Procyon
Procyon (α Canis Minoris), meaning "before dog", is a brilliant star that receives its name from the fact that it precedes the star Sirius as it travels across the Earth's sky. These two "dog stars" are referred to in the most ancient literature and were venerated by the Babylonians and the Egyptians.
Procyon is a vertex of the Winter Triangle.
Astrologically, Procyon portends wealth, fame, and good fortune.
Procyon is one of the closest stars to Earth's solar system, being only 11.4 light years away. Like Sirius, it is a binary star — the main star (Procyon A) having a faint white dwarf companion (Procyon B). Procyon A is also known as HD 61421, HR 2943, BD+05°1739, GCTP 1805.00A and LHS 233.
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Procyon A
Procyon A is 7 times brighter than the Sun. It is considered a subgiant, meaning it has just finished fusing its hydrogen into helium and begun to expand. It is expected that the sun will also go through this process when it begins to die.
In late June of 2004, Canada's orbital MOST satellite telescope completed a 32–day survey of Procyon A. The continuous optical monitoring was intended to confirm oscillations in its brightness observed from Earth. During the entire two month period however, no fluctuation in intensity whatever was observed. These findings have caused astrophysicists to question the accepted tenets of helioseismology, and theories of star formation.
Characteristics
- Parallax: 0.286 arcsecs
- Spectral type: F5 IV-V
- Radial velocity: -4 km/s
- Proper Motion: 1.259 arcsecs/year
- Apparent Visual Magnitude: 0.4
- Absolute Visual Magnitude: 2.68
- Luminosity: 7.73 Solar Luminosities
Procyon B
Procyon B is a faint white dwarf star, with an average separation from Procyon A of about 16 times the Earth's distance from the Sun or roughly the distance between Uranus and the Sun.
Characteristics
- Parallax: 0.286 arcsecs
- Spectral type: White dwarf
- Radial velocity: -4 km/s
- Proper Motion: 1.259 arcsecs/year
- Apparent Visual Magnitude: 10.7
- Absolute Visual Magnitude: 13.0
- Luminosity: 5.5e-4 Solar Luminosities
Procyon in fiction
In Star Trek: Enterprise, Procyon was the scene of a formidable Federation victory during a war against an alien species known as the Sphere Builders. The USS Enterprise-J took part in this battle. In 2153, Captain Jonathan Archer was brought 400 years forward in time to witness part of the battle.
ca:Procyon de:Prokyon it:Procione (astronomia) ja:プロキオン
Categories: Stars | Canis Minor constellation | Binary stars