Canopus also designated α Carinae, Latinised to Alpha Carinae, is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina and the second-brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −0.74, it is outshone only by Sirius. Located around 310 light-years from the Sun, Canopus is a bright giant of spectral type A9, so it is essentially white when seen with the naked eye. It has a luminosity over 10,000 times the luminosity of the Sun, is eight times as massive, and has expanded to 71 times the Sun's radius. Its enlarged photosphere has an effective temperature of around 7,400 K. Canopus is undergoing core helium burning and is currently in the so-called blue loop phase of its evolution, having already passed through the red-giant branch after exhausting the hydrogen in its core.
Planets?[]
There are no known exoplanets around Canopus as of September 2020.
Brightest Stars[]
Canopus is among the 5 brightest stars in the night sky.
| Rank | Visual
Magnitude |
Proper Name | Distance (ly) | Spectral Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | -1.46 | Sirius | 8.6 | A0mA1 Va, DA2 |
| 2 | -0.74 | Canopus | 310 | A9 II |
| 3 | -0.27 | Alpha Centauri | 4.4 | G2 V,K1 V |
| 4 | -0.05 | Arcturus | 37 | K0 III |
| 5 | 0.03 | Vega | 25 | A0 Va |