of Canopus (last rising in the evening after sunset after a period of visibility) marked the beginning of the Ptolemaia festival, held every four years from 279 BCE to 145 BCE.

The Greek poet Aratus (c. 310 - 240 BCE) and astronomers Eudoxus (c. 390 - 337 BCE) and Hipparchus (c. 190 - 120 BCE) called the star Pedalion, which is Greek for "the rudder." The designation referred to the star's position in Argo Navis, marking the rudder of the mythical ship. The Roman philosopher Cicero, who translated Aratus' work into Latin, called the star Gubernaculum, which is Latin for "rudder" or "helm."

Canopus was also known as Wazn, derived from the Arabic word for "weight," and as Hadar, meaning "ground." Today, the names Wezen and Hadar belong to Delta Canis Majoris and Beta Centauri.

The names Ponderosus ("heavy" or weighty") and Terrestris ("terrestrial" or "earthly") were also later used for Canopus. Both are believed to refer to the star being close to the horizon. In the Alphonsine Tables, Canopus was designated as Suhel ponderosus, which is a Latinized form of the Arabic Al Suhayl al Wazn. The name Canopus came back into wide use during the Renaissance.

In China, Canopus is known as 老人 (Lǎo Rén), the Old Man. It is the sole star in the Old Man asterism, which is part of the Well mansion, one of the southern mansions of the Vermilion Bird. In Chinese astronomy, Canopus was known as the Old Man of the South Pole (南极老人), a symbol of longevity and happiness. In Chinese lore, the Old Man is depicted as a man with a long white beard and a deer at his side, who was once a sickly boy who had been told that he would die at the age of 19. The boy, named Zhao Yen, was advised to visit a field and bring wine and dried meat. He did as he was told and, when he reached the field, he found two men playing checkers. He offered them the wine and meat and, to thank him, the men changed his life expectancy from 19 to 91 years. The boy later learned that the men were the star of the North Pole and the star of the South Pole, responsible for fixing the dates of birth and death.

Canopus is also known as the Star of Old Age in the neighbouring Korea, Japan and Vietnam. In Japan it is known as Jurōjin, the god of longevity and one of the Seven Gods of Fortune, originated from the Chinese Taoist Old Man of the South Pole. The star's other traditional names in Japan are Mera-boshi and Roujin-sei, or the Old Man Star. In Mongolia, Canopus was the personification of the White Old Man, while Tibetans called it Genpo karpo ( Rgan po dkar po) or Genkar ( Rgan dkar), also meaning "white old man." In Tibet, the more widely used name for Canopus was Karma Rishi. The star's heliacal rising (the first rising after a period of invisibility) was celebrated with ritual bathing.
Location
Canopus lies in the far southern sky. At the declination −52° 41′ 44.3810″, the star is invisible to most northern observers. It cannot be seen from locations north of the latitude 37° 18' N, which means that it does not rise above the horizon for most of Europe, all of Canada and the Russian Federation, and a good portion of the continental United States.

For observers living south of the latitude 37° 18' S, Canopus is circumpolar, i.e. it never sets and is visible throughout the year. Being exceptionally bright, the star can be seen by the unaided eye in the early twilight. It reaches its highest point above the horizon at midnight on December 27 and around 9 pm on February 11.

As the second brightest star in the sky, Canopus is very easy to identify. It is the exceptionally bright star appearing below Sirius, almost exactly south of Sirius' neighbour Mirzam (Beta Canis Majoris). Sirius can be identified using the three stars of Orion's Belt - Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka - which point directly at it. Canopus and Sirius are separated by about 36 degrees on the sky and, while most northern observers can only see Sirius, from southern latitudes both stars can often be seen at the same time.

Canopus can be used to find the south celestial pole. The pole forms an equilateral triangle with Canopus and Achernar, the brightest star in the constellation Eridanus, and lies in the direction of the Southern Pointers, Alpha Centauri and Hadar (Beta Centauri).
Constellation
Canopus is located in the constellation Carina. Formerly part of the larger Argo Navis constellation, Carina represents the keel of the ship Argo, on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed to Colchis to get the Golden Fleece. The neighbouring constellations Puppis and Vela, also split off from Argo Navis in the 18th century, represent the ship's stern and sails.

With an area of 494 square degrees, Carina is not particularly large, but it is easily recognizable. It contains six stars brighter than magnitude 3.00 and some of them are part of two prominent southern asterisms, the Diamond Cross and the False Cross.

The constellation is known for being home to Canopus, the 2nd brightest star in the sky, and Eta Carinae, one of the most massive binary star systems known. Eta Carinae is the central star of the Homunculus Nebula, which is part of the larger Carina Nebula (NGC 3372), a vast region of bright and dark nebulosity that contains several open clusters and some of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way.

Other well-known deep sky objects in Carina are NGC 3603, a large H II region with an open cluster, the Theta Carinae Cluster (IC 2602), a bright, large open cluster nicknamed the Southern Pleiades, the Wishing Well Cluster (NGC 3352), a globular cluster visible to the naked eye, NGC 2802, a massive globular cluster, and the bright Diamond Cluster (NGC 2516), a naked-eye open cluster nicknamed the Southern Beehive.

The best time of year to observe the stars and deep sky objects in Carina is during the month of March, when the constellation is particularly prominent in the evening sky from southern locations. The entire constellation is visible south of the latitude 20° N.

The 10 brightest stars in Carina are Canopus (Alpha Car, mag. -0.74), Miaplacidus (Beta Car, mag. 1.69), Avior (Epsilon Car, mag. 1.86), Aspidiske (Iota Car, mag. 2.21), Theta Carinae (mag. 2.76), Upsilon Carinae (2.97), Omega Carinae (mag. 3.29), PP Carinae (p Car, mag. 3.22 - 3.55), V337 Carinae (q Car, mag. 3.36 - 3.44), and V357 Carinae (a Car, mag. 3.41 - 3.44).
Canopus - Alpha Carinae

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Canopus (Alpha Carinae): Star Type, Facts, Name, Location, Constellation | Star Facts

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Canopus, Alpha Carinae (α Car), is a white bright giant star located in the constellation Carina. With an apparent magnitude of -0.74, it is the brightest star in Carina and the second brightest star in the sky, after Sirius. Canopus lies at an approximate distance of 310 light years from Earth.

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q2`1Canopus was named after a ship's captain from a Greek myth.

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Mythology (1)

Historic figures

Canobus or Canopus

Canobus or Canopus (Kanobos or Kanopos), according to Grecian story, the helmsman of Menelaus, who on his return from Troy died in Egypt, in consequence of the bite of a snake, and was buried by Menelaus on the site of the town of Canobus, which derived its name from him (Strab. xvii.; Conon, Narrat. 8; Nicand. Ther. 309, &c.; Schol. ad Aelian. V. H. xv. 13; Steph. Byz. s. v.; Tac. Annual. ii. 60; Dionys. Perieg. 13; Amm. Marcell. xxii. 16; Serv. ad Virg. Georg. iv. 287). According to some accounts, Canobus was worshipped in Egypt as a divine being, and was represented in the shape of a jar with small feet, a thin neck, a swollen body, and a round back (Epiphan. Ancorat.108; Rufin. Hist. Eccles. ii. 26; Suid. s. v. Kanopos). The identification of an Egyptian divinity with the Greek hero Canobus is of course a mere fiction, and was looked upon in this light even by some of the ancients themselves. On the Egyptian monuments we find a number of jars with the head either of some animal or of a human being at the top, and adorned with images of gods and hieroglyphics. Such jars are also seen on Egyptian, especially Canobian, coins. They appear to have been frequently used by the Egyptians in performing religious rites and sacrifices, and it may be that some deities were symbolically represented in this manner; but a particular jar-god, as worshipped at Canobus, is not mentioned by any writer except Rufinus, and is therefore exceedingly doubtful. Modern critics accordingly believe, that the god called Canobus may be some other divinity worshipped in that place, or the god Serapis, who was the chief deity of Canobus. But the whole subject is involved in utter obscurity.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks

Copyright 1999-2019 International Publications Ltd.

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Mythology CANOPUS (Ancient city) EGYPT - GTP

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Canobus or Canopus Canobus or Canopus (Kanobos or Kanopos), according to Grecian story, the helmsman of Menelaus, who on his return from Troy died in Egypt, in consequence of the bite of a snake, and was buried by Menelaus on the site of the town of Canobus, which derived its name from him (Strab.

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Canopus is actually orbiting the milky way at a velocity of 24.5 km/s

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The launch of on May 31, 1966, and its need of the Deep Space Network, together with delivery problems of the photographic subsystem for the first flight Lunar Orbiter at Eastman Kodak, caused the tentative July 11 launch date to be slipped to August 9.

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here's the link <3!~

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Canopus is  a part of the constellation called "Carina". Carina is the 34th largest constellation. Carina is best seen during March in the 2nd quadrant of the southern hemisphere.