Article
Article
Procyon
Article By:
Latham, David W. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.546800
The brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor, apparent magnitude +0.36. Procyon (α Canis Minoris) is among the stars nearest to the Earth, at a distance of only 3.5 parsecs (1.08 × 1014 km or 6.7 × 1013 mi). Its spectral type is F5, but Procyon is slightly overluminous compared to a main-sequence star of the same spectral type, which indicates that Procyon has already begun to evolve off the main sequence. Its intrinsic luminosity is about seven times that of the Sun, and its effective temperature is estimated to be 6500 K (11,200°F). The radius of the star is about 2.2 solar radii. See also: Spectral type; Stellar evolution
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